The Mets have a nice little three-game win streak going, and they even got Jacob deGrom a win Monday. Brandon Nimmo is one of the best hitters in baseball, Michael Conforto is heating up and Jay Bruce is finally going on the DL. Things are almost looking up.

Oh, except for the fact that Jason Vargas is starting in Coors Field. With Dom Smith starting in left field. Great.

Game Recap

Things started off well for the Mets, with Brandon Nimmo and Asdrubal Cabrera singling to lead off the first. Two fly outs late, Nimmo scampered home with the game’s first run. In a very predictable turn, that lead lasted all of fifteen minutes, as Jason Vargas allowed a single and a double to Charlie Blackmon and Nolan Arenado with one out in the first. Nimmo lost a fly ball in the lights and a run scored. Ian Desmond followed with a single of his own, and the Rockies had a 2-1 lead.

The Mets got that run right back in the top of the second, when Wilmer Flores led off with a double and scored one batter later on a single from Kevin Plawecki. Things stayed quiet for the bottom of the second and the top of the third, but that was just the calm before the storm that was the bottom half of the third.

Walking through that inning in paragraph form is simply too tedious, so here it is in a list:

• Charlie Blackmon singles on a ground ball that Amed Rosario should have handled
• Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story and Ian Desmond hit back-to-back-to-back home runs to give the Rockies a 6-2 lead.
• Carlos Gonzalez grounds out.
• Chris Iannetta is hit by pitch. Jason Vargas is replaced by Hansel Robles.
• Noel Cuevas doubles off the foul line on the left field wall. Chris Iannetta scores.
• German Marquez (the pitcher) singles on a sharp line drive to right field. Noel Cuevas scores.
• DJ LeMahieu and Charlie Blackmon walk. Bases loaded, one out.
• Nolan Arenado strikes out. Trevor Story grounds out.

The Rockies sent twelve men to the plate, scored six runs and took an 8-2 lead. This implosion surprised exactly no one.

Carlos Gonzalez added a solo shot off of Robles in the fourth, and the Mets found themselves in a 9-2 hole. In any other ballpark, that’s game over, but in Coors, and against the current Rockies bullpen, the Mets still had a chance.

The Mets did manage to chip away, but they did it in the most frustrating way possible. They got two runs back in the fifth, but ran themselves out of the inning when Cabrera was inexplicably caught between second and third on a ball in the dirt that didn’t really go anywhere. Chris Beck, whose presence on the team is still baffling, gave one of those runs right back. Jose Bautista drove in another run in the seventh before the Mets loaded the bases, but Michael Conforto and Todd Frazier couldn’t get anything done, though another run scored on a passed ball.

Heading to the ninth, the Mets were down 10-6, but the Rockies weren’t done dangling the victory out there for the taking. Jose Reyes walked and a throwing error put runners on second and third with no outs. Two groundouts brought in two runs, but that brought Conforto to the plate with two outs and no one one with the Mets down two. A very generous strike three call ended the 10-8 loss.

The loss snaps what had been a brief run of slightly better baseball for the Mets, dropping their record to 31-39. Seth Lugo takes on Chad Bettis this evening in another episode of Coors Field baseball.

Thoughts from the Game

Shockingly, a first baseman with 20 grade speed has terrible range in the outfield. Smith chased after soft fly balls at a glacial pace in left field, and there were at least two balls that should have been caught that he came nowhere close to. He clearly has the arm for the outfield, but the instincts and raw speed are totally lacking. That said, it’s not a terrible experiment for a Mets team that is clearly out of it, particularly when Peter Alonso has clearly surpassed Smith on the first-baseman-of-the-future list. Just don’t expect this experiment to bear any meaningful fruit.

Any other thoughts at this point are simply related to how it’s too late in the evening to be doing this. Coors Field + rain delay + terribly pitching makes for a very tired east coast writer who has a meeting at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

Other Mets News

Jay Bruce is finally, finally going on the DL. He’s suffered from knee, foot and back issues this season, and has clearly been a shell of his former self. Right hander Tim Peterson took his place on the roster, leaving the Mets with a four-man bench for the time being. This move was long overdo, symptomatic of the Mets’ long standing practice of refusing to DL players who are clearly compromised. Bruce is signed for the next three years on a deal we all know the Mets won’t just eat, so hopefully the time off can turn him back into at least a serviceable bat.

