On Friday night, New York dropped their series opener with the Yankees 4-1, making them losers of all seven games on their current home stand. In those seven contests, the Mets have scored eight runs. EIGHT. They’ve scored three times in the last 51 innings. And they’re consistently wasting dominant start after dominant start from righty Jacob deGrom, who has to be the favorite for NL Cy Young right now.

On this night, deGrom was his usual fantastic self, but you could sense the way this one would ultimately unfold because we’ve seen this movie a thousand times.

After uneventfully retiring the Yankees in the first inning, deGrom watched Brandon Nimmo take Masahiro Tanaka deep on the later’s second pitch of the night, Nimmo’s first career leadoff home run. The SNY’s broadcast crew joked, “well, Jacob, there’s your run,” but it really wasn’t much of a joke at all; as the this game progressed it became evident that if deGrom wanted to win, he’d have to do it 1-0.

That hope came crashing down in the top of the sixth, but it was in no way the fault of deGrom. With one out, Tanaka grounded a ball to the right side of the infield that first baseman Adrian Gonzalez ranged far to his right to attempt to field. After getting to the ball, Gonzalez lost the handle during the transfer and was unable to get a throw off to deGrom covering at first, allowing the Yankees pitcher to reach on an error. Three batters later, Tanaka would score on an Aaron Judge sacrifice fly, tying the game with an unearned run. The tally did not come without a cost for the Bombers however, as Tanaka would have to leave the game with a dual-hamstring injury suffered while running the bases.

That score would hold into the seventh when the Mets got a little bit of a threat going against Chad Green. After the first two New York hitters were retired, Todd Frazier and Jay Bruce each singled to give Devin Mesoraco a chance to put the home team back ahead. After taking a couple close offerings to work the count, Mesoraco was ultimately blown away with a high fastball, ending the threat and adding to the Mets’ offensive misery. The following inning, deGrom retired the first two Yankee hitters before Gleyber Torres singled through the left side of the infield, bringing Brett Gardner to the plate.

While deGrom has been masterful from Day 1 in 2018, it’s unreasonable to expect him to be literally perfect, and on his first mistake of the evening, Gardner deposited a 1-0 change-up into the right field seats, ruining deGrom’s night and giving visitors a 3-1 lead that may as well have been 100-1. Giancarlo Stanton added a home run off Paul Sewald in the ninth to push the Yankees lead to three, and while the Mets briefly threatened against Aroldis Chapman, they ultimately went down without too much of a fight.

The Mets will look to even the weekend series with their crosstown rivals tonight behind lefty Steven Matz, who has been wonderful of late. None of that matters though, if the New York bats don’t wake up.

Photo credit: Andy Marlin – USA Today Sports

The Mets dropped the first three games of their series with the Cubs, most recently with an excruciating 14 inning loss Saturday night. Steven Matz took the mound against Jon Lester as the tail-spinning Mets looked to avoid the sweep. You can basically ignore all of that though, because Kevin Plawecki was batting cleanup – that should tell you all you need to know about how this game was going to go.

Game Recap

Steven Matz was brilliant. Facing a Cubs lineup without Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, Matz went seven innings, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out seven. He ran his scoreless inning streak to 15 before coughing up two runs in the seventh (we’ll get back to that in a moment). He also made a great play to thwart a suicide squeeze in the third. It was the best Matz has looked all season, lowering his ERA to 3.42.

But about that seventh inning. Matz gave up a hard ground ball single to Javier Baez to start the inning, then a soft line drive to Willson Contreras that put runners on the corners. The Cubs then executed one of the most brilliant base-running moves you’ll see. On one pitch, Contreras bluffed a steal to second, quickly stopping and returning to first. That drew a courtesy throw from Matz before the next pitch. He didn’t make a hard throw, and Baez sprinted home as soon as the ball left Matz’s hand to steal the first run of the game.

That was annoying, but things got worse. Contreras moved to second on the previous play, then advanced to third on a infield single that Luis Guillorme made a fantastic play on to keep in the infield.With one out, Ben Zobrist hit a pop up that Guillorme went back on and struggled to find. It was clearly a ball that Jay Bruce should have called him off on, but Bruce, for whatever reason, did not. As Guillorme lunged backwards to make the catch, Contreras tagged up and scored on a sacrifice fly that was at most 120 feet away from the plate.

Matz got out of the inning without any more damage, but it was frustrating to watch a young, athletic team take advantage of a squad that is, once again, sleepwalking through a game on Sunday. Paul Sewald relieved Matz with two scoreless relief.

The strong pitching performance was entirely wasted by another pathetic offensive display. Jon Lester walked the first two batters of the game, then struck out the next three. The Mets didn’t manage their first hit until the sixth (a single from Plawecki), a bases-loaded opportunity that was also squandered when Adrian Gonzalez grounded out. A leadoff single from Michael Conforto in the ninth was quickly erased on a double play ground ball from Gonzalez as well, and a pop-up from Guillorme ended the shutout loss.

