Like so many of the seasons that have preceded it, 2018 limps into the dark with a whimper. It’s been a lost season for so long, it’s hard to know whether nights like last night — a tight game where the Mets matched an elite team inning after inning before exploding with some timely hitting — are heartening or even more devastating, given the brutal summer that preceded it. But here we are. Again.

Jason Vargas held the National League East champions scoreless, allowing only three hits and striking out six; he went into the seventh inning for the first (and last) time this season, and in his last start finally pitched like the player the Mets had paid for in the offseason. He will finish the year 7-9. His effort was helped by two great stops by Amed Rosario at short, and Robert Gsellman pitched into and out of trouble in the ninth for his 13th save.

All of the Mets four runs came off homers by catchers, a Kevin Plawecki solo shot in the third off Atlanta starter Julio Teheran (six innings, one run, five strikeouts), and a Devin Mesoraco three-run pinch-hit home run in the seventh off reliever Brad Brach.

The Mets host the Marlins for the final games of the season, with Corey Oswalt (3-3, 6.08) facing Jose Urena (8-12, 4.07). First pitch is 7.10 p.m.

The Mets actually put a run on the board in the top of the first before their ace even took the mound. Amed Rosario led off the ballgame with a double and later scored on Jay Bruce hit, giving the road team the early 1-0 lead. After mowing the Nationals down 1-2-3 with a pair of strikeouts in the first, deGrom did run into a little bit of a speed bump in the second, however.

After uncharacteristically walking Anthony Rendon to begin the frame, deGrom allowed a single to Washington rookie sensation Juan Soto, placing men on the corners with no out. Ryan Zimmerman then lifted a fly ball to center field to score the tying run via a sac fly.

New York responded right away the next inning though, which was really nice to see. With one out, Michael Conforto and Bruce doubled consecutively to reestablish the Mets lead, but they were far from done in the frame. Dom Smith singled home Bruce with a third run, and after Rendon committed an error on a Todd Frazier ground ball, the inning was prolonged for Devin Mesoraco. The Mets catcher, playing in his first game in almost three weeks, pounded a double to plate Smith, and while Frazier was waved home, he was gunned down the end the inning, with the Mets up 4-1.

That would prove to be all deGrom would need as he simply took it to another level after that. The right-hander retired 15 of the next 17 Nationals batters, completing his seven-inning outing with eight strikeouts and just three hits allowed. At only 98 pitches, it was somewhat surprising New York didn’t send him back out for the eighth, instead summoning Seth Lugo for a consecutive day. While the righty did allow a pair of Washington baserunners he was ultimately able to navigate through the inning unscathed, and when the Mets failed to add an insurance run in the ninth, it was Robert Gsellman time.

The final inning was a little nerve-wrecking for the visitors dugout, when Trea Turner led off with a double, and Bryce Harper nearly got the home team within one on a long fly ball to the opposite field that ultimately fell a couple feet short of the fence and into the waiting glove of Conforto. The Mets were not out of the woods though, as Rendon came up next and promptly singled into center, scoring Turner and getting the tying run to the plate. Gsellman stepped up though, striking out Soto and getting Zimmerman to fly out to end the game.

The victory evened deGrom’s record on the season at 9-9 and lowered his Major League best ERA to 1.77. If the Cy Young race isn’t over, it honestly probably should be.

Up next New York will send Corey Oswalt to the bump opposite Tanner Roark as they look to take a thirrd consecutive contest from their rivals in the nation’s capital.

It was a Jake vs. Jake battle on the mound, as former Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta made the start for the Phils. Arrieta turned in one of his best starts of the season: six innings, four hits, six strikeouts, no walks and just one run allowed. As his equal on Saturday knows all too well, any beautiful start can be wiped out quickly by your bullpen. Luis Garcia entered in the seventh and allowed a solo homer to Devin Mesoraco and a triple to Jeff McNeil that scored Amed Rosario, putting the Mets ahead 3-0.

The Phillies racked up seven hits against deGrom, but he was his usual freakishly good self with men on base, as he only allowed a single run to score on the afternoon. deGrom struck out nine in nine innings and didn’t walk a single Phillie, an impressive accomplishment considering the Phillies are the owners of one of the most disciplined lineups in the league.

(All credit to Jeffrey Paternostro for this brilliant piece of art)

McNeil continues to mightily impress, as he reached base three times and made an impressive play out at second Saturday. With a strong finish to the season, McNeil should theoretically have the second base job locked up for 2019. He may have to cede way to Andres Gimenez when the time comes, but he should be passable at third, which would give the Mets a dynamic, young infield along with Rosario and Peter Alonso.

It wasn’t just deGrom day in Philadelphia though, as BP writers met up at Citizens Bank Park for one of the final ballpark events of the 2018 season. It was my first time attending a BP ballpark event and I’ll proudly be the first to tell you it’s worth every single penny. Learning from some of the smartest minds the game has to offer is not an everyday occurrence, but four members of the Phillies analytics department – including head of R & D Andy Galdi – were extremely gracious with their time Saturday. They answered all of our questions – which to my surprise were very “shift” heavy – and offered valuable advice for those looking to work in baseball. If you can make it out to Target Field on Aug. 25, do it.

Photo credit: Gregory Fisher – USA Today Sports

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.

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

For the 51st time, it wasn’t the Mets.

WHAT HAPPENED, THE GOOD:

There were plenty of bad things that happened on Sunday, but cheer up. It wasn’t all for naught, right? There were…some good things that happened. Right? …Right. Here were the positives that came out of Sunday:

• Brandon Nimmo singled in the seventh to break up the Nathan Eovaldi perfect game
• Devin Mesoraco singled in the ninth inning
• Tyler Bashlor and Tim Peterson threw clean innings
• Jacob deGrom was selected to the 2018 National League All-Star team

Surely more happened, though. Well, uhh, I mean…there was [checks notes] a 9-0 game completed in under three hours?

WHAT HAPPENED, YESTERDAY:

The Mets started the day by dropping a series to the Tampa Bay Rays in style — being near-perfect game-d by Nathan Eovaldi amid a 9-0 loss. To make matters worse, the Mets ended the day with the realization of Brandon Nimmo as an egregious All-Star snub.

WHAT HAPPENS, TODAY:

Now just a game ahead of the Miami Marlins for the worst record in the National League, the Mets will face the red-hot Philadelphia Phillies four times in three days. With two games on Monday, the Mets will send Zack Wheeler and Corey Oswalt to the mound to face Aaron Nola and Zach Eflin. The Mets will surely face stiff competition as they attempt to not enter the All-Star break as owners of the title “worst team in the NL.”

Photo credit: Gregory Fisher – 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

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