Conor Gillaspie hit a three-run ninth-inning home run in support of a Madison Bumgarner shutout. Giants 3, Mets 0.

Discussion and Analysis

Conor Gillaspie batted only 205 times during the regular season. He started last night because Eduardo Nunez, the Giants’ big trade-deadline acquisition, injured his hamstring down the stretch. Gillaspie playing hero in the Wild Card game is like Ty Kelly or Eric Campbell saving the Mets’ season. Talk about even-year Giants Devil Magic all you want. These days, every major-leaguer is strong enough to hit a home run against a straight, high fastball. That Gillaspie’s moment took place in the Wild Card game against the Mets’ closer didn’t make it any more or less likely to occur. Realism is small consolation as we retire for the long winter.

Whether Gillaspie hit a dinger or another Giant drove in the game-winning run, the Met loss seemed inevitable because Madison Bumgarner was both rock-solid and everlasting, like a human-shaped Gobstopper. Bumgarner retired the first six Mets on 10 pitches, setting the stage for a long night for the Mets offense. Rene Rivera lined a leadoff single to center in the third inning but was on base for just one batter owing to James Loney’s predictable first-pitch GIDP. Loney was gifted the playoff start because the Mets had no healthy options at first base – and Terry Collins just won’t let go. Loney could have been the Mets’ Gillaspie. He’ll instead soon find himself on waivers.

The Mets’ second hit of the night was an Asdrubal Cabrera smash past third base with one out in the fourth inning that hit the tarp and bounced directly to left fielder Angel Pagan. Yoenis Cespedes with a runner on base was all the Mets could hope for, but Bumgarner got Cespedes to swing and miss at a 58-foot slider. While Curtis Granderson was unable to prolong the inning, he at least forced a full count. It seemed like a moral victory because the offense forced him to throw 28 pitches in the inning. When Cespedes opts out of his contract after the World Series, let’s not let his inability to hit Bumgarner be our lasting memory of the player.

Noah Syndergaard did everything the Mets needed from him on the mound. He was perfect through three innings on 37 pitches. He struck out five of the first nine and allowed no hits through 5.2 innings. Syndergaard’s only flaws were that he couldn’t also carry the offense and pitch forever.

The Giants’ first baserunner was a Denard Span fourth-inning walk. Span (of course, against Thor) stole second base but the umpire called him out even though he beat Rene Rivera’s throw to second. Span also sliced the Giants’ first hit in the sixth inning, a clean single back through the middle. In his second time on base, Span took off on the first pitch of Brandon Belt’s at-bat and easily stole second. Belt worked the count to 2-2 before crushing a ball to straightaway center field. Granderson turned and sprinted back toward the fence. He ran past the warning track. He ran into the fence. And he caught the ball, preserving the 0-0 tie. Granderson, asked to play out of position for much of the year, did an admirable job filling in for the injured Juan Lagares in center. Hopefully the Mets non-tender Jay Bruce and allow Granderson to return to right field in 2017.

With his 101st pitch and two out in the seventh, Syndergaard walked Brandon Crawford. That triggered bullpen action for the first time, with Terry Collins raising Jerry Blevins. Former Met Angel Pagan hit a 12-hopper between first and second. Loney (in there for his glove!), holding Crawford on at first, flowed toward the ball like cold molasses. He never came close to fielding it. T.J. Rivera picked the ball up only a few feet from the bag. Syndergaard covered first but Rivera’s looping throw was late. Joe Panik chopped the second pitch of his at-bat up the middle, where Thor deflected it — luckily to Asdrubal Cabrera at short, who was able to throw out Panik at first to end Syndergaard’s night.

Terry Collins went straight to his best reliever in the eighth inning. (It’s not Terry’s fault or to his credit that Addison Reed was better than Jeurys Familia this season.) Gillaspie BABIP’ed a ground-ball single to right field, then Bumgarner sacrificed. (Bumgarner had not sacrificed or intentionally walked a batter all season. He did both last night. Baseball.) Span popped to second for the second out. Reed went full on Brandon Belt, striking him out twice per K-Zone but no times per home plate umpire Mike Winters. Instead, Belt walked to bring up Buster Posey. The first pitch to Posey was right down the middle, but it bounced off Rivera’s glove and the runners advanced to second and third. Winters called the passed ball a ball, so Terry Collins elected to intentionally walk Buster Posey to face Hunter Pence. In a triumph of reliever over umpire, Reed struck out Pence swinging to end the bases-loaded threat.