In other injury news, AJ Ramos will have shoulder surgery, ending his season and his Mets tenure. The Mets traded a marginally useful prospect (Merandy Gonzalez) for the 38.2 innings from a mediocre-at-best reliever, as well as the right to pay said reliever $9 million on a tight budget this year. All because this front office will always fight tooth and nail to overpay on short term, making their already poorly allocated budget even more inefficient. So it goes for the Mets.

Photo credit: Ron Chenoy – USA Today Sports

It seemed like the same old story was unfolding at Chase Field: a decent outing by a starting pitcher, anemic offense and an imploding bullpen would converge for a desultory loss by the Mets in Arizona. And other than a late rally and generally close game, things otherwise followed the script.

Jason Vargas, who is the first pitcher in Mets history to not go more than five innings in any of his first eight starts, pitched lasted five, allowing three runs and striking out five, keeping the team within striking distance, helped in no small part by Todd Frazier sparking two double plays behind him.

The Mets had clawed to within a run by the time Vargas gave way to Hansel Robles, who pitched a scoreless sixth; Robles and Jerry Blevins teamed up to load the bases with two out in the seventh, yielding to Paul Sewald, who forced in a run, walking Nick Ahmed before managing to strike out Paul Goldschmidt. Jacob Rhame made the bullpen’s efforts not to be terrible for naught, surrendering two solo home runs to David Peralta and Jake Lamb in the eighth.

The Mets’ three runs came on solo homers: Brandon Nimmo in the first inning, his ninth; Michael Conforto beginning to right the ship with a booming home run to center field in the sixth, his eighth of the year; and Amed Rosario off Archie Bradley in the top of the eighth. They were the only hits the Mets scratched out, aside from a single by Dominic Smith in the fifth.

Former Mets draft pick Matt Koch went six innings for Arizona, yielding two runs and striking out five. Brad Boxberger earned his fifteenth save. Just another night in paradise.

Seth Lugo (2-1, 1.77) will face Zach Godley (6-5, 4.97) tonight at 9:40 p.m.

Photo credit: Rick Scuteri – USA Today Sports

The Mets fell to 27-27 with a desultory display against the Cubs on a foggy night in Flushing where outfielders lost balls in the haze. It was a fitting backdrop behind the team falling to .500, as it’s not clear if the Amazins are coming or going; after all, the best news coming out of the organization today was that David Wright played a game of catch.

Coming in to last night’s game, Brandon Nimmo had the second-highest WAR on the Mets roster at 1.5 (trailing only Jacob deGrom’s 3.4). Nimmo was the first Met run (in the eighth inning, homering to center), while Kyle Schwarber — who trails Nimmo’s WAR (1.4) — was in the middle of all the Cubs’ scoring this night.

It was the tale of two bullpens, as the Mets took a page out of Tampa Bay’s book, with reliever Seth Lugo taking the mound to start with the Mets rotation reeling from injuries. Lugo turned in four stellar innings to start the game, surrendering only three hits and shutting out Chicago after 60 pitches.

Hansel Robles made a mess of things in the top of the fifth. After walking Kyle Schwarber to lead off the inning, he managed to retire the next two hitters before Ben Zobrist hit a two-run homer over the 380-foot sign in right center field, putting the Cubs ahead. Jerry Blevins came in in the top of the sixth and got two outs before surrendering a double to Baez and RBI hit to Schwarber. Buddy Baumann allowed another run in the seventh and loaded the bases before being replaced by Scott Copeland, who promptly struck out Javier Baez. Gerson Bautista surrendered a run in the top of the ninth.

For the Cubs, Jose Quintana was solid, sprinkling three hits over six innings, surrendering no runs. The only threat came in the third, when the Mets loaded the bases to no avail. Other than Nimmo’s home run in the eighth, the Cubs bullpen was flawless until the ninth, when Pedro Strop walked Michael Conforto and Jay Bruce with two outs. Brandon Morrow got Amed Rosario to ground out for the final out.

The Mets take on the Cubs tonight at 7.10 p.m. at Citi Field. Tyler Chatwood (3-4, 4.10) will take the mound for the Cubs, against Zach Wheeler (2-4, 5.40).

Photo credit: Andy Marlin – 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

Going into Tuesday’s game, Jason Vargas had a 16.20 ERA and a 5.40 HR/9. Luis Castillo had a 7.01 ERA and a 1.82 HR/9. Great American Ball Park allows almost 10% more home runs than the average ballpark. The Mets and Reds combined for 15 extra base hits Monday night, including seven home runs. All the ingredients were in place for a real laser show.

