If there’s one thing we’ve learned from covering Collins over the last two seasons, it’s that he doesn’t change his ingrained habits. Nori Aoki, Jose Reyes, and Asdrubal Cabrera led off for the Mets. Cabrera is the youngest of those players at 31. Meanwhile, Dom Smith and Amed Rosario are “protected” from getting an additional developmental at-bat by hitting in the bottom of the order. Gavin Cecchini may not fit in the Mets’ future, but Collins won’t even give him a chance. Just like we saw with Michael Conforto, Collins is unwilling to play the rookies. Ironically, the one thing Collins did well his last year in Anaheim was play 22-year old Troy Glaus every day.

Seth Lugo pitched four innings and 76 pitches before getting pulled for a pinch hitter. Lugo had some command issues, but he didn’t walk anybody and only gave up two runs. Then we saw Collins’ typical bullpen management. Chasen Bradford came in for the fifth. Josh Smoker got two outs, hit a batter, and Collins turned to Paul Sewald to get a righty. Sewald struck out Makiel Franco, sat down for half an inning, then came back for the seventh. Naturally he wasn’t as sharp, getting a strikeout then walking the next three batters. Collins has developed a bad habit of using a second reliever for part of an inning, sitting that pitcher down, then calling that pitcher back up for more work.

At a certain point, most Mets fans probably just want the season to end, Unfortunately, the Mets couldn’t even get that right on Saturday, Rookie callup Jamie Callahan came in for Sewald with the bases loaded, one out and a 4-2 lead. He gave up a sacrifice fly to Aaron Altherr and then a hard single to Rhys Hoskins, trying the game at four. Both the Mets and Phillies went to some of their best relievers, and A.J. Ramos was actually able to throw a 1-2-3 inning. Hoskins drove a ball to deep left-center in the tenth but couldn’t get it out of the park with the wind blowing in. Reyes came up with two on in the 11th but swung at every 3-2 pitch out of the zone until he missed one. Finally Cabrera, hit a three-run homer to put more runs on the board and Jeurys Familia threw a 1-2-3 inning for the save.

Media Meltdown, Continued

Sandy Alderson met with reporters before Saturday’s game to take responsibility for what he called a breakdown of the team’s professional culture, saying, “I’m the leader of this group. I feel responsible for every aspect of this operation, particularly in those areas where they fall short.” However, Alderson did not deny Marc Carig’s reporting that owner Fred Wilpon prevented the front office from firing Collins. Alderson was probably smart to avoid directly commenting on Collins’ bullpen use, since Collins continued to make the same mistakes against yesterday. More than anything else, Alderson seemed upset that someone would talk to a beat reporter about the club’s many obvious problems.

The Mets will play their last game of the season today. Noah Syndergaard will throw 20-25 pitches. Then the Mets’ taxed bullpen will go one final game and every Mets fan will wait on Twitter to see if (when) Collins is officially told he won’t get a new contract.

Photo credit: Eric Hartline – USA Today Sports

The Mets are bad. The Phillies are worse. Ben Lively is mediocre (bordering on bad). Matt Harvey is worse. Both teams are better served by losing. It’s late season baseball at the bottom of the standings, folks, so get excited.

Game Recap

In what is probably (hopefully) his last series in a Mets uniform, Jose Reyes got things off to a fast start in the ballpark he’s so often enjoyed hitting in. With one out in the first, Reyes deposited his 15th homer of the year into the right-center field seats to give Matt Harvey a 1-0 lead before he even took the mound. Asdrubal Cabrera followed with a single on a pop up, but the Mets would only get the one run.

Harvey held that lead for an inning, but no longer. Odubel Herrera dropped down a beautiful bunt for a single with one out in second, and Maikel Franco immediately followed that with a moonshot of a home run on fastball that Harvey through right over the middle of the plate at 94 mph. Perhaps if he had the 98 mph life he used to, Matt could blow hitters away with that pitch. Instead, those strikeouts have turned into hard-hit balls.

Things continued to spiral in the third, as Harvey gave up a walk and two singles to load the bases with nobody out. Two batters later, a run scored on a sacrifice fly from Odubel Herrera. Then, with Maikel Franco at the plate, Harvey’s season reached its nadir. As he started his delivery, Harvey’s hand seemed to hit his knee, leading him to drop the ball for a balk and prompting Gary Cohen to give us a lesson about the 1962 Mets – certainly never the season that any team or any player wants to be compared to. The balk scored a second run for the Phillies to make it 4-1.

Dom Smith and Jose Reyes conspired to make Harvey’s life a bit more difficult in the fourth, letting a pop up off the bat of Jorge Alfaro drop for a leadoff double. Juan Lagares bailed the Mets out, gunning down Alfaro at the plate with one of his trademark, pinpoint throws to home plate, keeping the deficit at three. Harvey navigated the rest of the inning and departed having allowed just the four runs.