Against Familia in the ninth, Crawford led off with an opposite-field double that eluded Cespedes’s acute angle to the ball. Pagan got ahead 2-0 when Winters reiterated that the strike zone was inapplicable to Met pitchers. The bunt was still on at 2-0, and again at 3-1, to the Mets’ benefit. Pagan fouled off both pitches, then swung and missed at the full-count offering. Familia also went 2-0 on Joe Panik, and though he came back to even the count, Familia eventually walked him. The walk seemed unoffensive until Gillaspie turned around a 1-1 fastball for the hit that ended the Mets’ season.

Following Tuesday night’s Buck Showalter meltdown, in which the Orioles’ manager steadfastly refused to use Zach Britton in the highest-leverage situations, it was fair to wonder how Terry Collins would screw up the Mets’ chance to advance in the playoffs. To Terry’s credit, he did no harm. His offense couldn’t score off the opposing pitcher and his capital-C Closer couldn’t hold a tie game entering a clean inning. Sure, Collins buried Michael Conforto and may have contributed to some of his pitchers’ injuries. In hindsight, though, Mets fans may be forced to credit Collins for dragging a patchwork roster to the ninth inning of a single-game playoff against the best postseason pitcher of our time. It will be fun to see what next year’s team can do when healthy.

Contemporaneous Thoughts

"Syndergaard and Bumgarner were good," Lindbergh typed onto the blank Word doc, and then, satisfied, submitted his story

— Ben Lindbergh (@BenLindbergh) October 6, 2016

GKR-isms (Non-SNY Edition)

“Noah Syndergaard is the only pitcher in MLB history with more than 350 strikeouts and 80 or fewer walks in his first 54 starts.” — Dan Shulman, reading the worst fun fact of all time.

“During the regular season, Madison Bumgarner issued zero intentional walks.” — Buster Olney, after the Giants intentionally (inexplicably) walked Loney with two outs in the fifth inning.

[Intentionally left blank; my goodness, the ESPN booth offers little more than plain vanilla commentary.]

Coda

It was a fine run for a 2016 Mets team that suffered through injury after injury. Don’t let a tough loss distract from an improbably fun season.

Photo Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

We’d seen this story before. In 2007, the Mets fell out of the playoffs in the last day of the season. Going back to 1989 and 1987, the Mets have always been snake-bitten the year after winning the division. With all the injuries this year, it looked like 2016 would be another chapter in that story.

But at the end of this regular season, Loney turned to the dugout because he gave Mets fans a reason to celebrate. His two-run homer gave the Mets a 4-2 lead they would not relinquish. For the first time in franchise history, the Mets are heading to the playoffs the year after winning the division.

Bartolo Colon – the one Mets starter who has taken the ball every start – started like he was auditioning to get the call for the Wild Card game. His two-seamer had late life, staying down in the zone and darting in ways that the young Phillies lineup hadn’t seen before.

Like we’ve seen so much in the last five weeks, the Mets got a boost from players brought in to fill the gaps caused by a torrent of injuries. T.J. Rivera drove in the first run. Jose Reyes drove in the second run as Travis d’Arnaud slid under a tag. Neil Walker and David Wright were among the Mets’ most productive hitters when they were healthy, but their replacements in the infield found a way to contribute as well.

Colon faced the minimum through four innings but ran in to trouble in the fifth. Maikel Franco singled and Ryan Howard got all of an elevated fastball for what may be his last home run as a Phillie. Suddenly it was tied 2-2, and a Cody Asche pinch hit blooper fell in center to put runners at the corners. Cesar Hernandez hit a ball sharply down the line, but Loney gloved it to end the threat.

Loney came up in the next inning and drove a David Hernandez pitch deep to right. He’s not exactly a power hitter, so you know he got all of it if he’s turning to the dugout and flipping his bat. Baseball is notorious for players who aren’t the best but still manage to get big hits at big moments. Mets fans may not want to see more Loney, but he flipped his bat like a player who wants to show he belongs in the postseason (and in the big leagues next year).

Terry Collins pulled Colon after five innings and 61 pitches. Colon did lose some command in the fifth, although it’s more likely that Collins was thinking ahead to the Wild Card game and possibly needing a short hook for Syndergaard. The middle of the bullpen didn’t exactly inspire confidence though. Jerry Blevins only retired one of two hitters. Hansel Robles came in next and tried throwing the ball as hard as possible. After a strikeout and a Howard line drive single, Yoenis Cespedes made a shoestring catch to end the threat. Fernando Salas got the seventh and gave up a two-out homer to Darin Ruf on a fastball right down the middle.

In a year where Matt Harvey, Jacob DeGrom and Steven Matz went down with season ending injuries, Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia have been rock solid in the bullpen. They locked down a playoff spot on Saturday. Reed threw a 1-2-3 inning. Familia got two outs before it started raining. As Phillies fans ran for cover, the loud Mets contingent cheered for one more out. After everything this team has been through – the injuries, the baffling lineup choices, some more injuries – another downpour wasn’t going to deter anyone.