Game recap

Vargas certainly got that memo, as Cincinnati rolled through him for the get-go. The Reds had three hits, two runs and a hit batter before Vargas recorded an out in the first inning, and they added two more runs in the bottom of the third. Surprisingly, nothing left the yard, but batters were hitting everything Vargas dished out hard. He departed after four innings in a 4-0 whole, an outing that actually lowered his ERA to 6.75.

Castillo, meanwhile, saw that memo and decided to shred it. Whatever mechanical tweak he made in his last start carried over, and the Mets were totally flummoxed by his fastball-changeup combination. Amed Rosario had the Mets’ first hit with two outs in the fifth, and that was the only baserunner they managed for the first five innings.

Things at least got a bit interesting in the sixth, when Wilmer Flores hit a solo home run to cut the Read lead to 4-1. Three batters later, Castillo was oddly pulled after only 81 pitches, and the Mets went to work against Amir Garrett with two out and two on. Jay Bruce and Adrian Gonzalez walked to force in a run, but Mickey Callaway made a very odd decision to pinch hit with Brandon Nimmo against a lefty despite having three right-handed bats (Juan Lagares, Devin Mesoraco and Jose Lobaton) on the bench.

Missing that opportunity stung, but in the end, it didn’t really matter. Hansel Robles came in with a runner on third and one out in the bottom of the seventh and promptly served up two singles, a walk and a home run that stretched the Reds’ lead to 7-2. And, because it’s the Mets, Robles finished his outing by getting injured fielding a bunt, forcing Paul Sewald into the game after throwing 28 pitches in 1.2 innings Monday (it only took him five pitches to get through 1.1 innings Tuesday, so it could have been worse).

The Mets put together another threat in the top of the eighth, but Gonzalez hit into another one of those inexplicable double plays where you realize he has less foot speed than your average cheese sandwich, and the Mets didn’t score. A Lagares single in the ninth led to nothing, and the Mets lost 7-2. It has been almost a month since the Mets won back-to-back games (April 11 and 12), and their record now sits at 18-16.

Thoughts from the game

Wow, almost like the Mets didn’t adequately address their pitching staff last season. Maybe when your starters have a 4.43 ERA (11th worst in the majors) and your bullpen’s ERA is pushing four, you should do more than add a pop-up reliever and a 35-year-old starter with a career ERA of 4.25. Just a thought.

With Todd Frazier out, there is no reason why Wilmer Flores should not be starting every day. Instead, Mickey Callaway turned to Jose Reyes and his .128/.171/.205 batting line to fill in. Hopefully that decision won’t stick, because a decent proportion of the Met fan population will blow several gaskets if they have to sit through two or three weeks of Reyes playing everyday when younger, better, more interesting options abound.

Other Mets news

The big news of the day was the Matt Harvey trade, of course. After drawing comparisons to Tom Seaver early in his career, Harvey was shipped off to the same team as The Franchise, as the Mets sent him to Cincinnati in exchange for catcher Devin Mesoraco. The Reds will be paying the remainder of Mesoraco’s salary while the Mets pick up the rest of Harvey’s, essentially reallocating those funds to a lottery ticket in an area of extreme need. Objectively, this is a great return. It’d be tough for Matt Harvey to have less value at this point, and the Mets some help for a catching tandem that has hit .164/.247/.233 since Kevin Plawecki and Travis d’Arnaud went down in early April.

That’s not to say that Devin Mesoraco will for sure be the answer. Over the past three seasons, he’s has been healthy for all of 95 games, compiling -0.6 WARP. The upside is his 2014 season, when Mesoraco was an All Star and posted a .273/.359/.534 line en route to 4.9 WARP. The litany of injuries (both hip labrums, left shoulder labrum, left foot fracture) have sapped his framing ability, but he’s not a total disaster behind the plate, and even a little bit of competency with the bat would make him an upgrade. If you’re feeling optimistic, people around the Reds supposedly think he’s healthy for the first time in years, for whatever that’s worth.

As stated earlier, Todd Frazier was placed on the 10-day DL after fighting through a hamstring injury for the last couple of weeks. Luis Guillorme will reportedly be called up to add some extra infield depth, with Tomas Nido expected to head back to the minors. P.J. Conlon was also optioned back to Triple-A, with Corey Oswalt being recalled to give the Mets bullpen a bit of extra depth.

