Between a New York team with very little to play for and a Pittsburgh club almost on the edge of having something at stake, it was a lively game that turned into a laugher at PNC Park — and the Mets were not on the side of the crooked score you might expect. They won their third game in a row — also not something you would expect.

The important thing is that Steven Matz continued to progress, and pitched a sometimes gutsy, sometimes dominant game. Another important thing is how Asdrubal Cabrera, surely on the trading block this week, upped his marketability with two doubles, a home run, and four runs batted in.

Over the first four innings, the game fell into a quick cycle as the Mets would stake a lead that Matz promptly surrendered. The southpaw took the mound for the first time with a two-run lead, only to watch the Pirates tie the score in the bottom of the first. The Mets regained the lead, 4-2 in the third, only to watch the Pirates tie the game again. In the fourth, the Mets again put Matz in the lead, and this time it stuck.

Rookie Jeff McNeil provided some weird, bad baseball in his first major league start, misplaying a line drive and then running the Mets out of a rally in the fourth. With the bases loaded, Devin Mesoraco grounded to third, and Pittsburgh third baseman David Freese’s throw pulled Josh Bell off the bag, allowing Mesoraco to reach safely. McNeil ran from first to third, forcing a prone Jose Bautista to lamely jog into a tag at the plate.

The Mets got to Pirates starter Nick Kingham early and often, knocking him out after three-plus innings and lighting him up for six runs, all earned. Wilmer Flores and Asdrubal Cabrera homered against him.

Matz went six innings, and struck out the first five batters he retired — he struck out nine overall, tying a career high. Despite the early inability to hold leads early, his stuff was electric, with some extra speed on his fastball that he kept in on right-handed hitters and at the top of the strike zone. He retired the final ten batters he faced.

Jason Vargas (2-6, 8.60) takes the mound tonight against Ivan Nova (6-6, 4.28); first pitch will be at 7:05 p.m.

Photo credit: Charles LeClaire – USA Today Sports

In a lot of ways, this game was everything the Mets envisioned could be routine when they broke camp in March. Instead, given the way the Amazins played in the first half, last night was more of a mirage of what could have been.

The Mets certainly came out of the All-Star break on the attack against Yankees starter Domingo German. Brandon Nimmo led the game off with a walk and quickly scored two batters later when Asdrubal Cabrera lined a double into the right field corner. After German got Wilmer Flores to pop up, Conforto and Jose Bautista continued the damage, stringing together back-to-back run-scoring doubles to put the road team up 3-0 before Syndergaard even took the mound.

The big righty looked sharp early, and although he surrendered a pair of two-out singles in the first, the frame should almost certainly have been a clean one, as Amed Rosario simply whiffed on a very playable ground ball up the middle from Didi Gregorius. After an uneventful 2nd inning, the Mets extended their lead in the third, thanks to a towering lead-off homer from Cespedes in his first game back from the DL. The Bombers plated a run in the bottom of that inning on a sac fly from Giancarlo Stanton, but Syndergaard stranded two to prevent the Yankees from getting any closer.

The 4-1 New York (NL) advantage held until the fifth, when the Amazins mounted another rally, this time against righty reliever Adam Warren. Walks by Cespedes and Flores put two on with one out, and a Conforto single to left restored the Mets’ four-run lead. Two batters later, Flores would come around to score on a hit from Devin Mesoraco, giving the Mets a 6-1 lead. After Syndergaard stranded another runner in the fifth, a frame in which he scarily required a visit from the trainer, manager Mickey Callaway decided to err on the side of caution and remove his co-ace after five with his team up five.

Relief ace Seth Lugo entered in the sixth, and unfortunately he didn’t have his best stuff. Gary Sanchez and Greg Bird started the frame with back to back singles to put Lugo in immediate trouble. He did strike out Miguel Andujar to get his first out, but former Met Neil Walker then doubled in both runners to get the Yankees within striking distance at 6-3. Lugo returned to the mound in the seventh and continued to bend but not break, walking two and allowing a single, but stranding the bases loaded.