What’s Next:

Gabriel Ynoa will start Game 162 of the regular season. Syndergaard will throw a bullpen session to prepare for the playoffs.

Photo credit: Derik Hamilton – USA Today Sports

The Mets did exactly what they needed to do and beat the Marlins 5-2, taking two of three games in the series.

The good:

Seth Lugo went 5.1 innings of five-hit ball, allowing just two earned runs and lowering his ERA to a 2.67. Sure, it was against the Marlins, and eventually the rookie magic will probably wear off, but for now, Lugo has been a saving grace in an otherwise decimated rotation.

The Mets got their run support from the unlikeliest of duos on two-run home runs from both James Loney and Jay Bruce. Jose Reyes also drove in a run on a fourth inning double and five runs was all the team needed for the series win.

Jeurys Familia notched his 50th save, extending his franchise record, but more importantly also made him the first Dominican-born pitcher to do so. He’s also just one of 13 major league relievers to record 50 saves in a season.

The Giants and Cardinals both lost, which puts the Mets a game and a half over San Francisco and two and a half over St. Louis. The Amazins could wrap this up Friday if they so desire.

The bad:

Lucas Duda was a late scratch with general “body stiffness,” which is only to be expected after missing four months of playing time. The team’s best first baseman has looked good since coming off the DL and Terry Collins said he should be ready to play Friday after today’s off day.

The ugly:

We’re feeling optimistic here at BP Mets. Everything is shiny and happy and wonderful. Enjoy your day off.

Photo credit: Steve Mitchell – USA Today Sports

Norse gods are rejuvenated by the strep throat bacterium. Mets 12, Marlins 1.

Discussion and Analysis

Noah Syndergaard started for the first time in eight days. While extra rest this late in the season is a good thing in itself, Thor appeared unaffected by his recent illness. The Marlins scored a lone fluky run off the Mets’ ace. Dee Gordon led off the bottom of the first with a bunt single in front of the mound, took a stolen base against the pitcher least able to prevent them, forced T.J. Rivera to hold him on second base, then scored when Marcell Ozuna topped an excruciatingly slow ground ball to the vacated position. After the first, Syndergaard went five more innings, allowed just three more hits and struck out eight. He walked nobody all game. He also singled twice. He seems okay.

In what started as a typical Mets offensive performance, the team scored primarily on home runs. In the top of the second, Curtis Granderson walked and Jay Bruce crushed a dinger to the second deck in right field.  In the third, Asdrubal Cabrera singled and Yoenis Cespedes dented the Marlins’ sculpture in center field. The Mets knocked Marlins starter Tom Koehler out in the fourth, but left 10 runners on base through the sixth inning. The score held at 4-1 through the seventh inning.

Marlins manager Don Mattingly used 17 pitchers over the last two games. The pick-a-pitcher strategy looks good when one’s opponent isn’t hitting, but it broke down in the eighth inning last night. Ty Kelly singled and Jose Reyes doubled. After Mattingly intentionally walked Cespedes, Granderson poked a two-run single. The suddenly-scorching Jay Bruce lined his third hit of the night to re-load the bases, and the also-smoking Lucas Duda cleared them with a double. Go buy all the milk cartons on the shelf searching for Michael Conforto’s picture; it’s clear Terry Collins is going to play Jay Bruce every day. We can only hope that Bruce continues to hit. But few would argue that Duda’s return — and the corresponding James Loney benching — is anything but a positive development.

On the day the Mets announced that Steven Matz would undergo season-ending surgery to remove a bone spur from his elbow, it’s worth remembering that Syndergaard is dealing with a similar, if less significant, malady. That means three-fifths of the opening day starting rotation is out for the year and the other two have visited the team orthopedist. (It was revealed today that Bartolo Colon has been pitching through a sprained tendon in his right foot.) A playoff rotation that goes Thor and Colon, then E.T. phone home, is less than optimal even if the remaining pitchers were healthy. Jeff Sullivan recently tweeted that fourth starters pitched only 8% of the innings in last year’s playoffs. The minimal importance of a postseason rotation’s back end would be better news for the Mets if the team knew for a certainty which of Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo is the better third starter.

Let’s reach the playoffs first.

Contemporaneous Thoughts

Jay Bruce since I suggested a @BP_Mets staff post burying him: .417/.417/1.167

— Scott D. Simon (@scottdsimon) September 27, 2016

GKR-isms

“Syndergaard was pretty irritated… You get irritated when a ball that rolls and bounces 18 times makes it through the infield for a base hit.” — Ron

“Can I ask you a question? Why do intentional passes count against your pitch count?” — Ron

“Whenever I see relievers come in and go three-and-oh to the first hitter, my first thought is, ‘What were you doing in the bullpen, rowing?’ ” — Keith

Coda

Lugo’s spin rate faces Jose Urena tonight in the Marlins’ final home game of the season — after which they will attend Jose Fernandez’s funeral.