Photo credit: Aaron Doster – USA Today Sports

The Ian Desmond-led Colorado Rockies

WHAT HAPPENED, NOAH SYNDERGAARD DID NOT HAVE A NICE START:

The easiest thing to do is to start with the negative.
Sept. 7, 2016 was the last time Noah Syndergaard issued four free-passes in one start. In fact, over 68 career big league starts, Syndergaard had walked four or more batters just three times. In start number 69, that number would grow to four. He also surrendered a home run to Ian Desmond, which is less than ideal.
As Gary and Keith discussed on the SNY broadcast, Syndergaard just isn’t missing as many bats with his harder stuff as we are used to seeing. While they might be right, there is one reason that makes the most sense. Leading up to this start, we know that Syndergaard is getting more swings on his fourseam fastball and less swings on his sinker. Both are, for the most part, not good. Why? Thor isn’t getting whiffs on these pitches at the rates he typically does. In addition, he is doing things that would make sense as to why hitters are reacting this way. More pitches outside the strike zone with his sinker, more ‘grooved‘ fourseamers. But, at the end of the day, these differences aren’t greatly noticeable.
Is there something wrong with his pitches? No, not really. His spin rates look great, some have even increased. If you wanted a difference to point to, it’s that Syndergaard’s velocity down just enough to mention. This is easy to write off, and probably means nothing, as most pitchers aren’t throwing their hardest in April and May. After two mediocre starts in a row, there are a couple potential reasons/flags to watch. Maybe Syndergaard needs to utilize his high-velo/spin rate mix by pitching higher in the strike zone with his fastballs. Maybe he could lean even more on his offspeed pitch-mix.
The main, and correct, one? We’re just too freaking greedy.
For all the worrying, Syndergaard still worked six innings and held the Rockies to just two runs. He left Sunday’s outing with a lower season ERA than the one he entered with. After loading the bases with no outs to start the third inning, the only damage came from a walked-in run. Syndergaard worked himself out of each jam presented, despite most being the kind he created. While he didn’t look comfortable on the mound all day, this just seems to be a case of Thor working through some early season struggles — relatively speaking. It is certainly not the time to hit the panic button.

WHAT HAPPENED, THE IAN DESMOND GAME:

As all truly mediocre hitters do, Ian Desmond came into Sunday batting .282/.341/.490 against the Mets over his career. Having already homered off Syndergaard in the second — and despite the fact that Jerry Blevins and AJ Ramos worked a clean seventh inning — the righty was out for more. He could smell blood. He needed more.
Enter Hansel Robles, who promptly provided Desmond with the home run he desired. After giving the Rockies a 3-2 lead, Desmond knew it would be enough. It was the Sabbath, after all. He rested.

WHAT HAPPENED, THE FIRST IS THE EASIEST (AND THE ONLY):

The Mets showed up to hit in the first inning, kicking things off with three straight singles and a sac fly. After trips to the plate by Juan Lagares, Yoenis Cespedes, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Todd Frazier, the Mets held an early 2-0 lead — the first in a week. That joyous occasion would quickly halt, as the bats would stay dormant until the ninth inning. One batter after a Wilmer Flores walk in the ninth, Adrian Gonzalez would dump a hit into left field — putting runners on first and second with two outs.
The fun would stop there, as Tomas Nido would be called upon to pinch hit with the winning run at first base. Why, you ask? Brandon Nimmo subbed in for an injured Yoenis Cespedes after the first inning, Michael Conforto pinch hit in the seventh and Jose Reyes was put in to run for Flores after his walk. The decision ultimately came down to letting Jose Lobaton or Nido hit, with Mickey Callaway deciding in favor of the latter —using Gonzalez to hit in Lobaton’s place. The decision proved futile, as Nido struckout to frisbee-thrower Adam Ottavino to end the game.

WHAT HAPPENED, YESTERDAY:

Syndergaard didn’t have his best stuff, but was able to work through six innings of two-run ball. At the plate, the Mets looked to have a promising afternoon ahead of them. In the end, however, they were stymied by Colorado lefty Kyle Freeland — extending their losing streak to six games.

WHAT HAPPENS, TODAY:

The Mets start a three-game series with the Cincinnati Reds, which could not possibly have come at a better time. The Mets will send rookie P.J. Conlon to the mound for his Major League debut, and will square off against Homer Bailey. Maybe a small ballpark and a guy named Homer will help restart the Mets at the plate.