Mets starters have a 1.41 ERA over the past six games. They have one win. They managed 20 hits and and six runs in four games against the Cubs. It’s been 17 innings since the Mets have scored a run (MIchael Conforto’s solo home run in the sixth inning on Saturday). Their record is now 27-30.

Thoughts from the Game

Last offseason’s free agent market was brutal for one-dimensional corner bats. Lucas Duda, Logan Morrison and Yonder Alonso all received relatively small deals. J.D. Martinez, who is one of the best pure hitters in baseball, didn’t sign until February and only got 5 years/$110 million despite three straight seasons with a tAV of at least .304.

In the same offseason, the Mets raced out to give Jay Bruce a 3-year, $39 million contract. Jay Bruce, who hasn’t been able to play defense for half a decade (since having knee surgery) and is an, at-best, slightly above league-average bat. Jay Bruce, for a team whose two offensive stars are corner outfielders. The signing was a predictably disaster, and it’s been exactly that so far this season. Worse still, Mickey Callaway seems to have doubled down on Bruce, throwing Conforto and Yoenis Cespedes under a bus on Friday and leaving Bruce, who is a much bigger problem on both sides of the ball, unscathed.

This isn’t some complex analysis that requires new age stats or SQL skills. All one needs to do is look at Bruce’s stats page for the past five years and watch him play defense for three innings. That the Mets front office got to watch him for basically a whole season and couldn’t come to this very obvious conclusions is mind-bogglingly inept.

Side note, I really should rename this section of my recaps to “Lukas rants about some stupid s*** the Mets did.”

Other Mets News

Todd Frazier is expected to rejoin the team before Tuesday’s game against the Orioles, perhaps the only team in baseball as ineptly run as the Mets. Hopefully some games against Baltimore can get the team somewhat righted before next weekend’s Subway Series.

Photo credit: Anthony Gruppuso – USA Today Sports

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but Jacob deGrom was brilliant once again and the Mets still somehow found a new and excruciating way to lose. The Mets ace worked in and out of trouble all night, allowing seven hits, none of which were hard hit, and one earned run while striking out a career high-tying 13 Cubs. It was a masterful performance by deGrom, who loaded the bases in the first before striking out two to end the inning, but the offense that’s failed him time and time again was up to the same old tricks Saturday. The only Met run came on a Michael Conforto solo shot off Cubs starter Mike Montgomery in the sixth inning.

In an attempt to win what sure seemed like a must-win game for the Mets, Mickey Callaway burned through his entire bullpen minus Paul Sewald. He was rewarded with clean innings by all of them, minus Buddy Baumann and Gerson Bautista. Baumann was added to the roster as Jerry Blevins insurance, a valid move in theory considering Blevins’ struggles thus far, except for the fact that he’s much worse than Jerry Blevins. Bautista throws a 100 mph fastball and, well, that’s about it. His secondary offerings leave a lot to be desired and while the young flamethrower deserved a chance, it’s apparent he’ll require some more seasoning in the minors. The Mets need to work with the 23-year-old on his slider and changeup if they ever plan for him to be a bullpen mainstay.

Kevin Plawecki got his first career start at first base and it went just as well poorly as one might’ve imagined. In an attempt to hide Adrian Gonzalez against left-handed pitching, the Mets chose to call-up old friend Jose Lobaton in order for Plawecki to get starts at first. Yes, the same Plawecki who owns reverse splits (.228/.321/.311 vs RHP, .196/.277/.290 vs LHP) and whose only value to the organization comes from his work behind the plate is now part of a platoon at first base. Plawecki was 0-5 while the Mets still chose to pinch hit Gonzalez and Jay Bruce against left-handers. It’s not like the Mets have a right-handed hitting first baseman in the minors who destroys left-handed pitching, so the move at least makes some sense. What was that?  You mean to tell me they do have a righty first baseman prospect who tees off on lefties and is close to major league ready? Yet they still somehow believe this current roster configuration gives them the best chance to win? Welcome to the Mets, my friends.

OTHER METS NEWS

Prior to Wednesday’s game against the Braves, the Mets announced a flurry of moves, the most controversial of which was the stunning decision to designate P.J Conlon for assignment. Now, Conlon’s no world-beater, but he’s flashed potential as a bullpen piece in the Jerry Blevins mold and surely could have provided some value as some much-needed depth. With a fastball that barely touches 90 mph, Conlon relies on a good changeup and a funky delivery that has proven effective once through the order. Although he had minor league options, the Mets chose to designate him to free up a 40-man spot for Scott Copeland, a 30-year-old reliever who was on turn at Binghamton.

It was a puzzling move that lacked comprehension: teams don’t cut pitchers with minor league options who can provide value in the big leagues, especially when said team is in constant need of pitchers. Except that’s inexplicably exactly what the Mets did. I theorized in Week Five of the Prospect Watch that the Mets had no idea what they had in Conlon and apparently they didn’t have any interest in finding out.