The Mets offense stalled a little in the later innings against Yankees relievers Chasen Shreve, Chad Green and Jonathan Holder, which allowed the Bombers to stay in this game, and they really started to make the road dugout uncomfortable in the eighth. With Robert Gsellman now on the hill, Brett Gardner hit a one-out grounder to Rosario who bobbled the play, giving the Bombers a free runner on the error. An Aaron Judge single, followed by a run-scoring double from Gregorius made that error loom extremely large as the inning progressed. Stanton drove in his second run of the contest on a ground ball to shortstop to get the Yankees within one run, but a big strikeout of Sanchez stranded the tying run 90 feet away.

In the road ninth, the Mets actually played strong situational baseball to generate a key insurance run. Cabrera led off with a single against A.J. Cole and advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Flores then pushed him to third with a ground ball to second, and Cabrera could later walk home on a long sac fly from Conforto.

As the Yankees prepared to hit in the bottom of the ninth, a new drama began to unfold. In a clear save situation, Jeurys Familia remained seated in the road bullpen wearing a jacket, a telling sign that he’s imminently being traded. Gsellman was the one who trotted out to the mound to attempt a to secure the save in his second inning of work, and while he did allow the Bombers to bring the tying run to the plate, the Mets perhaps new closer of the present was able to get the job done.

It has been about two months since the Mets have won a series but they’ll attempt to do it tomorrow with Steven Matz on the hill.

Photo credit: Brad Penner – USA Today Sports

Syndergaard wasn’t quite dominant, but he was plenty good enough Friday night, limiting the Nationals to only one run across an abbreviated 75-pitch, five-inning stint. And for a refreshing change of pace, the other segments of the Mets’ roster did their part to make a strong outing from a starter stand up.

After Syndergaard had kept Washington off the board in the first, New York’s offense came out swinging, jumping all over Nationals’ starter Tanner Roark from the get-go. The fist three Mets hitters, Brandon Nimmo, Asdrubal Cabrera and Jose Bautista all singled, getting the home team a lead before they had even made an out. After Michael Conforto tapped into a fielder’s choice, Wilmer Flores plated a second run with a sac-fly to left field. Catcher Devin Mesoraco then put the icing on the frame, lining the first pitch he saw into right to plate Conforto, and just like that New York was up 3-0.

Syndergaard himself extended the lead the next inning, singling home Amed Rosario who had led off the second inning with a triple, and the Mets’ 4-0 lead had them feeling pretty confident heading towards the middle innings.

Washington got on the board in the road 3rd after a fluke triple off the bat of Roark leading off the frame. He would come around to score on an RBI double from Wilmer Difo, but as was the case all night, Syndergaard limited the damage.

After Syndergaard departed after the fifth, the Mets’ bullpen actually pitched well across the second half of the game. Seth Lugo worked around a pair of walks in the 6th to put up a zero in that inning and the next one, before handing things over to Robert Gsellman. In the eighth, veteran first baseman Matt Adams touched Gsellman for a long solo homer to get the road team within two, but that’s as close as they would come.

New York has now evened their weekend series with the Nationals at one game a piece, and they’ll hope to win their second consecutive contest this afternoon behind Zack Wheeler.

After a thrilling and unexpected walkoff win Wednesday night against the Phillies, there was no reason to expect anything the next day. So it was thrilling to watch the Mets hold their own against the reigning Cy Young Award winner, knocking on the door and never letting the Nationals run away with the game, even bringing the winning run to the plate in the ninth.

It’s a sign of how painful it is to follow this team that minimal competence is exciting, but here we are, celebrating a professional start from their pitcher and an offense that acts like they at least belong in this league. That’s the 2018 Mets: looking up at the cellar.

For Washington, it was the Anthony Rendon and Bryce Harper show; the two players accounted for all five runs. The Nats’ third baseman drove in three runs with two homers off an otherwise very solid Steven Matz. Harper’s two-run home run came in the seventh off Jerry Blevins.

Jose Bautista accounted for the first two Mets runs — driving in Asdrubal Cabrera in the first, and then hitting a solo home run to lead off the fourth. Kevin Plawecki hit a solo home run off Scherzer in the seventh, and Asdrubal Cabrera hit a solo home run off Kelvin Herrera in the eighth. Plawecki led off the ninth with a single, putting the tying run on base, but Ryan Madson got the save, his fourth of the year.