Photo credit: Gregory Fisher – USA Today Sports

The unimaginable has happened, folks, as the New York Mets finally lost a baseball game. After Friday night’s thrilling 6-4 victory over the Brewers extended the winning streak to nine, the Mets sent Matt Harvey to the hill Saturday in search of number ten. Milwaukee sent out staff ace Chase Anderson, hoping to get back over .500 on the young season.

It was a cold April night in Flushing, 55 degrees and windy, but the Mets bats were somehow even colder. The Metropolitans couldn’t get anything going against Anderson, who held them hitless through four and two-thirds before an Amed Rosario infield single broke up the no-hitter. During the aforementioned nine consecutive wins, the Mets were scoring an average of exactly five runs per game. Saturday was a different story though, as the Mets could only muster three hits on the evening, all singles.

Harvey made his third start of the season for the Mets, producing an outing much more reminiscent of his second start than his first; he was tagged for four runs on eight hits Saturday, and the damage came via the long ball. After a clean first inning, Harvey gave up a leadoff double to Travis Shaw and walked Domingo Santana to start the second. Harvey got Eric Sogard to strike out swinging for the first out of the inning but ran into trouble against Jonathan Villar. Jose Lobaton called for a fastball away, a pitch Harvey executed, but Villar sliced it down the left field line for a three-run home run to open the scoring. It wasn’t a bad pitch by Harvey, but Villar squared it up, as Statcast had the ball with an exit velocity of 103 mph. Harvey looked shocked on the mound afterward, as what seemed to be a foul ball carried over the fence in fair territory, likely due to the high winds in Queens. The Brewers’ only other run off Harvey came on a 92 mph fastball right down the middle that Jett Bandy sent to the moon.

It was easy to be encouraged after Harvey’s first start of the season against Philadelphia, where he allowed only one hit and struck out five over five innings. His last two starts have resembled the 2017 Harvey though, as he’s given up four runs to both Washington and Milwaukee, forcing the Mets to the bullpen earlier than they would’ve liked. He failed to pitch into the sixth inning Saturday and has not been able to exceed five innings pitched for a Met record eleventh consecutive start.

Harvey’s second consecutive bad outing could have massive ramifications for his spot in the starting rotation. With free-agent acquisition Jason Vargas close to a return, Mickey Callaway and Sandy Alderson are going to have a big decision to make in the coming weeks. It’s been quite the fall from grace for the right-hander, who earned the moniker “The Dark Knight” and was once must-see TV every time he took the bump. Of course, I did say that Harvey would have an ERA below 3.70 this season (that’s not looking too good, but hey, it’s early.) If I had to guess, Callaway and Alderson are going to give Harvey one more turn in the rotation to show why he deserves to stay. That next turn is currently scheduled for the opening game of a four-game series against the second place Atlanta Braves next Thursday. Although I expect Harvey to get the start, it’s assuredly not out of the realm of possibility that someone else is throwing the first pitch.

On the other side of the diamond, Chase Anderson was terrific all night for Milwaukee, but Craig Counsell pulled a Don Mattingly and went to the bullpen with Anderson at only 87 pitches after six and a third. Rosario and Yoenis Cespedes got the only hits off Anderson, both singles, and neither was hit particularly hard. Counsell brought Jeremy Jeffress to secure the final two outs of the seventh, and Todd Frazier singled to right for the Mets’ only other hit of the evening.

With closer Corey Knebel on the DL, Milwaukee leads the majors in blown saves this season with an almost-hard-to-believe seven in only 15 games. Counsell turned to Josh Hader, a former top 100 prospect, for a two-inning save. The Mets had to be happy to see anyone besides Anderson, but Hader struck out the first five batters he faced and induced a fly out from Bruce to finish off the win.

In other Met news, Hansel Robles was up to his usual tricks, as he struck out Villar and Bandy before allowing a solo homer to Orlando Arcia to close the scoring. It’s unclear if Robles will see high leverage work moving forward, but Met fans are seemingly growing tired of his penchant for pointing at every single fly ball he gives up.

One positive that came from last night’s game was the return of Paul Sewald. It’s unclear why Sewald has been so seldom used to start the year, but he earned himself more work with his performance Saturday. Called on in relief of Harvey, he was terrific in only his third appearance of the season, facing the minimum in his three innings, striking out five and potentially passing The Pointing Guy on the bullpen totem pole. The successful outing was a big relief for the Mets bullpen, which has been extremely busy to start the season due to the rotation’s inability to pitch into the sixth inning.