Smith did his best to atone for his mistake in the fifth, leading off with his ninth home run of the year. Hansel Robles eventually gave that run back. After tossing a clean bottom of the fifth, Robles left a fastball over the plate and down to Alfaro, who blasted it out to left-center to re-extend the Phillie lead to 5-2. Two batters later, Cesar Hernandez also went deep with a solo shot, making it 6-2. Yes, Hansel pointed to the sky on both homers. Things got a little touchy with Freddy Galvis at the plate as the Phillies got over-sensitive about an inside fastball (Robles does have some history with them, of course), but ultimately nothing crazy happened and the game went to the seventh with the Mets in a four-run hole.

The Mets wasted a walk from Smith in the seventh and singles from Nori Aoki and Cabrera in the eighth. Meanwhile, Kevin McGowan tossed a clean seventh and Jacob Rhame tossed a clean eighth (aside – he has a fun fastball, even though his results have been poor). That brought on Cabrera’s favorite person, Edubray Ramos for the save. Lagares and Phil Evans made some two out noise, each singling on ground balls to the left side. Ramos rallied to retire Aoki on a ground ball to first to end the 6-2 loss.

The loss drops the Mets to 69-91, holding them in line for the sixth pick in the draft. It’d be pretty nice if the Mets could manage to lose all three games of this series and sneak into the top five, but the Reds have a two-game “lead.” Seth Lugo takes the mound in game 161 today with Jacob deGrom scratched.

Thoughts from the Game

Keith was in rare form last night, as he and Gary started the last series of the year. His rants ranged from the overemphasis of home runs (no Keith, no one thinks Maikel Franco is having a good year) to multiple remarks on the music being played in Citizens Bank Park. Though his “back in my day” nonsense is at times annoying, it is almost always amusing, and he’ll be a big part of why we’ll miss the Mets for the next six months even after such a disastrous season.

For Harvey, this was probably an okay outing at this point of the season. He’ll end 2017, which he called a “nightmare,” with a 6.70 ERA, a meager 6.51 K/9, a bad 4.56 BB/9, and a stupendously awful 2.04 HR/9. Why he pitched for so long when he seemed physically unable is an open question. The Mets plan to tender him, and someone with a relatively recent history of elite performance is worth a $5 million gamble. We’ll just have to hope that Harvey’s issue were just an issue of a lack of strength and that he can rebound, though I don’t think anyone is holding their breath at this point.

Finally, I have to take a final jab at all the Dom Smith enthusiasts out there. Sure, Smith’s power has been better at the major league level (on a 30 HR/600 PA pace) as you’d expect with the juiced ball effect we’ve seen this year. Despite that, Dom has been awful, as his walk and strikeout rates unsurprisingly slipped, and his overall output plummeted to a putrid .226. There is no reason he should be gifted a spot in the starting lineup next season if the Mets are serious about contention.

Other Met News

Starting with the less inflammatory story (though there’s lots of inflammation here too most likely), Jacob deGrom has been scratched from his Saturday start with gastroenteritis. It’s nothing serious, and Seth Lugo will slot on Saturday in his place. deGrom finishes a very solid 2017 with a 3.55 ERA and 239 strikeouts in 201.1 innings.

Marc Carig’s bombshell article is the real big story around the Mets at the moment. Unsurprisingly, Sandy Alderson and other members of the front office have wanted to fire Terry Collins for some time due to a litany of problems with his managing tactics and style (more on that later). However, it was the elder Fred Wilpon shielding Collins from Alderson’s wrath, not the younger Jeff who is so often ridiculed by Met fans (with good reason).

There’s a lot to dissect here. On some level, it’s encouraging that Collins’ ineptitude was recognized as a problem by the supposedly analytically inclined Met front office. Team officials cited his frequent overuse of relievers and reluctance to play young players as particular issues, and any informed Met fan has been complaining about those tendencies for years. That gives you some hope that the next manager the Mets pick will be more receptive to analytic advice and, in general, not a tactical moron.

As cathartic as it is for us fans it’s very concerning that this sort of airing of dirty laundry happened at all. It’s clear that Fred Wilpon still fancies himself some sort of baseball man, overriding the people he hired to run his team so that he could keep reminiscing about the Dodgers with his old buddy Collins. Is the relationship so bad that Sandy (or whoever else) has to poison the well enough to force Fred Wilpon’s hand? That’s a scary thought on multiple levels. How do you sell a new manager on such a dysfunctional work environment? And what’s to stop Fred from overriding his front office again during the hiring process, perhaps bringing in someone he likes (Robin Ventura) rather than the most qualified candidate?

Regardless of the unclear implications for the functionality of the Met front office and their managerial search, Fred Wilpon’s meddling has certainly done long term damage to the Mets roster. In an age when pitcher rest has been recognized as more and more important, Terry Collins has run multiple pitchers in the bullpen and in the rotation in the ground, and likely deserves at least some of the blame for the rash of injuries the Mets have suffered. Further, his poor communication skills created a clubhouse culture where everyone was “miserable,” which could very well have ramifications for the Mets’ efforts to retain some of their home grown stars down the line. Why stick around in an environment where the managerial structure above you is clearly a disaster that trickles down into your day-to-day workplace?