The corresponding move for Conlon was Copeland, who threw all of 22 pitches Thursday before he himself was designated for assignment. He struck out two in one inning of relief and was a fresh arm for a bullpen in dire need of one. Mets brass somehow concluded that Jose Lobaton’s presence was again required on the active roster, so the only logical move was to designate Copeland. So they could carry three catchers. Who all can’t hit.

Did you think it couldn’t get any worse? Because it’s about to get worse. Mickey Callaway told reporters Friday night that the Mets had only three available relievers in the bullpen: Paul Sewald, Tim Peterson and Jeurys Familia. If the Mets didn’t need Lobaton to complete the Jose, Jose, Jose bench, they could’ve held on to Copeland, who’s been stretched out as a starter with Binghamton. It simply would’ve made too much sense though, so Copeland was sent packing while Callaway overworked Sewald, Friday night’s losing pitcher.

I’m assuming you thought that this was the end of the rant. Well guess what, I’m here to tell you this isn’t the end of the rant. What could possibly be worse than this you might ask? Well by designating Conlon, the Mets ensured he’d have to pass through waivers in order to remain with the organization. The Dodgers, an organization seemingly always in need of pitchers, claimed Conlon Saturday. Which means the Mets gave up on an intriguing 24-year-old left-handed pitcher for 22 pitches from Scott Copeland. Not 22 starts from Copeland, nor 22 innings. 22 measly pitches!

Photo credit: Noah K. Murray – USA Today Sports

The Mets looked to stay above .500 with Zack Wheeler on the mound against the Cubs, while Tyler Chatwood, owner of an 8.38 BB/9 and a K/BB below one (and, somehow a 4.10 ERA), took the mound for Chicago. Most importantly, Brandon Nimmo was still in the lineup, leading off with Jose Bautista on the bench.

Game Recap

This was, essentially, a carbon copy of recent games for the Mets. Wheeler got off to an excellent start, holding the Cubs off the board for the first six innings. Nimmo launched a two-run home run in the third to give the Mets a 2-0 lead. Instead of adding on, the Mets let Chatwood off the hook again and again, stranding baserunners in the first, fifth and sixth, while also gifting the Cubs an out when Nimmo was caught stealing.

Late in the game, everything unraveled. In a desperate moved designed to relieve an overworked, terrible bullpen, Mickey Callaway left Wheeler in the game to start the seventh. He promptly gave up two singles without recording an out, then was pulled. Paul Sewald gave up a sacrifice fly, an RBI double and an RBI single that turned a 2-0 lead into a 3-2 deficit.

Mickey made the same mistake in the eighth, again leaving a pitcher in when he shouldn’t. Sewald recorded two outs after a leadoff single, but then allowed another single and a three-run home run to Kyle Schwarber. That was pretty much the dagger – the Mets managed to score two in the bottom of the eighth on a single from Adrian Gonzalez, but the Cubs got one of those back in the ninth. Jose Reyes walked to leadoff the ninth against Brandon Morrow but the next three Mets were retired in short order to finish the 7-4 loss.

Thoughts from the Game

A list of disappointing facts, for your viewing displeasure:

• The Cubs walked the leadoff batter five times this game; only one of them scored.
• Mets starters have left the last six games with the game tied. The Mets are 2-4 in those games.
• The Mets are below .500 for the first time this season.
• The Mets are now 6 games behind the Braves for first place in the division on June 1.
• After being one of the league’s best over the first two weeks of the season, the Mets bullpen now has the fifth-worst FIP in the league.
• Jay Bruce left the game in the fourth with lower back discomfort; that leaves a starting outfield of Jose Bautista, Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo.
• Since starting 11-1, the Mets are 16-27
• Nimmo isn’t on the Mets’ All Star ballet, because ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

With those generalities out of the way, let’s dive into the Mets’ pitching staff for a moment. Callaway has gradually slipped into many Terry-esque habits, but one of the things he’s done well is recognize when his starters are burned. Yesterday, he went full Terry, twice trying to stretch pitchers beyond what they should be asked.

At the same time, Callaway’s hand is being forced by the Mets’ terrible mismanagement of the pitching staff. Why Tim Peterson remains on the team with Drew Smith and Eric Hanhold in the minors is baffling. Why the Mets stressed the bullpen by giving a start to P.J. Conlon instead of Nabil Crismatt is also puzzling. My personal bugaboo has been leaving Stephen Villines in High-A with a 15:1 K:BB ratio instead of challenging him in the upper minors and finding out if he’s an arm that can be cycled up to the majors. Pitching depth is not this team’s strength, but the arms they have could be utilized so much more effectively if they’d call up the right ones.

After the game, Callaway held a team meeting, and while he can be somewhat defended for his pitching decisions, there’s no defending the comments he made. Callaway threw Michael Conforto under the bus for not hitting a cutoff man, then later mentioned that the team is paying Yoenis Cespedes a lot of money to produce. That’s ludicrous and unacceptable. Michael Conforto missing a cutoff man doesn’t lead to the bullpen giving up seven runs. As for Cespedes, the Mets have pushed him through injuries for two years, which has almost certainly contributed to his now chronic hip problems. That Callaway is expressing this sort of frustration openly is a clear signal that this is the attitude of higher-ups in the front office, which in turn is a clear sign that they’ve learned absolutely nothing. It’s just more of the same Metsian dysfunction.