The Mets will send out Noah Syndergaard (2-0, 3.94) against Jhoulys Chacin (0-1, 6.59) in today’s rubber game.

Photo credit: Adam Hunger – USA Today Sports

Times are good in Mets land. Panic City is a ghost town, as the Mets have jumped out to an incredible start, running the best record in baseball and tying a club record for best start to a season. The good times were set to keep rolling, with Jacob deGrom taking the mound against the Marlins and left hander Caleb Smith. Jay Bruce got a day off, with Juan Lagares slotting into center field and Michael Conforto shifting to right. Adrian Gonzalez also received a day off, with Wilmer Flores taking over at first.

Game Recap

The Mets got their offense going early, with Conforto leading off the game with a single.  Two batters later, Wilmer Flores lined a double to left field to drive in the first run of the game. Todd Frazier followed with a walk, but the Mets ultimately stranded both him and Flores as Asdrubal Cabrera and Kevin Plawecki struck out.

Cabrera made up for his strikeout in the fourth, as he launched his first right-handed home run (second overall) of the year in the top of the fourth to push the lead to 2-0. Another insurance run came in the fifth, when Amed Rosario ripped a double to left field and scored on Conforto’s RBI single, giving the Met a three-run lead.

With Jacob deGrom on the mound against the skeletal remains of what was once the Marlins, one would figure a 3-0 lead would be more than enough. And, since it’s the Marlins, it wasn’t. Three softly hit ground balls and a sacrifice fly brought home two runs for Miami in the bottom of the fifth, bringing up Justin Bour as the go-ahead run. The only remaining power threat in the Marlins lineup, Bour took a high fastball out to left field for his first home run of the year to give the Marlins a 4-3 lead.

This Mets team is resilient, however, having responded with a run in the next half inning after their opponents scored in eleven of twenty two opportunities. That trend continued; Frazier led off with a double, moved to third on a fly out on a great piece of aggressive baserunning, then scored on a sacrifice fly from Juan Lagares to tie the game at four.

deGrom returned for the sixth, which was a very perplexing decision with the Mets carrying nine relievers and deGrom’s velocity clearly down. He made it through unscathed, however, adding two more strikeouts as he finished his outing after six innings. Though it felt at times like deGrom didn’t have his best stuff, he generated 14 swinging strikes and striking out six, walking one and suffering from some rough BABIP en route to allowing four runs.

After a quiet top of the seventh, Jacob Rhame took the mound, and the Marlins’ incredible ground-ball-hole-finding ability made another appearance. Derek Dietrich lead off with a ground ball that Cabrera could not field well enough to make a good to first. Rhame worked through the next two hitters, but Bour struck again with another two-run, opposite-field home run on a fastball up and away to give the Marlins a 6-4 lead.

At this point, tradition would usually dictate the Mets just fold up shop in Miami, but the 2018 Mets have so far been a different team. Leading off the top of the eighth against Kyle Barraclough (career 0.38 HR/9, .258 wOBA allowed to righties), Flores launched his first home run of the year to cut the deficit to one. Cabrera followed that up with a titanic home run of his own, this time from the left side of the plate to re-tie the game at 6, conjuring memories of this magical play/call late in the 2015 season.

Momentum is a myth in baseball, but it sure as hell felt like it existed and the Mets had a ton of it. Hansel Robles danced around trouble in the bottom of the eighth. In the top of the ninth, Rosario reached on a throwing error with one out and Conforto walked to set the table for the struggling Yoenis Cespedes. Slump be damned, Cespedes hit a hard ground ball that ate up Brian Anderson and scored two runs, restoring the Mets’ lead.

Jeurys Familia entered for the bottom of the ninth and had one of his wonderful quiet outings. He sandwiched a strikeout of Bour between two ground outs from Starlin Castro and Anderson. The 8-6 victory was their seventh straight and pushed their record to 9-1, the best start in franchise history. It’s also the first time the Mets have won their first five road games in a season. It’s a record breaking night that went from colossal disappointment to really fun win, and that’s a great change of pace in Miami.

Thoughts from the Game

Hansel Robles is leading the league in wins (2) and Clayton Kershaw is leading the league in losses (2). Clearly, Robles is the new greatest pitcher of the generation, and the Dodgers should dump Kershaw’s contract on the Mets in exchange for their new relief ace post haste.