Photo Credit – Steve Mitchell, USA Today Sports

BATS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF INABILITY TO THROW STRIKES

The Phillies sent six different pitchers to the mound today, and not one of them had anything resembling a good day. Starter Jake Thompson did look good early in the game – he had a low 90s fastball that he placed well in the first three innings, as well as a biting slider that generated a few whiffs. During those innings, the only run to score was by Jay Bruce on a ball that James Loney grounded into a double play.
Things fell apart for Thompson in the fourth, as Curtis Granderson hit a leadoff homerun into the stands in right field. T.J. and Rene Rivera each walked while Loney singled to load the bases. Gsellman then grounded into a force out at home. Reyes’ first walk of the day brought in the inning’s second run.
Phil Klein appeared in relief in the fifth inning and could not control his fastball. He walked both Yoenis Cespedes and Granderson to start the inning, followed by a single by Bruce to load the bases. After the Mets scored two runs on a T.J. Rivera single and a Rene Rivera hit-by-pitch, Colton Murray replaced Klein with only one out in the inning. Bruce scored on a wild pitch.
Murray had a pretty good sixth inning – getting two strikeouts and a popup. The team then made the decision to have him come out for a part of the seventh, which is predictably when things went south again. Unable to throw a strike, Murray hit a batter, walked a batter, and allowed a single before being replaced by Frank Herrmann. Herrmann immediately walked Reyes with the bases loaded and allowed a grand slam to Asdrubal Cabrera before getting two strikeouts to end the inning.
Lefty Patrick Schuster entered in the eighth and did strike out two batters, but also allowed three hits, a walk, and a hit batter. He was then replaced by Luis Garcia, who walked Ty Kelly and allowed a Michael Conforto double before striking out Gavin Cecchini (in his second appearance of the inning).
In total, the Phillies’ staff allowed two home runs, three wild pitches, four hit batters, five inherited runners to score, nine walks, 14 hits, and 17 earned runs in eight innings. The Mets deemed a bottom of the ninth unnecessary.

ROBERT GSELLMAN STIFFLES THE PHILLIES’ LINEUP

Robert Gsellman continued to impress as he pitched what is probably his best MLB start to date. He had some command issues in the first inning as he allowed a single to Freddy Galvis and walked Maikel Franco, but suffered no damage on the scoreboard. He settled down in the second and really had his 94 mph fastball working as he generated three groundouts and three strikeouts over the next two innings.
He allowed two singles to Jorge Alfaro and Cody Asche through the rest of his outing, but was basically dominant throughout. Seventy-five percent of his batted balls were grounders, and he struck out eight batters in total. It will be overlooked because of the gaudy numbers on offense, but it was a really encouraging outing for the rookie right-hander.

SALAS, BLEVINS MAKE QUICK WORK OF LATE INNINGS

There’s not a ton to write here about the relief appearances of Fernando Salas and Jerry Blevins in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, but each quickly retired the three batters they were assigned. Salas in particular struck out the side in order and looked really good with his fastball while doing it. Blevins finished the game with two grounders and a lineout on 10 pitches.

UP NEXT

On Monday, the Mets head to Miami to begin a three-game series against the grieving Marlins, in the first game since the passing of Jose Fernandez. Since Fernandez was scheduled to pitch that game, the Marlins’ starter is unknown, and it isn’t clear how the cancellation of Sunday’s game will affect the remaining schedule. Adam Conley was originally scheduled to pitch on Sunday, so he may be the Marlins’ most likely starter. Bartolo Colon will pitch for New York, who sit atop a tight three-team race for the two NL Wild Card spots. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m.

Photo credit: Anthony Gruppuso – USA Today Sports

It felt like only a matter of time before the Mets’ paper-thin rotation would collapse. With Noah Syndergaard out with strep throat, Collins was left with two options. Sean Gilmartin wasn’t an inspiring choice for a spot starter. He only made one start in the big leagues before Saturday’s game. But the other option was Rafael Montero, whose best big league start this year involved six walks in five innings.

Neither option was a safe choice for the Mets. Gilmartin gave up a walk, a single, and then served up a fastball for a three-run Maikel Franco homer. He responded by getting right in to another jam, walking Jorge Alfaro to bring pitcher Alec Asher up with two outs and the bases loaded. Asher singled to center to bring in two more runs and chase Gilmartin. Montero warmed up with a wild pitch and another walk to Cesar Hernandez. In what may be Saturday’s biggest surprise, that was Montero’s only walk. He struck out Roman Quinn to end the inning.