Other Mets News

After running a three-man bench due to a brutally overworked bullpen, the Mets recalled Jose Lobaton and DFA’d Scott Copeland. This is a puzzling move, as a four-man bench with three catchers is a very weird configuration. Apparently, the Mets plan to use Kevin Plawecki at first base to get some right-handed bats into the bat against lefties.

Simply put, this plan is ludicrous. Plawecki has a career TAv of .251. That’s bad for a catcher, let alone a first baseman. Further, Peter Alonso is hitting .337/.459/.624 with 14 HR in Double-A. He’s probably not ready and his defense is probably really bad, but Alonso at least offers the upside of being a competent (and possibly even better) bat at first. It’s just the latest in a season of sub-optimal roster decisions from the Mets.

Vargas Did What?

Given their crumbling depth in the starting rotation, you would think that Mickey Callaway would squeeze every inning he could out of his starters. Wednesday, he did the exact opposite. The wildly inconsistent and ineffective Vargas took the mound and came out firing. The lefthander shut out the Braves across five frames, surrendering two hits and one walk, and striking out two. At only 65 pitches, the expectation would be that Vargas would go deep into this game. Instead, Mickey Callaway opted to pull him after the fifth, giving an early hook to his pitcher throwing on just three days rest. The result is not all bad, however. Allowing Vargas to leave on a high note may instill some confidence and lead to more productive outings going forward.

The Magnificent Amed Rosario

Amidst his early-season struggles, many doubts arose surrounding the viability of Rosario’s future. A consensus top prospect, the impatience was semi-warranted. You either have it or you don’t. The good news is that Rosario really seems to finally be putting everything together. In the last seven days, the 22-year-old is batting .357/.400/.571 with a home run, four RBIs and two stolen bases. That includes the two huge extra base hits he chipped in last night — a triple in the seventh and a double in the ninth. Both resulted in Rosario coming across to score two very important insurance runs. He also made a sparkling diving stop to begin a 6-4-3 double play and get Jeurys Familia out of a tumultuous eighth inning.

We’ve Found Nimmo

This almost hurts to write for two reasons. First, I’ve been a big supporter of Jay Bruce and have continually advocated for him to remain in the lineup and work out of his slump. Second, I was completely in favor of shipping Brandon Nimmo to Pittsburgh in exchange for Andrew McCutchen. Well, it’s safe to say I was dead wrong. From the moment spring training kicked off, Nimmo has looked like a quality big leaguer that deserves the opportunity to play every day at the major league level. There is no reason to leave Nimmo on the bench just on his plate discipline alone. To make matters sweeter, it looks like his bat is coming around now too. Over his last eight games, Nimmo has posted a .333/.444/.733 slash line with two home runs, five RBIs and two stolen bases. In four at-bats, Nimmo notched two hits Wednesday — a bloop single that drove home Rosario in the seventh and a line drive doubles over the head of Nick Markakis in the ninth. Those two RBI knocks proved critical and he is now up to a scorching hot .970 OPS on the season. Could we possibly see Brandon Nimmo make an appearance at the All-Star game this July?

Joey Bats Hits Balls Hard

Sandy Alderson already pulled a rabbit out of his hat by turning Matt Harvey into Devin Mesoraco. Now, after plucking Jose Bautista from the depths of obscurity, he may just have found a diamond in the rough. During his stint in Atlanta this season, it didn’t seem like there was much baseball left in Bautista. After all, he was 5-for-37. Bautista is already well past that number as a member of the Mets and scorched a double to left field last night. Even when the hits aren’t falling, he is still finding a way to hit the ball hard. The last seven days of Joey Bats have been magnificent, with the 37-year-old sporting a 1.105 OPS. If Wednesday was any indication, Jose Bautista may just prove to be a valuable piece down the stretch.

A-Gon is Still Hanging Around

If I were to be completely honest, I would have ventured to say that Adrian Gonzalez would be long gone by now. Instead, the other geriatric player in the Mets starting lineup is not only hanging around but producing his fair share. Gonzalez posted a 2-4 night at the plate, driving in two runs. He opened the scoring in the first with a rocket ground rule double and picked up an insurance run in the eighth when he drove Jose Bautista home. Over his last 25 games, Gonzalez looks like an All-Star, batting .305 with seven extra-base hits, 12 RBI, and an OPS of .850. Maybe first base isn’t such a big problem for the Mets after all.

New Arms in Atlanta

In order to bolster their depleted bullpen, the Mets called up three relievers prior to Wednesday’s game. Tim Peterson and Buddy Baumann joined the Mets from Las Vegas, while Scott Copeland departed Binghamton. Peterson made his first major league experience after relieving Vargas in the sixth. Despite surrendering a home run to Johan Camargo (in the exact same spot that he hit his walk-off to in the game prior), Peterson looked good. The righthander posted two frames with a walk being the only other blemish besides the home run. Jeurys Familia and Robert Gsellman combined for the final two innings of the game, with Gsellman recording his second save of the season after a perfect ninth.