Max Scherzer was strangely mortal last night, as the Mets touched him for three runs (two of them off home runs) in seven innings of work.

Matz provided a quality start, throwing exactly one hundred pitches in six and a third innings, striking out four, surrendering only the three runs off Rendon’s bat.

Tonight Noah Syndergaard (4-1, 3.06) makes his return off the DL versus Tanner Roark (3-11, 4.76); first pitch is at 7:10 p.m/

NOTES

The SNY broadcast team noted that July 12 was National Different Colored Eyes Day, which was fitting for a Max Scherzer start.

During any given start, Zack Wheeler can look like the ace many projected him to be once upon a time.

The problem though is that during any given start, Zack Wheeler can also look like a backend starter that should be moved to the bullpen.

The 6’4 right-hander is an enigma, as his performance out on the mound has never reached the level his stuff suggested it would. Wheeler will flash two plus offerings, including a heater that can reach 99 mph, but his command’s shaky and his health has been a major problem throughout his career.

It was a rough outing for the 28-year-old in the first game of Monday’s doubleheader, as he allowed seven hits and walked three more Phillies in his 4.2 innings of work. The Phils scored all three of their runs in the game off of Wheeler, which technically means the bullpen did its job!

Seth Lugo was shaky himself, as he walked four in almost three innings of work. Despite the walks, Lugo only allowed one hit and struck out three. There’s an argument to be made, a good one in fact, that Lugo should be in the rotation, but the Mets seemingly disagree. Lugo’s likely the Mets’ third-best starter at this point behind Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard, but has been relegated to swingman duty in a porous bullpen.

Two of the Mets’ three best hitters this season were the main source of the offense on the afternoon. Assuredly, no one had Asdrubal Cabrera, Jose Bautista and Brandon Nimmo down as the Mets’ best players at the midway point in the season, but here we are.

Cabrera got the scoring started for the Mets with a solo shot to tie the game in the home half of the first. Bautista then tied the game up at two apiece in the third with an RBI single that brought home Nimmo. A Cabrera double off the fence in right-center brought home Bautista to give the Mets their first lead of the afternoon.

Philadelphia tied the game with a Maikel Franco homer in their next turn at-bat and held the Mets bats scoreless until the bottom of the 10th.

Walkoff Wilmer struck again though, as the fan favorite launched a ball over the fence in left to put this one in the books. The win ensured at least a split in the doubleheader and gave the Mets their 36th win of the season.

Phillies 3, Mets 1

While Wheeler has flashed potential at the Major League level, thereby giving him an increasing number of chances at success, the same cannot be said for Corey Oswalt. Until Monday night that is, as Oswalt tossed his best game as Met, turning in a much-needed quality start for a team with a depleted bullpen.

Oswalt was on cruise control until the fifth, when he lost his perfect game (ha) and walked the bases loaded. In stepped Aaron Nola, the Phillies starter, who had just two hits in 34 prior at-bats. As luck would have it, Nola picked up hit No. 3 on the season and it was a good one, a line drive double down the chalk in right that cleared the bases and put the Phils ahead for good.

Both teams had just two hits on the evening, but Mets pitchers issued four free passes compared to Philadelphia’s two. Walkoff Wilmer came up again in the ninth and brought home the Mets only run of the evening on a double to center.

After Michael Conforto drew a walk to bring the winning run to the plate with two out, Gabe Kapler decided to bring in Victor Arano to face Devin Mesoraco. The move paid off, as Arano struck Mesoraco out swinging to end the ballgame.

The day didn’t go by without a questionable decision from the manager, who this time brought in Jerry Blevins before Odubel Herrera was officially announced as a pinch-hitter. This allowed Kapler to bring in a right-handed hitter instead of the left-handed hitting Herrera. Callaway was asked about the mistake after the game and instead insisted it was a well-executed plan to dare Kapler into sending Herrera out to face Blevins.

In other news, Drew Gagnon will make his first major league start tonight when he faces off against Enyel De Los Santos, who is also making his first major league start, in the rubber game.