On a more serious note, I hope a day off is in the cards for Cespedes soon. Yes, he delivered the game-winning hit (his second in three games), but it was a ground ball that probably should have been fielded, and he’s been mired in an awful rough patch. He’s been sick as well, reportedly been feeling “terrible,” and even if he still wants to play, it’s on the coaching staff to have the cooler head and rest their star before something unfortunate happens.

Other Met News

In a puzzling and somewhat controversial move, the Mets sent down Brandon Nimmo in order to call up right hander Corey Oswalt. It’s an extremely small sample, but Nimmo has performed brilliantly to date, with a walk-to-strikeout ratio of more than 4:1. Oswalt offers a ninth reliever that really doesn’t seem that necessary, and, more importantly, sending Nimmo down seems totally unjust with Jose Reyes still on the roster. The meritocracy Mickey Callaway espoused in spring training seems highly questionable if an old, poor hitting, poor fielding bench bat is retained over a young player with upside who is actually contributing. Of course, Oswalt was sent back down immediately after the game in exchange for Zack Wheeler.

 Photo credit: Jasen Vinlove – USA Today Sports

The Mets sent Matz out to face Nationals left-hander Gio Gonzalez, who’s enjoyed a great deal of success against the Mets since he was traded to Washington. According to Mark Simon of Baseball Info Solutions, Gonzalez had a 2.39 ERA in his last 11 starts against the Mets, holding them to two runs or fewer in 10 of those 11 starts. Saturday was more of the same for Gonzalez, as he limited the Mets to one run on six hits in 5.1 innings of work.

On the other side of the diamond, Matz was nothing short of brilliant in his second start of the season. The 26-year-old oft-injured left-hander struck out eight Nationals over five scoreless innings on the afternoon, limiting Washington to only three hits and two walks. Matz’s command was much improved on Saturday, which allowed him to get ahead of 13 of the 20 Nationals batters he faced.

After the Mets squandered an opportunity to put a run on the board in the first, Matz allowed speedster Trea Turner to reach on a bunt single to open up the bottom of the frame. Turner went on to steal second, one of five stolen bases for Washington on the afternoon, and the Nationals looked primed to jump out to an early lead. The Nationals had Anthony Rendon, Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman coming up next, making it almost a foregone conclusion that the Mets would be facing an early deficit in this one.

In a twist that absolutely no one saw coming (if you did, I commend you on your optimism for which I do not share) Matz would go on to strike out all three Nationals to keep the game scoreless. The southpaw was working almost exclusively with his fastball, which was sitting 92-94 for the afternoon, and his sinker in the first, somehow escaping a potentially disastrous inning.

The Mets failed to get anything going in the top half of the second, and Matz returned on the mound hungry for more. After striking out Howie Kendrick and Michael A. Taylor to make it five straight strikeouts, he walked Brian Goodwin after getting ahead of him 0-2. Pedro Severino was up next for the Nationals, working another 3-2 count and eventually taking a fastball down in the zone to center field for a single. Knowing that runs were going to be hard to come by, the Nationals sent Goodwin all the way from first to home in an attempt to jump out to a 1-0 lead. Juan Lagares was not going to let that happen on his watch though, throwing an absolute laser to Travis d’Arnaud in time to get Goodwin and keep the game scoreless.

Neither team could get anything going until the bottom of the fifth, as Taylor reached on a throwing error by Todd Frazier to start the inning. The Nationals chose to have Goodwin lay down a sacrifice bunt, moving Taylor into scoring position with one out. With Severino up at the dish with a man in scoring position, Taylor stole third and scored easily on a single to right to put the Nationals up 1-0. The unearned run would be all the Nationals got off of Matz though, as Mickey Callaway chose to go to everyone’s favorite high leverage reliever Hansel Robles to start the sixth.

After a Wilmer Flores ground out to third, Frazier delivered a double to deep right to set the Mets up in scoring position in the sixth. d’Arnaud knocked a single to center, scoring Frazier and tying things up at 1 apiece. Jay Bruce was up next, and hit a single to right, setting the Mets up with first and second with one out. The Nationals then made a pitching change, bringing in Matt Grace to relieve Gonzalez, and he secured the final two outs of the inning.

Callaway turned to the aforementioned Robles in the bottom half of the inning, who immediately surrendered a solo home run to Bryce Harper that put the Nationals back on top by one. Interestingly, Callaway stuck with Robles, who let up one more hit before he struck out Goodwin to end the inning.