The Mets return home to Citi Field tonight to face the Chicago Cubs. Seth Lugo makes his debut as a starter against Jose Quintana at 7:10 p.m. And before I go, shout out to Ed Kranepool. He did not deserve the Don LaGreca treatment on ESPN Radio yesterday.

Photo credit: Jason Getz – USA Today Sports

After Monday’s day of arguably-too-much-baseball, the Mets and Braves were back at it again on Tuesday night after yet another rain delay. Steven Matz took the mound for the Mets, giving New York what appeared to be a significant advantage over Braves starter Anibal Sanchez. In more nightmarish news, Jose Reyes was in the lineup again, and Jose Bautista was batting third. Your 2018 Mets in a nutshell, folks.

Game Recap

This game went much like every other game for the past week. Starting on a positive note, they took a first inning lead again, when Brandon Nimmo reached on an HBP and scored on a double from Bautista. The Mets would stretch that lead further in the third on a two-run home run from Asdrubal Cabrera. Matz was cruising on the other side of the ball, working around a handful of Braves’ baserunners over the first three inning, and the Mets got him another run in the top of the fourth on a home run from Adrian Gonzalez.

At that point, the hits (the other kind of hits) started coming. Matz left the game before throwing a pitch in the fourth with a finger injury suffered on a swing, a burden the strained Mets’ pitching staff is ill-equipped to handle at the moment. Paul Sewald entered and promptly started serving up hard contact, allowing two runs on three hits, a walk and a passed ball. The Met lead was cut to 4-2.

Unlike previous games, the Mets managed to add on after their bullpen stumbled. Cabrera homered again in the fifth to get one of those runs back, and an RBI double from Nimmo in the sixth reestablished a four-run lead. The bullpen, meanwhile, stabilized a bit, with Sewald and Jerry Blevins combining to keep the Braves off the board in the fifth and sixth respectively.

You can probably guess where things went from here. Blevins, forced into a two-inning appearance by the Mets’ decimated pitching staff, struggled, allowing two out hits to Freddie Freeman and NIck Markakis that pushed another Braves run across. Jacob Rhame finished out the seventh, but was shellacked in the eighth, blowing a three-run lead with, of course, the help of a bloop single for Dansby Swanson. The game was tied again.

Fittingly, the Mets threatened but squandered an opportunity in the top of the ninth, putting two men on with nobody out and then not scoring. Gerson Bautista entered for the bottom of the ninth and, after recording one out, served up a walkoff home run to light hitting Johan Camargo. It was something of a mercy, as the Mets simply did not have the arms for an extra-inning game, but blowing yet another big lead late in the game is more than a little disheartening.

Thoughts from the Game

Admittedly, I’m a bit too young to have 100% accurate memories of the 2007 stretch run, and I’m too lazy to go through the play logs and get the details. Regardless, this recent stretch has felt like hopping in a time machine, watching that 2007 team blow any and every lead they could get their hands on. This current Mets team could be leading by 20 and I wouldn’t feel confident, and I doubt many other fans would either at this point.

This was totally predictable though. This is what happens when, in lieu of signing real relievers, you put your starting pitching depth in the bullpen. This is what happens when, instead of upgrading on an injury-plagued group of starters, you sign Jason Vargas and call things good. This is what happens when you prioritize saving money over adding talent in deadline deals in the previous offseason. This organization simply does not have enough major league quality arms, and that problem is made more acute by their injury problems that, at this point, are persistent enough that they must be something more than bad luck.

Other Mets News

Noah Syndergaard hit the DL yesterday with a strained ligament in his right ring finger. It’s a minor injury and he should be back in the minimum amount of time, in theory. Of course, rather than encouraging a player who self-reported an injury and kept it from becoming more serious (one who has done just the opposite in the past), the team put out veiled comments suggesting that Thor could pitch anyway and he was simply being a wimp. There’s some heavy reading between the lines required there, but the fact that even a hint of such a sentiment is present is just the kind of dysfunction you expect from this team.

Elsewhere, Anthony Swarzak had a stellar rehab appearance for the Las Vegas 51s. He can’t rejoin the team soon enough.

Photo credit: Brett Davis – USA Today Sports

Belfast Blur Struggles

Strapped for starting pitching, the Mets turned to P.J. Conlon to take the ball in Game 2 of their Memorial Day doubleheader. Let’s just say that Conlon’s second major league start went a little worse than his last one. The Belfast Blur (trademark pending) was only able to last two innings on 46 pitches. The Mets desperately needed length out of their starter and did not get it. The good news: Conlon did not surrender a walk. The bad news: the left-hander got tagged for eight hits and four runs. Conlon is not a particularly hard thrower, with a fastball that tops out in the high 80s, so it’s a long shot to believe he’ll carve out a long-term position in this rotation even with how thin their depth is.