 Photo credit: Adam Hunger – USA Today Sports

Jose Bautista appeared done earlier this year when the longtime Blue Jay was cut by Atlanta, but since signing with the Amazins, he’s become a surprisingly successful reclamation project. Bautista had hit 336 career home runs before Friday’s season opener with Tampa Bay, but he’d never crushed a game winning walk-off blast. He can now cross that off the bucket list.

The majority of the game went the way most of starter Jacob deGrom’s outings have gone for both him and the team. The ace righty was absolutely brilliant once again, pitching through the Rays lineup with ease all night long, but yet again he found himself unlikely to earn a win as the night progressed.

After deGrom had set down Tampa Bay in the first three frames with four strikeouts, New York got in the board in the home third thanks to a little help from the Rays defense. With one out, Brandon Nimmo hit a routine ground ball to short that Willy Adames threw away for a two base error. After Bautista drew a walk to put two on with one out, the Mets’ best trade candidate at the moment, second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera, singled through the hole into left field to score Nimmo with an unearned run.

deGrom tossed an easy 1-2-3 shutdown inning in the fourth after getting the lead, and the game started to feel like so many of his starts. He’d gotten his run, and now needed to try to shut the other team out to secure a victory. That hope came to an abrupt halt with two outs in the fifth, as Adames surprisingly crushed a game-tying solo homer to straightaway center. The Mets tried to respond in the sixth, when, after they got a one-out baserunner, Todd Frazier doubled to the gap in right center. The problem was the runner was Wilmer Flores, and third base coach Glenn Sherlock foolishly flapped his left arm to send the fan favorite home. Flores was gunned down by about 30 feet, and the Mets failed to score, sending this one to the later innings deadlocked at one.

deGrom would finish his night with yet another no decision, as after eight dominant innings New York went to closer Jeurys Familia in the ninth, and trouble immediately presented itself. Familia allowed a hit, a walk and hit a batter to load the bases with one out, but a force play at home and a strikeout got him out of trouble and gave the Mets a chance to walk this one off in the bottom of the ninth.

Leading off in the home ninth, Frazier drew a walk against Rays reliever Chaz Roe, setting up a fascinating presentation of National League baseball. Catcher Devin Mesoraco, who hadn’t had a successful sacrifice bunt since 2009 in class-A ball, was up next and his first few bunt attempts showed he didn’t really know what he was doing. In a somewhat surprising strategic adjustment, manager Mickey Callaway took the bunt off, and was rewarded when Mesoraco singled into left field. Amed Rosario then dropped a perfect sac bunt down to third, and New York was really in business with pinch-hitter Dom Smith walking to the plate.

Smith though, missed the memo. The former first round pick topped the first pitch he saw back to Roe for the innings’ second out, leaving Frazier pinned to third base. The Rays then chose to intentionally walk Nimmo, a strategy that didn’t work out to say the least. Tampa wanted the righty-righty match-up with Roe against Bautista, but Bautista sent the first pitch he saw deep into the second deck for a walk-off grand slam, sending the Flushing faithful home happy.

After one of the worst months in franchise history in June, the Mets have now won three of their first four contests in July, showing at least some level of competent play for a refreshing chance of pace. They’ll look to win a series for the first time in forever this afternoon, when left handers Steven Matz and Blake Snell take the hill for their respective squads.

Photo credit: Noah K. Murray – USA Today Sports

This series marked a return to Toronto for two formerly Very Talented Blue Jays, Jose Bautista and Jose Reyes. Bautista had a nice showing in Tuesday night’s game, and made an impact last night as well, recording a big RBI single in fifth inning. Reyes, on the other hand, went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. His wRC+ is at 36 for the season.

Corey Oswalt got the start for the Mets, and actually pitched competently this time around. He went just four innings, though he only threw 65 pitches, and allowed just two runs on five hits and one walk. Obviously, it wasn’t anything dominating, but it was much better than his last time out. Seth Lugo came in behind Oswalt, and the Mets basically wound up playing piggyback with the two pitchers. Lugo went three innings himself, only allowing three hits and a run while striking out two. He continues to be arguably the best part of the team’s bullpen.