Odubel Herrera led off the second with a triple. It felt like the Mets were in for another onslaught of bad pitching, but Montero retired seven of the eight batters and was cruising in the fourth. Herrera broke through with a single, then Franco and Tommy Joseph singled. Darin Ruf homered for the second straight game (after not homering all season) and it was suddenly 10-0. Collins gave Jose Reyes, Asdrubal Cabrera, Yoenis Cespedes and Curtis Granderson one more at-bat each in the bottom of the fourth before pulling them all to rest for Sunday’s day game.

Lucas Duda started the Mets comeback in the bottom of the fifth by running down the line to take advantage of Freddy Galvis’ poor fielding. (Duda also made diving plays in the field, showing no obvious back symptoms.) Travis d’Arnaud singled and Gavin Cecchini reached on a Franco error to put the Mets on the board. T.J. Rivera, Brandon Nimmo and Ty Kelly all got hits to give the Mets a total of four unearned runs before James Loney pinch hit and grounded out to end the inning.

The rookies from Las Vegas went 6-11 with three doubles and drove in the Mets’ first six runs, striking again in the sixth and the eighth. Cecchini got his first major league hit in the sixth, an RBI double scoring Michael Conforto. Cecchini almost got his first home run in the eighth but settled for another RBI double. The crazy dream of coming back from a 10-0 deficit was suddenly real when Rivera came up as the tying run. Phillies setup man Hector Neris couldn’t throw his splitter close to the plate, but he made the adjustment, relying on his fastball to get Rivera and Nimmo out.

Jay Brice finally got off the bench and gave Mets fans a reason to cheer for him in the ninth with a solo home run to make it 10-8. Eric Campbell drew an 11-pitch walk to bring Conforto up as the tying run with one out. He drew a 3-2 walk to bring up Duda. Could the Mets slugger have his own storybook walkoff homer? Would he flip the bat in celebration? Nope. Duda popped up and d’Arnaud hit a comebacker to end a wild game, just short of the record books.

What’s Next?

After using Johnny Wholestaff for the last two games, the Mets hope Robert Gsellman can go deep in the game. Both the Cardinals and Giants won, pushing the Mets back in to a tie for the wild card.

Photo credit: Brad Penner – USA Today Sports

The navy-colored not-Mets

WHAT HAPPENED, NOTHING REALLY MATTERS:

Things looked great for the first six innings of this one. Asdrubal Cabrera and Rene Rivera used the long-ball to give the Mets a 3-0 lead. Bartolo Colon was doing Bartolo Colon things, as he allowed no runs, walked nobody and struck out six batters. But, like all good things must, that came to the end once the seventh inning rolled around. After everything was said and done, Colon would surrender a two-run homer to Anthony Recker only to be pulled from the game two batters later. That doesn’t necessarily diminish Colon’s solid overall start, but it did signify the start of the Atlanta Braves clawing their way back into the game. A fielding error to start off the eighth by James Loney put the tying run on base, a run that would later come around to score on a Matt Kemp sacrifice fly. One inning later, the Braves finally overtook the Mets after a Jace Peterson single to lead off the inning. The Mets had the game in hand up until the seventh inning, but I guess this kind of thing is just comes with the territory of being swept by the Braves? That, and Terry Collins. Both probably play a hefty role, who knows.

WHAT HAPPENED, THE FINAL TWO CHARGES:

So though the Mets lost, it isn’t like they just rolled over. In the eighth inning Yoenis Cespedes put a charge into a fly ball to left field. Though it didn’t quite leave the field, it did leave Matt Kemp’s glove and find its way onto the ground—resulting in a double for Cespedes. Sure he should’ve been on third, but after the Braves intentionally walked Curtis Granderson, Cespedes would steal the base anyways. In the end, the fact that Cespedes only got a double probably helped the Mets get Granderson on base. Though neither scored after a strikeout by T.J. Rivera and Kevin Plawecki ended the Mets rally. Then came the ninth inning, and this effort was much smaller than the one in the previous inning. Brandon Nimmo led off the inning with a single, however Jay Bruce would swiftly follow that up with a strikeout. Next was Travis d’Arnaud who, representing the winning run, walked. The tying and winning runs were on base and, following an Cabrera flyout, would bring Cespedes to the plate. Cespedes put a charge into a flyball deep to right center. It was hit hard, it sounded like a homer, it looked like a homer, then something awful happened. It fell into the glove of Ender Inciarte. Ballgame over. Sweep clinched. Mets fans? Sad. Very sad.

WHAT HAPPENED, YESTERDAY:

The Mets, clearly wanting to make this Wild Card race interesting, dropped a third straight game to the Atlanta Braves. You might be thinking, “Hey, that seems counter-productive when you’re trying to make the playoffs. That team is in last place.” To that I respond, yeah. It’s just that, I…yeah.

