Atlanta 7, New York 5
You can’t say that Terry Collins has lost this team, as the Mets mounted a two-out rally in the bottom of the ninth and brought the tying run to the plate in the final at bat for what seemed like the upteenth game. You can’t fault the veterans as Jay Bruce hit the ball hard (with little to show for it) while Neil Walker positively scorched it (with little more to show). You can’t even fault the homegrown youngsters. And yet the Mets managed to win only one game in this now-mercifully-ended eight-game home stand.
Prior to first pitch this afternoon, a Yankee-fan friend (I am nothing if not ecumenical) shared the #ThingsHealthierThanTheMets hashtag with me (apparently my friendly feelings are not shared).
United Airline's Customer Relations #ThingsHealthierThanTheMets
— Matt Evans (@Matt_The_Met) April 27, 2017
Matt Harvey took the ball for a surprise start after Terry Collins scratched Noah Syndergaard this morning. The team says Syndergaard has tendinitis in his right biceps, but Mets fans will be excused if they are not surprised to learn tomorrow that Syndergaard’s arm has, in fact, fallen off, the result of having insulted an old gypsy woman during the offseason. And if only Noah’s balky arm was the only bad headline of the day.
My dead grandmother #ThingsHealthierThanTheMets
— ⚾️ MetsGirl4Ever ⚾️ (@michellegraz) April 27, 2017
Rather than the Dark Knight, it seemed Harvey Dent was on the mount early on, as it was a tale of two Harveys Thursday afternoon. After a one-two-three first inning, Harvey’s command abandoned him, when he led off the second with back to back walks to Atlanta’s Nick Markakis and Kurt Suzuki. Markakis would score on a Jace Peterson single. He walked the bases loaded to face former Met pitcher R.A. Dickey, who managed an RBI infield groundout. The Braves got two runs without hitting a ball hard. It looked as though the Mets were going to pounce on Dickey in their half of the inning when new crowd favorite Jay Bruce led off with a double. Walker followed up with a single, but any hopes for a big inning were quickly extinguished when Bruce was thrown out at the plate trying to score on the play.
Me on the first Good Friday. #ThingsHealthierThanTheMets
— MLB Jesus (@MLBJesus) April 27, 2017
Were the Mets wily or hapless batsmen? The answer seemed to be yes to both, when Jose Reyes worked a leadoff walk to start the third, only to have Harvey bunt into a double play. Michael Conforto then worked another walk, followed by Asdrubal Cabrera grounding out to first on the first pitch he saw.
Roger Goodells relationship with Tom Brady #ThingsHealthierThanTheMets
— The Thrill (@ItsTheThrill) April 27, 2017
Injuries created opportunities for sloppy defensive play that deepened the agony, where an out-of-position Bruce at first base booted a double play ball, and instead Harvey faced the bases loaded with no one out. On the next two plays, an out-of-position (even though it’s his day job now) Reyes managed to get consecutive forceouts at home. Inciarte lined out, and remarkably Harvey squirmed out of trouble.
#ThingsHealthierThanTheMets Game of Thrones job security.
— William Borowski (@will_borowski) April 27, 2017
But the true catastrophe descended in the fourth, when Yoenis Cespedes pulled up lame legging out a leadoff double; he was replaced on the basepaths by Juan Lagares, who scored on a Walker double. Walker, incidentally, ended the afternoon with three hits; the only remedy the Mets might have is to place their second baseman in cryostasis between games. The Mets would tie on a passed ball in the bottom of the fourth, but Harvey’s see-saw day continued, as he coughed up the lead on two pitches at the top of the fifth, put two men on, and was finally chased by a three-run homer surrendered to Suzuki.
Job security at ESPN. #ThingsHealthierThanTheMets
— The Rev Dr BigDave (@BigDavesRants) April 27, 2017
That last one might be too soon.
Who knows how long Cespedes, who couldn’t even make it to the dugout steps unaided, will be gone? Who knows if the Mets — who have a horrible track record when it comes to diagnosing injuries to their pitchers — are underselling the true nature of Syndergaard’s injury? Who can tell when Walker’s spine will remember it’s not actually bone and cartilage, but actually a clump of week-old ramen noodles held together with wet newspaper? Surely the Washington Nationals can’t wait to find out.
Photo credit: Noah K. Murray – USA Today Sports