And even though the two pitchers combined to give up three runs, it didn’t actually matter because the Mets offense, believe it or not, was able to score six runs for the second straight day. Down 1-0, a Brandon Nimmo single knotted the game up at 1-1 in the third, and then, down 2-1 in the fifth, Todd Frazier delivered the biggest blow of the night: a two-run homer to turn the game around and put the Mets in front. The Mets added three more runs in the inning on the afforementioned Bautista single, and run-scoring singles by both Asdrubal Cabrera and Michael Conforto. It was the Mets’ first sustained, one-inning rally in what feels like two months.

The combo of Oswalt/Lugo got the Mets through seven on the mound, and set it up for *gasp* the rest of the bullpen. But Jerry Blevins and Robert Gsellman tag-teamed the eighth inning and didn’t give up a hundred runs — in fact they didn’t give up any runs! Jeurys Familia then came on in the ninth to seal the deal, and the Mets triumphantly moved back within 14 games of first place.

OTHER NEWS OF THE DAY

Noah Syndergaard will begin a rehab assignment in Brooklyn Sunday and Yoenis Cespedes resumes baseball activities today. It would be cool if they both came back soon.

The Mets will push Zack Wheeler’s next start back to Monday in order to avoid taxing their bullpen in the doubleheader. The Mets will call someone up for the start, and it will likely be either P.J. Conlon or Chris Flexen.

WHAT’S NEXT

The Mets are off again today, but return home tomorrow to take on the Rays at Citi Field tomorrow night. Jacob deGrom takes the ball for the Mets, against Ryne Stanek of the Rays. First pitch is at 7:10 p.m.

Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski – USA Today Sports

Some of us are still watching these games, for whatever reason. Maybe we enjoy being frustrated on some level. Maybe we’re just too damn hot from the heat wave. Regardless of the reason, we didn’t even get the usual enjoyment of GKR, with Gary Apple and Ron taking over the broadcasting while the real Gary, Keith and Steve Gelbs all take a vacation.

With our commentary on the zeitgeist of being a Met fan out of the way, the pitching matchup; Marco Estrada for the Blue Jays and Zack Wheeler for the Mets. Both have heard their names come up in trade rumors, and it’s not impossible that any start for Wheeler might be his last in a Mets uniform. That offered a nice secondary plot point for Game 1 of the Jose Bautista revenge series.

Game recap

In an unfortunate turn, Estrada faced only three Mets before departing with an injury. He struck out Brandon Nimmo, then walked Bautista and allowed a home run to Asdrubal Cabrera, all while showing a significant velocity drop and a total lack of control. Jake Petricka replaced him and gave up another two-run home run in the second, this time to Devin Mesoraco. The Mets had a very quick 4-0 lead.

Wilmer Flores added another run with a solo shot in the fourth, extending his hitting streak to 10 games, but Wheeler was the real highlight at this point. Wheeler was perfect through three, before allowing a walk to old friend Curtis Granderson leading off the fourth. Teoscar Hernandez followed with a single but was thrown out at second, and Wheeler worked through the traffic on the basepaths to hold the Blue Jays off the board. Wheeler looked great, consistently living in the upper-90s and snapping off sharp breaking balls seemingly at ease.

Wheeler finally faltered in the eighth, when Granderson struck again with an RBI double after a walk and a hit by pitch. He bounced back with an eight pitch sixth, and the Mets picked him up with another run in the top of the seventh, when Michael Conforto drove in Nimmo (who had walked) with a double to stretch the Met lead to 6-1.

Mesoraco had to depart after being hit on a follow through, and maybe that’s where everything went wrong. More likely, it’s simply because the Mets bullpen is terrible. Wheeler struck out the first man he faced in the seventh before allowing a single to Randal Grichuk that Bautista botched into a triple. That was the end of Wheeler’s night, who was replaced by Anthony Swarzak. And here we go.

Swarzak got the first out, a ground ball from Lourdes Gurriel that scored Grichuk from third. He then walked Devon Travis, allowed a double to Granderson, threw a wild pitch that scored Travis, walked Teoscar Hernandez and got pulled from the game. Robert Gsellman replaced him and left a changeup too far out over the middle of the plate that Yangervis Solarte deposited in right field for a game-tying home run.