WHAT HAPPENS, TODAY:

The Mets will look to have a better fortune against a sub-.500, bad NL East team—this one being called the Philadelphia Phillies. Seth Lugo will face off against Adam Morgan as the Mets start their final home series of the 2016 regular season. More importantly, however, the Mets still remain in a three-way tie with the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals. Hopefully the Mets can use their weak schedule down the stretch to pull ahead of the group.

Photo credit: Noah K. Murray – USA Today Sports

Julio Teheran held the Mets to a .238 average on balls in play over seven innings. When this offense doesn’t hit home runs, it’s borderline unwatchable. Braves 5, Mets 4.

Discussion and Analysis

The Mets have lost six of eight against the Braves at Citi Field this year. Considering the Braves are 53-89 when they don’t play in Queens — that’s a .373 winning percentage — the Mets’ easy rest-of-season schedule hasn’t played out like we all expected. Yoenis Cespedes and Asdrubal Cabrera (on base all five times last night) can’t carry the offense every game. Not when the lineup features the desiccated remains of Jay Bruce (hitting .159 as a Met) and the stunted development that is Travis d’Arnaud and his .631 OPS. The Mets have now scored just 18 runs in their last eight games. The heartwarming rotation-replacement stories of Seth Lugo and Gabriel Ynoa and, yes, Robert Gsellman won’t mean anything if the offense can’t rediscover itself down the stretch.

Gsellman was Just Fine in his fifth major-league start. In the first inning, he struck out the #HotTake hot Freddie Freeman (24-game hitting streak) and Matt Kemp (12 games) following a one-out Adonis Garcia double.  Through five innings and twice through the Braves’ bating order, Gsellman had allowed no runs on just two hits, striking out five against one walk.

As Gsellman came out for the sixth inning, facing the Braves lineup for the third time, Terry Collins showed his typical lack of forethought. Gsellman struck out Teheran to start the inning, but then gave up singles to Ender Inciarte and Garcia. A prepared manager would have readied a left-hander to face Freeman, but Collins was slow to ask Josh Smoker to loosen up. Gsellman walked Freeman — loading the bases — and was left in to face Matt Kemp. Gsellman did his job, getting Kemp to pop up to short right-center. Granderson sprinted in to catch it; the ball was shallow enough that Inciarte was going to have trouble tagging from third. But Jay Bruce intruded on Granderson’s personal space, the center fielder pulled up short, and the ball landed between them for a “single.”

Collins then made the belated move, calling on Smoker to face Nick Markakis with the bases still loaded. Smoker seemed to get Markakis looking …

Call hurts #Mets
Ball 3 should be strike 3
Top 6 Smoker vs Markakis
10% call same
3.4in from edge pic.twitter.com/T1PNamHcTO

— Mets Strike Zone (@MetsUmp) September 21, 2016

… but the blown call resulted in a full count instead of a strikeout. Smoker missed with his last pitch to walk in a run. Collins next went to Fernando Salas, who got Tyler Flowers to pop up on the infield for the second out. Salas went to a full count on Jace Peterson, who hit the ball on the screws to center field. Granderson caught it on the warning track, but the Mets were down 2-1.

Two-to-one is the kind of deficit the from which the recent Mets can recover, but last night the bullpen poured fuel on the fire. Jerry Blevins relieved Salas in the seventh inning after Dansby Swanson led off with a single. Blevins hung breaking balls to Ender Inciarte, who singled, and Adonis Garcia, who lost the ball over the left field wall. The Garcia dinger increased the Braves’ lead to an insurmountable 5-1.

That first Met run scored after Jose Reyes led off the bottom of the third inning with a triple that that rattled around the right-field chicken-wire fence. Cabrera blooped a fly ball to the opposite field. Matt Kemp is slow, so Cabrera hustled into second with a double. Once at second base, Cabrera was the target of multiple pickoff throws, from both Teheran and catcher Tyler Flowers. Cabrera slid back into second on his balky right knee, after which he limped and grimaced whenever the camera found him. If and when the Mets clinch a Wild Card spot before the season ends, the first order of business should be resting Cabrera so he’s healthier for the playoffs.

The Braves almost imploded in the eighth. The three-run inning featured a walk to Cabrera, a beaned Yoenis Cespedes, a Granderson double, Eric Campbell (in his first big-league at-bat since May!) successfully pinch-hitting for Jay Bruce, and Kevin Plawecki pinch-hitting for James Loney and reaching on an error. The Braves’ saving grace was that Collins couldn’t or wouldn’t pinch-hit for d’Arnaud, who weakly grounded to shortstop to end the inning. The Mets are now zero-and-63 when trailing after eight innings. If there’s a silver lining to this ugly loss, it’s that Terry may finally have had enough Jay Bruce 0-fers.