In Callaway’s defense, he got sucked into Robles’ good start to the season just like the rest of us. Robles will need to earn his manager’s trust back, and it’s unlikely he gets more high leverage opportunities until he proves he’s up to the task again.

The Mets bats came alive in the top of the seventh though, as Amed Rosario hit a leadoff single to get things going. Asdrubal Cabrera stepped up to the plate and delivered an RBI double to deep right, scoring Rosario and tying things back up. The savvy veteran was able to advance to third on a Yoenis Cespedes groundout and eventually scored on a Frazier groundout to second.

Frazier’s RBI groundout proved to be the decisive run, as both teams failed to score the rest of the way. Mickey Callaway brought Jeurys Familia in for the five-out save, and he somewhat shockingly got all five outs without any theatrics.

The Mets are now the winners of four straight and have started a season 6-1 for the first time since 2006. Of course, the Mets finished first in the NL East in 2006 with a 97-65 record, dropping game seven of the NLCS to the St. Louis Cardinals. That team also won their fifth, sixth, and seventh game of that season in a sweep of the Nationals in Washington.

The 2018 Mets are looking to do the same, and they take on the Nationals in the final game of the series tonight at 8:08, as Matt Harvey (0-0, 0.00) faces Tanner Roark (1-0, 1.29).

Photo credit: Brad Mills – USA Today Sports

Taking walks, hitting long balls, gutsy pitching and a solid bullpen all converged to see the Mets ruin the home opener of division rivals Washington.

If you squint, tilt your head, and forget about last year, you can start to believe again. Series like these with powerhouse teams are the true test of a team, and on Thursday afternoon the Mets passed, holding the Nationals for two runs, and scoring a gaudy eight, all on home runs.

Jacob deGrom was solid in six innings of work, allowing four hits and two runs (one earned), striking out five and walking three. Both of the Nationals’ runs came off RBI hits from Anthony Rendon scoring Adam Eaton in the first and third innings; otherwise, deGrom settled into a rhythm until the bottom of the sixth, when he loaded the bases with no one out after walking Rendon and Bryce Harper back to back. He then rallied to induce Ryan Zimmerman to pop out, lucked out when Howie Kendrick lined out to short, and then Trea Turner was called out on strikes on a borderline pitch. (An incandescent Turner was then tossed by home plate umpire Doug Eddings.)

After Eaton led off the game with a double on the first pitch in the bottom of the first, Rendon sliced a ball to right that Jay Bruce misplayed into a run, overrunning the baseball and allowing Eaton to score. Bruce led off the Mets second with a double on the first pitch, advanced to third on an Adrian Gonzalez ground out, and then scored when Stephen Strasburg balked him in after walking Kevin Plawecki on four pitches with a strange halting throw to first.

The Mets bats began to return to 2017 form, as Yoenis Cespedes crushed a low Strasburg offering deep to left field for this third home run of the year. After the Mets loaded the bases in the seventh against Nationals reliever Brandon Kintzler, Bruce more than made up for the surrendered run on his fielding error with a grand slam, his first of the year.

For his part, Stephen Strasburg also went six, striking out six, but the difference were the home runs surrendered to Cespedes and Michael Conforto. The grand slam Kintzler allowed put the final nail in the coffin of the Nationals’ opener, and he was followed by Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle, who pitched a scoreless inning apiece. The Mets bullpen continued its strong run, with Jerry Blevins, Robert Gsellmen, Hansel Robles and Seth Lugo blanking the Nationals for the final three innings of the game.

It took a couple of at-bats for Conforto to look settled in — but then again, anyone would struggle when Stephen Strasburg is your first pitcher of the season. He struck out on three pitches to start the game, and grounded into a double play in the third. However, things began to turn in the fifth; after Plawecki singled to lead off the inning, Jose Reyes grounded out and deGrom struck out, Conforto sent a tailing Strasburg fastball to the opposite field into the flower beds above the wall and back into play. It took a booth review for the hit to be ruled a home run, resulting in the awkward half-trot from second. Awkward or not, it was a hit — and a win — the Mets will gladly take.

The Mets are off tonight, and take the field for game two against the Nationals Saturday at 1.05 p.m., as Steven Matz (0-1, 6.75) faces Gio Gonzalez (1-0, 1.50).

Photo credit: Tommy Gilligan – USA Today Sports