Tim Peterson allowed another two-run home run in the eighth, and the Mets couldn’t get anything done after putting two men on in the ninth. Bautista got on base four times and Wheeler was great, but the bullpen implosion blew a 5-0 lead and robbed Wheeler of a well-deserved win. He now has no wins since April 29, and the Mets are now 33-49 on the season.

Thoughts from the Game

It doesn’t need to be said, but GKR – particularly the first two – are a blessing from the baseball gods. Mets teams over the past decade-and-a-half have been mostly terrible but watching with excellent broadcasters makes things at least somewhat enjoyable. Put Gary Apple in the booth instead and we go from figuratively no reason to watch to literally no reason to watch.

As for the team itself, there are no new thoughts. The front office neglected to build a real bullpen and it’s consistently blown up in their face this season. Turns out when you sign a pop-up reliever who has one year of being good and 10 years of being terrible on his resume, you’re not going to improve your pitching staff very much. Shocking, that.

Other Mets News

Not much else to report here. Tim Tebow got hit in the head by a fly ball that turned into a triple in the Eastern League All-Star Game, which was sort of fun. Other than that, same old, same old.

Photo credit: Nick Turchiaro – USA Today Sports

The Mets…and Bobby Bonilla

WHAT HAPPENED, THE STEVEN MATZ SHOW:

Surprises are good. Well, maybe not the surprise itself, but sometimes they can result in good things. Take Steven Matz, for example. In a season which has presented itself as the least entertaining dumpster fire you will surely continue to rubberneck, Matz has been alright. Coming off an injury-filled season where he posted a 6.08 ERA in 66.2 innings of work, there were legitimate questions about what Matz would become. For all those questions, which were justified given the extent of his elbow-issues, Matz has pitched well.
Of course, the Miami Marlins were his opponent on Sunday. And, of course, we’re witnessing a different Steven Matz than the one able to sit consistently in the upper 90s. His stuff isn’t overwhelming, but it worked well enough. His slider worked well, especially late in counts. All told, Matz put up six strikeouts across 5.1 innings, walking two and allowing just one run. Of the three hits he allowed, only one went for extra bases.
Also of note, Matz drove in a run at the plate! So just like cornhole, the runs cancel out. Therefore Matz didn’t actually allow an earned run. Those are the rules!
The start for Matz was a good sign for a team in need of, at the very least, decent starting pitching. With less than two weeks to the All-Star Break, the Mets still have no clear timetable for Noah Syndergaard’s return. Lefty Jason Vargas is said to be closer, though the usual Mets injury news caveat applies. If the Mets can continue to get six-ish innings of mid-3 ERA ball from Steven Matz, they’ll take it. At this point, the biggest worry and focal point should be injury-prevention. The deeper into starts Matz can go, the better Mickey Callaway can space out the bullpen — which helps the entire staff.

WHAT HAPPENED, THE RETURN OF THE AS-MAN:

It was a rocky start to June for Asdrubal Cabrera. After kicking off the year to the tune of .303/.344/.529 in 224 trips to the plate, Cabrera cooled off considerably. The veteran spent the first two weeks of June going an abysmal .095/.116/.190 in 43 plate appearances. If only there was a discernible reason for this stretch. You know, like a list that could be used to describe the issues Cabrera was dealing with. Maybe give him some additional rest in case he was struggling with — oh, I don’t know — a hamstring injury? One that lasts for literally 10 days? If only one of those existed, or management was competent enough to utilize it. What a world that would be.
Of late, however, Cabrera has turned his fortunes around. Including a solo home run and a walk from Sunday’s action, Cabrera has posted a strong .339/.403/.536 slash over his last 62 trips to the plate. This is a fantastic sign. As I alluded to, though, it is likely more of an indication that Cabrera is feeling much better. That he is, once again, healthy. It’s good news for those of you who like watching good baseball and good hitters. It’s also good news for those of you who enjoy the vision of just how many mid-level minor league relievers the Mets will acquire for him as we approach the trade deadline. See, everybody wins when Asdrubal Cabrera is healthy!

WHAT HAPPENED, YESTERDAY:

Well, it was a win. And if June was any indication, those are very hard to come by. It probably won’t get that bad again. It can’t get that bad again, right? Right…right? Either way, it feels much better having already achieved 20 percent of the prior-month win-total. Steven Matz pitched well, Asdrubal Cabrera homered. Todd Frazier picked up a few hits, as well, as he reached base in each game of the series. There were plenty of good signs to come from Sunday, but it was the Marlins. So take it with a grain of salt, I guess.