Contemporaneous Thoughts

Was AJ Preller somehow involved in the Jay Bruce trade? #boo

— Scott D. Simon (@scottdsimon) September 21, 2016

GKR-isms

“Sometimes it looks like Freeman moves like a big crane. I mean the bird, not the machine.” — Gary

“It’s always good to have your veterans playing through aches and pains. It sets an example for your young kids.” — Keith, watching Cabrera suffer around the basepaths

“The whole trick to pitching, unless you’re a guy who strikes out the world, is that you have to produce bad contact by the hitters.” — Ron, unintentionally describing the Mets’ offense

Coda

Bartolo goes for career MLB win number 233 tonight against Ryan Weber, who, with a career 5.13 ERA, will be fortunate to pitch 233 MLB innings.

Photo Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The lopsided loss snapped a three-game winning streak for New York, but the Mets managed to maintain their one-game lead for the first Wild Card spot after the Giants lost on a walkoff.

Three of Blair’s twelve big league outings before Monday were against the Mets and he had been rocked to the tune of 14 runs in 15.2 innings. The former first-round pick fared much better this time around, allowing four hits and one walk while striking out four en route to the victory.

Queens was awash in rain and cloudy conditions for most of the day, clearing up just in time for first pitch. Blair’s counterpart on the mound may wish the rain had never let up.

Noah Syndergaard, the Mets’ most consistent starter in a rotation decimated by injuries, could not make it past the fourth inning against a Braves offense that has been rather formidable of late.

After a quick first inning in which he seemed to be in control, the long-haired All-Star struggled the rest of the way. In the end, Syndergaard was charged with five runs on eight hits and three walks over just 3.2 innings, throwing 99 pitches in his shortest outing since June 27.

“Baseball’s just a really funny game. I warmed up really good in the bullpen and I felt really on top of my game in the first inning,” Syndergaard said. “Pesky team out there and they can really do some damage.”

Atlanta struck first with a station-to-station second inning, taking advantage of some uncharacteristic wildness by Syndergaard. Veteran Nick Markakis reached on a one-out infield single, followed by back-to-back walks by Tyler Flowers and Jace Peterson to load the bases.

Highly touted rookie Dansby Swanson, last year’s first overall pick in the draft, drove in Markakis with a single to right field. After a popout by Blair, Ender Inciarte went the other way with a groundball single to left, scoring Flowers and giving Atlanta an early 2-0 advantage. Adonis Garcia flied out, leaving the bases loaded.

“He lost the feel. He lost his rhythm,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “You’re looking at 11 pitches, he got four outs, and then the next thing you know he couldn’t throw the ball over the plate. That’s completely out of character.”

Freeman (4-for-5) led off the third inning with an opposite-field home run to left on a 3-2 sinker, his 31st of the season. The homer, only the 11th given up by Syndergaard this year, extended Freeman’s hitting streak to a major league-leading 23 games. The 27-year-old, a lifetime .313 hitter with 18 home runs and 78 RBIs against New York, has also reached base in a career-high 39 straight games.

It was Freeman again in the top of the fourth, collecting his second and third RBIs of the night with a two-out double into the left field corner that extended the Braves’ lead to 5-0.

“It’s just one of those games,” Syndergaard said. “I kind of lost control over my fastball and tried to do too much. I kind of fell out of my mechanics a little bit.”

With two outs in the bottom of the frame, Curtis Granderson lined a single to left-center for the Mets’ first hit of the game. After hitting just 35 round-trippers in 625 regular season games over six minor league campaigns, rookie T.J. Rivera homered for the second day in a row and the third time in less than a week, driving an inside fastball just over the left field wall to make the score 5-2.

Making his sixth consecutive start, the undrafted Bronx native is batting .417 with three home runs and six RBIs over that span.

Freeman got things started in the seventh with an infield hit off of reliever Josh Edgin. After two quick outs, Flowers singled to center, setting up runners on the corners. Peterson walked to load the bases, chasing Edgin in favor of Hansel Robles.

Swanson, Baseball Prospectus’ 27th-best prospect coming into the season, drove in Freeman and Flowers with a blooper to left that fell in no-man’s land for a single and padded Atlanta’s lead at 7-2.

James Loney (3-for-4) doubled in Michael Conforto in the ninth inning against closer Jim Johnson to wrap up the night’s scoring at 7-3.

“If there’s any game that we’ve played in a long time that demonstrates that there’s no guarantees and no sure things in baseball, tonight’s the game,” Collins said.

COME BACK SOON

Steven Matz (9-8, 3.40 ERA, 3.1 WARP), on the 15-day Disabled List with left shoulder tightness, is expected to throw a bullpen session on Wednesday. The Mets hope their southpaw from Long Island can start on Friday vs. Philadelphia. It would be Matz’s first appearance since Aug. 14.