Fear the Plaw

A lot has happened since the last time we saw Kevin Plawecki on April 11. In the 39 games since, the Mets have gone from a dominant force to a barely .500 team. Acquiring Devin Mesoraco stopped the bleeding at catcher, but the return of Plawecki from a broken bone in his left hand should provide depth and make for a decent platoon behind the plate.

Plaw returned to action last night after going 3-13 with a home run in his Las Vegas rehab stint and boy did he not disappoint. The Mets’ backstop was on base five times Monday, recording a walk, three singles, an RBI and a run scored. He reached on an error in the first inning after he hit a comebacker to Brandon McCarthy that the hurler simply just threw away. I should also note that his infield single in the sixth should have been scored an error as Johan Camargo blatantly dropped the ball. The Mets need production at the catcher position and whether it’s Mesoraco or Plawecki doesn’t matter as long as it helps this team turn around.

Everybody Getting Involved

Despite how inept they were during the afternoon, the Mets were able to post eight runs on 15 hits in the nightcap. Adrian Gonzalez opened the scoring in the first with an RBI single and the Mets jumped to 2-0 after Plawecki reached on an error, scoring Jay Bruce. Brandon Nimmo blasted a homer in the third, but this lead wouldn’t stand up long.

The Mets gave it back to the Braves but regained the lead after Amed Rosario singled home Plawecki and Jose Reyes in the sixth. The Mets were able to dismantle Atlanta’s Brandon McCarthy, who finished with a line of 5.1 innings pitched, nine hits, five runs and two strikeouts.

Unfortunately, that lead didn’t last very long either, but the Mets rallied back quickly. Singles from Luis Guillorme and Rosario netted three runs in the seventh, giving the Mets the 8-5 lead that went final.

Overall, every Mets starting position player netted at hit tonight. Michael Conforto and Plawecki finished with three-hit games, Guillorme and Rosario each had a total of four hits and five RBIs between them, and Nimmo, Gonzalez and Plawecki each recorded an RBI.

The Pen Rebounds

Watching Seth Lugo surrender a walk-off home run to Charlie Culberson cannot be defined as anything other than a gut punch. Thankfully, things went much better for the Mets’ relief unit in the nightcap. Hansel Robles came out with one of his best performances of 2018, keeping the Braves off the board for three innings.

Robert Gsellman did not have one of his better games but limited the damage to one run that the Mets were able to regain it the following inning. Jacob Rhame pitched an impressive seventh, netting a perfect inning with two strikeouts.

Jeurys Familia came up big too. After a long day, Familia shut the door in the eighth, pitching a clean inning. He returned for the ninth, where he completed a six-out save (his first this year), grabbing his 14th save of the season. Combined, the bullpen ate seven innings, surrendered five hits, one run, two walks and struck out nine. Gsellman winds up the winning pitcher of record, his fifth victory of 2018.

Fun fact: Braves prospect Dustin Peterson made his major league debut as a pinch hitter on the last out of the game. Technically, he made his debut on May 29 because the game ran past midnight, but the official record will pencil him in for the day prior. He also walked to first base after three balls thinking he walked before eventually striking out. Embarrassing.

The Mets and Braves pick up where they left off at 7:35 p.m. Game 3 of the series pits Steven Matz against Anibal Sanchez.

Photo credit: Dale Zanine – USA Today Sports

The Mets had 12 hits and scored six runs, which felt like an explosion considering the team’s recent offensive performance. The six runs were the most they’ve scored in a game since last Tuesday, when the Amazins’ put up a 12 spot against the Blue Jays. Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto both hit solo home runs and Wilmer Flores chipped in with three hits. Conforto finally looks “right” at the plate and I’ll have an in depth look at what he’s doing differently later this week. Devin Mesoraco had two hits to continue his unexpected but welcomed strong start to his Mets career. Jay Bruce looked competitive at the dish and reached three times on the afternoon. Amed Rosario drew a walk in his only plate appearance! Jerry Blevins was called upon for some mop up duty and didn’t allow a run. Also, Jose Reyes reached base twice?

THE BAD

Adrian Gonzalez was 1-5 with a team-high seven men left on base. The Mets have better internal options (see Alonso, Peter) and it’s becoming increasingly difficult for the organization to justify Gonzalez’s roster spot. Reyes reached twice and still has a .200 on-base percentage, which should tell you all you need to know. He also grounded into the Mets’ only double play and even made an error out at short while Luis Guillorme sat and wondered what exactly he needs to do to play. Asdrubal Cabrera, the team’s best player so far this season, was slow to get up after a play at second and was pinch hit for but should be good to go on Sunday. The Mets would be in big trouble should Cabrera require a DL stint of any kind.

