WHO WON:
For the 55th time, it wasn’t the Mets
WHAT HAPPENED, THAT PESKY SEVENTH:
Before the seventh inning, there was rain. Corey Oswalt held the Washington Nationals to one run in five good innings of work. Welp, now you’re all caught up with what happened before the seventh inning. It was a Mets team that looked not great against Jeremy Hellickson, who is apparently good now. What a world we live in. Neither the Mets nor Nationals are over .500 and Jeremy Hellickson is good. What is this, 2011?
Speaking of history being a never-ending cycle where we never learn anything and just repeat our prior mistakes, the seventh inning featured the Mets once again finding themselves in a tough spot against Daniel Murphy. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Murphy did what was expected — driving in two runs in the process. To make matters more interesting, the Mets would have a chance to escape with just a 3-1 deficit when Jerry Blevins was tasked with facing Wilmer Difo with runners at second and third, two away. Instead, Blevins hit Difo and Adam Eaton to force in a run. To continue to add insult to injury, a Trea Turner single would tack on another run for the Nationals. When everything was said and done, the Mets left the seventh-inning trailing 6 to 1.
WHAT HAPPENED, THE FIRST HALF:
Closing out the first-half last season, the Mets were 39-47. They would, of course, go on to finish the season 70-92 before entering an offseason where it was easier to hope than face the reality of what we knew all along. We were expected to believe that health was the only issue at hand, and that 2018 would be better. Here we sit on the first day of the All-Star break, 39-55. The Mets played eight more games this season leading up to the All-Star break, losing every one of them. They have a legitimate chance to come away from 2018 with the worst record in the National League. For every bit of optimism heaped onto the 2018 season, the Mets have outperformed their 2017 season in the worst way. Things have been bad, things are bad, and things will likely continue all the same.
Anyway, here’s Wonderwall.