MILLER’S CROSSING

Three of Monday night’s key contributors for the Braves were all acquired in the same offseason trade with Arizona. Atlanta acquired Blair, Inciarte (1-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI) and Swanson (3-for-5 with a run scored and three RBIs) in December for RHP Shelby Miller (2-12, 6.90 ERA) and minor league left-hander Gabe Speier.

CURT IS GRAND

Outfielder Curtis Granderson was presented with the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award on Monday afternoon during a pregame press conference at Citi Field. The annual award, sponsored by the Phi Delta Theta International Fraternity, is given to the player who best exemplifies the giving character of the legendary Yankees first baseman. Gehrig was a member of the fraternity while attending Columbia University in Manhattan.

Granderson was also tabbed to represent the NL East as one of six finalists in the running for this season’s Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award. The winner will be decided by his peers via the 2016 Players Choice Awards ballot, which will be distributed to all Major Leaguers on Tuesday. The Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award is intended for “players who inspire others to higher levels of achievement by their on-field performances and contributions to their communities,” according to the MLBPA.

LOOKING FORWARD

RHP Julio Teheran (5-10, 3.18 ERA, .237 TAv, 3.0 WARP) takes on rookie RHP Robert Gsellman (2-1, 3.08 ERA, 5.13 DRA, .333 BABIP) in the middle game of the series on Tuesday night. Atlanta’s lone All-Star this season, Teheran is 6-3 with a 2.44 ERA in 14 career outings (13 starts) against the Mets. Gsellman faced the Braves in Atlanta on Sep. 9, a 6-4 New York victory. He did not factor in the decision, allowing four runs on seven hits and two walks over five innings.

Photo credit: Wendell Cruz – USA Today Sports

The Mets threatened early, loading the bases with three walks in the first inning, but T.J. Rivera flew out to end the threat. That opportunity was wasted, but the Mets cashed in on Berrios’ inability to keep the ball in the yard (2.01 HR/9 entering the game) in the third. Jose Reyes led off with a home run out towards the Shea Bridge and Asdrubal Cabrera immediately followed with a second-deck shot that gave the Mets a 2-0 lead.

Bartolo Colon, meanwhile, was weaving his way in and out of trouble. Colon erased a one-out walk by inducing a double play in the first, then escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third with a flyout. In the fourth, Yoenis Cespedes had one of his occasional mental lapses in left and dropped a line drive off the bat of Max Kepler put the leadoff man on for the Twins. Big Sexy worked around that too, picking Kepler off, then inducing two more fly outs to end the inning.

In the fifth, Rivera led off with a single and James Loney followed with a hard-hit ground ball into right center that put runners on the corners with no outs. The Mets would squander this opportunity as well, however, as Travis d’Arnaud popped out, Colon struck out and Reyes popped out. Cabrera walked to start the fifth, but was immediately erased on a hard-hit ground ball from Yoenis Cespedes that turned into a double play. And the Mets couldn’t capitalize on a two-out double from Loney in the sixth.

Thankfully, these wasted opportunities didn’t come back to bite the Mets thanks to the brilliance of Colon, who did a much better job of limiting traffic on the bases after the fourth. The Twins put only one man on base over the fifth, sixth and seventh, that one coming on a single from Jorge Polanco. Colon finished the night with six strikeouts, two walks, and three hits allowed over seven innings, holding the Twins scoreless and leaving with a two-run lead.

Finally, in the seventh, the Mets broke through to add some insurance. Alejandro De Aza, pinch-hitting for Colon, led off with a single, advanced to second when Cabrera walked and scored on Cespedes’ ground ball single into center field. Curtis Granderson and Jay Bruce failed to capitalize on the first and second with one out situation after that, but the Mets established a 3-0 lead.

Come the eighth inning, it was time for the Mets’ late inning duo to polish off the win. Addison Reed entered and shut the Twins down with little effort, striking out Byron Buxton and Brian Dozier and inducing a pop out from Robbie Grossman. Jeurys Familia had a slightly rockier road, walking Joe Mauer and Kurt Suzuki to bring power threat Kennys Vargas to the plate as the tying run. Vargas hit the ball deep to left, but Cespedes had more than enough room to record the out and seal the win.

The win, along with the Cardinals loss, puts the Mets two games ahead of St. Louis for the second wild card spot. The Giants still hold the 1st wild card spot, ahead of the Mets by a single game. The Mets have won seven of their last ten and dominated every team except the Nationals over the last month (pretty much as expected given the weak schedule). Seth Lugo opposes Ervin Santna in the second game of the series tonight.

Photo credit: Brad Penner – USA Today Sports