THE (REALLY) UGLY

After allowing five earned runs in just three innings of work Saturday, Jason Vargas’ ERA is up to an unfathomable 10.62 in his 20.1 innings this season. The Mets have given Vargas five starts now and plan to give him another, but he’s been absolutely dreadful thus far. Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman both represent much more competitive options, but they’re also two of the Mets best relievers and a move would decimate an already thin relief corps. That’s because AJ Ramos, supposedly one of the Mets’ best high-leverage options, has been awful this season as well. After walking in the winning run Friday, Ramos was lit up for three runs on three hits and one walk in only two-thirds of an inning. It was a low-leverage situation and Ramos still wasn’t effective and at this point, your guess is as good as mine as to where Ramos and the Mets go from here. Chris Flexen was also shelled for eight hits and three walks in only two innings of work. Although he was only charged for three earned runs, Flexen was terrible Saturday and now isn’t available for Monday’s doubleheader; he’s likely to be sent down for P.J Conlon or possibly Tim Peterson, as the Mets will need another pitcher for the aforementioned doubleheader with Atlanta. Look for Conlon rather than Peterson, as he’s already on the 40-man and wouldn’t require a corresponding roster move.

Photo credit: Benny Sieu – USA Today Sports

The Mets did not win.

Jacob deGrom was spectacular yet again, but it’s really hard for words to do justice to how good he was, and has been, in 2018. Last night, the Mets’ ace didn’t even have his best stuff, but it didn’t matter; deGrom always finds a way. He worked out of jams in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, though it’s not like he was giving up contact left and right, either. Much of the contact against him was soft, and one of the jams he dealt with was partially the product of an error in the field by Asdrubal Cabrera. deGrom stuck out eight, walked two and hit Derek Dietrich with a pitch twice.

It really wasn’t even that great of a start by his standards, especially when adjusting for the competition, but what makes it so amazing is just the sheer consistency that deGrom has displayed not just this year, but for the better part of four and a half seasons now. He’s the safest quality start maybe in the entire National League right now. He won’t strike out a million in a game like Max Scherzer, but his lows aren’t too low, and while he might not have the headline-grabbing, signature games as often as guys like Scherzer or Clayton Kershaw might, most of his outings range from decent at worst to purely dominant at best.

Unfortunately, it’s up to the offense to score him runs to make it stand up, and it’s up to the bullpen to close out his games. Last night, neither happened. The only offense the Mets mustered all night came on a Brandon Nimmo home run in the fifth inning. The team only mustered five other hits all night long, and the only other time they got a runner to second base came in the fourth inning, when Jay Bruce got a hit and then Adrian Gonzalez walked with one out. But they didn’t score in the inning, as Luis Guillorme and deGrom couldn’t get the run home.

The Mets have scored five runs just once in the last week. They are 27th in baseball in runs scored.

deGrom handed off the 1-0 lead off to the bullpen after seven. Seth Lugo worked through the eighth, but Jeurys Familia ran into trouble in the ninth. With one out, Martin Prado singled and Derek Dietrich doubled, putting the tying and go-ahead runs into scoring position. Then the next batter, J.T. Realmuto, lofted a ball over second that fell in shallow center, scoring the tying run from third, though Dietrich was cut down at the plate on a perfect throw by Michael Conforto. The game was tied at that point. The Mets intentionally walked Justin Bour to get to Starlin Castro, who promptly laced a base hit into left field to score the go-ahead run from second base anyway.

It was Familia’s fourth blown save of the year already. Many people have been getting on Familia — and it was obviously a bad outing — but I’d like to jump to his defense a little bit here. Number one: Saves are a dumb stat. Familia is still rocking a 2.35 ERA, 2.42 FIP and 3.29 xFIP on the year with a strikeout percentage over 30 percent and his best walk rate since 2015. Number two: Of his four blown saves this year, three of them have come in one-run games. A closer is never going to be perfect; every reliever will give up runs sometimes. Familia has been charged with a run in just four of his 23 appearances this season, and three of those four have been blown saves.

The onus falls on the offense to build him more of a cushion. For what it’s worth, the other blown save he had (his first of the year) came against the Nationals in April, when he entered the game in the eighth inning with the bases loaded. So I know it really hurts when Familia blows a save, because that’s the nature of blowing a lead in the ninth, but he’s never going to be perfect. The offense is making it extra hard on him, and all of the pitchers, really.

Familia gave up those two runs in the ninth, and the Mets couldn’t counter in the ninth. They fell 2-1, and lost the final two games of the series to the Marlins. This was a series they absolutely needed to win, with a tough schedule coming up.

WHAT’S NEXT

The Mets now travel to Milwaukee to play the Brewers tonight, who only have the most wins in the National League. I wasn’t kidding about that tough schedule. Steven Matz takes on Zach Davies at 8:10 p.m. in Miller Park.

Photo credit: Brad Penner – USA Today Sports

The Fightin’ Amed Rosario’s

WHAT HAPPENED, A MATTER OF TIME:

If you want an accurate recap of how the Mets hit, don’t look at Clay Buchholz’s line. The righty missed most of last season with an injury, but found a start with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday. Welcome back to The Show, here’s a hot offense and a duel with Noah Syndergaard. It seemed like the perfect opportunity for the Mets to complete a home sweep against a first-place team. On paper, the Mets had already scored six runs.

But the point of everything is that nothing makes sense. Through five innings, the Mets weren’t just being shutout; Buchholz had allowed only one hit! How was he doing it? Well, that question strikes at the heart of all that is weird and good in baseball.