WHAT HAPPENS, TODAY:

The Mets have Monday off, which might set the tone for some much needed reflection. Following the 81st game last season, the Mets were 38-43. We were all made to write off 2017 as a fluke, or at least buy in to the explanation that improved health would lead to improved results. We were made to believe 2018 was supposed to be better. At this point, if you haven’t realized that sentiment is woefully and naïvely optimistic, then I don’t really know what to tell you. The Mets are now 33-48. They sit a half-game above the worst team in the National League. A team that just took two of three from them.
If you want to know how this gets better, there is only one answer. You do not trade Jacob deGrom. You do not trade Syndergaard. It really doesn’t matter if you change out every coach in the organization. All that matters is that the man who replaces them will still look to fill their shoes with someone similar. Nothing matters, nothing changes, without any move being matched with a change in ownership. Whether you want them to spend more or you want the Wilpons to stop micromanaging or you want the Wilpons to face Mets fans. All of those reasons are valid. All of those reasons are where any ‘where do we go from here’ conversation should begin.

Photo credit: Jason Vinlove – USA Today Sports

Tuesday afternoon at Citi Field began with an impromptu press conference to shockingly announce GM Sandy Alderson was taking a leave of absence immediately due to health complications. The former marine’s cancer has unfortunately returned, and the team announced that his three lieutenants, John Ricco, Omar Minaya and J.P. Ricciardi, will collectively run the club’s baseball operations department indefinitely. While ownership had prior knowledge of what Alderson was going through, manager Mickey Callaway, the coaches and the players were all in the dark, and it had to be a lot to take in shortly before playing a baseball game.

Once the game began, left-hander Steven Matz continued to quietly throw like a top of the rotation starter, holding Pittsburgh hitless through the first four innings. New York plated two runs in the bottom of the first thanks to a two-run single from Wilmer Flores, and as the game approached the middle innings it was looking like that may be enough for Matz.

These are the 2018 Mets though, and nothing can be that easy.

After facing the minimum through four, Matz allowed hits to the first four Pirates in the fifth, including RBIs from Jose Osuna and Gregory Polanco to even the game at two apiece. That score held into the seventh, when Polanco and Michael Conforto traded two-out solo homers to send the ballgame into the eighth at 3-3.

Struggling righty Anthony Swarzak was first out of the New York bullpen, and he did little to snap out of his recent slump, allowing a hit and a walk and leaving a mess for Jeurys Familia to clean up. The first batter Familia faced, David Freese, slapped a routine double play ground ball to shortstop, and it was here the game took yet another interesting turn. Jose Reyes fed Asdrubal Cabrera at second base for one out, but Pirates second baseman Josh Harrison went in hard, preventing Cabrera from getting anything on the throw to first and keeping the inning alive. Familia took exception to the hard-nosed play, jawing at Harrison as he exited the field, causing the benches to briefly clear. Cabrera for his part acknowledged it was a clean play, strangely hugging Harrison in the middle of the chaos to try to calm him down. Familia did seem to lose focus on the next hitter, walking Elias Diaz to load the bases, but then got Osuna to ground out to end the frame with the game still tied.

Both clubs went down reasonably quiet for the next couple frames, sending this contest to the bottom of the 10th with New York given the chance to walk the game off. And they immediately had themselves in position to do so. Conforto led the inning off with a walk, and advanced to second on a single from Todd Frazier. After a weak bunt attempt by Cabrera ended with a pop-up to the pitcher, up stepped the Mets’ walkoff extraordinaire, Wilmer Flores.

The favorite son ripped an 0-1 offering from Pittsburgh lefty Steven Brault down the left field line to win the game, already his third walkoff winner of 2018. Flores now has 9 career walkoff RBIs, tying David Wright for the most in franchise history.

Tonight the Mets and Bucs will play the rubber game of the series, with Zack Wheeler and Ivan Nova toeing the rubber for their respective squads.

Photo credit: Brad Penner – USA Today Sports