He wasn’t blowing guys away with offerings like “a low-90’s fastball” or “a 73-mph curveball.” He wasn’t filling up the zone, throwing strikes a rather pedestrian 63 percent of the time. He wasn’t even really generating weak contact, as the Mets were blistering baseballs. The easiest answer as to how this happened is that Buchholz was just, sort of, there. And that, every now and then, the baseball gods decide to play a quick one on us fans who think we know it all. Buchholz was throwing baseballs to a glove, and letting the cards fall as they may.

Surely when Amed Rosario stepped to the plate to lead off the sixth, Buchholz thought to himself, ‘Hey, this worked for five innings. Why wouldn’t it work for a six?’ But he, and everyone in attendance, would be wrong. In a true act of poetic justice, Amed Rosario led off the sixth with a nearly 400-foot home run — bringing a swift conclusion to Buchholz’s outing. What a truly weird game this is.

WHAT HAPPENED, SYNDERGAARD AND A STRONG BULLPEN:

In contrast to Clay Buchholz, Noah Syndergaard pitched much better than his line suggests. There was a lot to like about it. Had the Diamondback’s lineup not featured Jarrod Dyson, Syndergaard would’ve faced little-to-no resistance. Dyson accounted for three of the Diamondbacks’ six hits, and scored their only run in the top of the second inning. He was, for the most part, the only hitter who appeared to give Syndergaard fits during every trip to the plate.

The only other obstacle Syndergaard faced on Sunday afternoon came from a high early pitch count. Going into the fifth inning with 73 pitches to your name isn’t ideal, but the Mets’ ace was able to overcome. Syndergaard needed just 26 pitches to work the fifth, sixth and seventh — ending the day around the 100-pitch mark. Sure, his seven strikeouts and one walk were nice, but this is something we’ve waited to see Syndergaard do all season. It was good enough for his second-longest outing of the year.

Looking past outcomes, Syndergaard’s stuff looked great. His slider was sharp, getting five whiffs on seven swings, and his changeup was solid. This was also the first time all year we had seen Syndergaard touch 101 mph, according to Brooks Baseball. Syndergaard’s fastball sat in the high 90s all day, and up until his final pitches — touching 99 mph to Ketel Marte. Even when you consider how hefty the DBacks have struggled at the plate, Syndergaard featured a lot of positives that serve as a warning sign for opposing hitters. Thor is getting hot.

To finish the game, the Mets called upon Jerry Blevins to face David Peralta. Blevins, who returned after a short leave for the birth of his son, managed to strike out the only batter he was tasked to face. From there, Robert Gsellman slammed the door to record his first career save. With the five-out save, the righty lowered his season ERA to 2.76 and has now struck out 28 hitters in 29.1 innings. It is rather apparent that Gsellman, as well as teammate Seth Lugo, have benefited from a move out of the rotation.
Overall, the Mets bullpen was lights out against the Arizona Diamondbacks. For the three-game series, the bullpen worked nine innings and struck out 14 batters — allowing no runs, no walks and two hits. Sure, the Diamondbacks strikeout at one of the highest rates in all of baseball, but it is exciting to see the group pitching this well.

WHAT HAPPENED, THEN CAME THE SEVENTH:

When Jorge De La Rosa came into the game, he had already been given the rulebook. Just throw the ball to the glove, it should be fine today. It worked for Clay Buchholz! For two-thirds of an inning, this was largely true. He was able to set down Adrian Gonzalez on strikes, then Luis Guillorme on a bad drag bunt. Things were going great. With Tomas Nido due up, De La Rosa probably thought a clean slate was in the bag. As easy as they come.
Even as he watched the light-hitting catcher barely squeak one through into centerfield, he probably thought things would be fine. ‘It’s just one out,’ De La Rosa reasoned, ‘it’ll be fine.’ Well, that’s where he was wrong. He forgot that he broke the 14th unwritten rule: Don’t let Tomas Nido get a hit. The baseball gods, furious at this transgression, sent Asdrubal Cabrera to the plate with murderous intentions. Even after Cabrera deposited a baseball 400 feet away from home plate, retribution was not yet achieved. Though it seemed, to the casual onlooker, like Amed Rosario was coming to the plate with just the slimmest chance of realizing a two-homer day, it had already been decided. When everything was said and done, the Mets left the seventh inning with an unreachable 4-1 lead.

Thusly, it is canon that bad things happen once you surrender a hit to Nido.

WHAT HAPPENED, YESTERDAY:

Noah Syndergaard pitched well, the bullpen continued to do the same and Asdrubal Cabrera has achieved prophet status. All completely normal things to happen during the final game of the Mets first home sweep since 2016.

WHAT HAPPENS, TODAY:

The Mets welcome the Miami Marlins to town as they wrap up an 11-game homestand. Jason Vargas will get the start against Elieser Hernandez, as he looks to turn his early season woes around. The Mets sit in third place with a 23-19 record, just 3.5 games back of the Atlanta Braves.

Photo credit: Andy Marlin – USA Today Sports