Ultimately, this is the kind of story that, as Keith put it, has the smell of a loser. Terry Collins may deserve to be trashed for how awful he is at his job and we may take some small, perverse pleasure in watching the focus of our ire for so many years get lit up. But a well run organization doesn’t have this happen, as they either have the wherewithal to remove the source of internal strife before things reach this point or simply eat it and move on. This isn’t a well run organization though, it’s the Mets, and until that changes, they will remain a loser.

Photo credit: John Geliebter – USA Today Sports

It was…not the Mets

WHAT HAPPENED, ONE MISTAKE:

Sunday was one of those typical Jacob deGrom starts. He did about everything he could to put the Mets in a position to win, but it just didn’t happen when everything was said and done. After opening the action with five strikeouts in two innings, deGrom ran into trouble. Jose Lobaton kicked off the third inning with a liner up the middle before Max Scherzer traded places with him on a bunt-turned fielders’ choice. It wouldn’t matter who was on first, though, as the next man to the plate, Trea Turner, planted a ball in the left field seats to give the Nats a 2-1 lead.
A quick fourth was followed by an inning of unfortunate breaks, led off with a Michael A. Taylor swinging bunt down the third-base line. Two pitches later, Taylor broke for second, which turned into an even better decision once the Travis d’Arnaud-throw found its way into shallow centerfield. Now with a runner on third, Lobaton blooped a ball into left field. Of course, in true Sunday Mets fashion, it was too shallow for Brandon Nimmo to grab, yet too deep for him to throw out Taylor. Suddenly a leadoff infield single snowballed into a 3-1 deficit.
As per usual, deGrom did a great job at limiting contact to weak, at best. When you sport 11 strikeouts in six innings, no walks, three runs (two earned), and five hits, you’ve basically done all you can to keep your club in it. But, in the end, it just wasn’t enough. One mistake pitch to Trea Turner made all the difference. In terms of non-deGrom pitching, Hansel Robles and Paul Sewald came out of the bullpen to combine for three shutout innings. That is, of course, always fantastic to see as we enter into the last week of the regular season.

WHAT HAPPENED, THEY DID FACE MAX SCHERZER:

Game 155 had an optimistic start. Jose Reyes nearly smacked a 93-mph fastball over the fence his first time up. Victor Robles played the ball well, but it couldn’t have been more than a foot or two away from a first-inning homerun. The very next batter, Brandon Nimmo, didn’t make the same mistake. He hit the ball much, much farther. Just like that, the Mets had a quick 1-0 lead on a Scherzer-led Washington Nationals.
Though it looked like they were poised to strike early, strike often against the probable National League Cy Young-winning, that would be all the Mets could muster. Two more hits and a walk would be scattered across five more Scherzer-thrown innings, but none came in the same frame. The Mets didn’t get multiple runners on base, or even multiple hits, until the eighth inning rolled around.
A Juan Lagares leadoff single against Ryan Madson kicked off the rally attempt, as two batters later Nori Aoki placed a grounder perfectly with a hit-and-run to place runners at the corners with one away. Reyes then singled into center to cut the Nats lead in half, and a two-out walk to d’Arnaud would load the bases for Kevin Plawecki to pinch hit for Dom Smith. That would be as close as the Mets got, however, as Sammy Solis came on to record a punch-out of Plawecki and keep the Nats 3-2 lead in tact. Though Amed Rosario and Lagares singled with one out in the ninth, Brandon Kintzler was able to work his way out of trouble against Matt Reynolds and the aforementioned Aoki. In the end, the Mets made it close, but they were ultimately not able to overcome the recently-turned Good Nationals Bullpen.

WHAT HAPPENED, YESTERDAY:

Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer were quite the spectacle, as they struck out a combined 21 hitters in 12 innings. In the end, deGrom was stung by some unfortunately placed hits, and one unfortunately placed pitch. Though they tried their hand at a comeback attempt once they got Scherzer out of the game, the bats just couldn’t seem to scratch across that elusive third run.

WHAT HAPPENS, TODAY:

Well, if you must know, it is the last week of the regular season. The Mets have four games left against the Atlanta Braves, and three against the Philadelphia Phillies. With a current record of 66-89, there is a decent chance that the Mets will finish with under 70 wins for the first time since 2003. At the same time, they are just a half-game up on the 66-90 Cincinnati Reds. In the race for a better draft position, they could be doing well. That said, man, what a drop off it has been. With injuries and all, the Mets are a week away from completing their fall from ‘potential playoff team’ to ‘worse than the Reds’. The fifth-worst record in major league baseball. It’s just…damn.

Photo credit: Wendell Cruz – USA Today Sports

In the latest installment of Mets-ian injury luck, Jacob deGrom was pushed back from his Friday night start against the Nationals with a stomach ailment. Instead, Robert Gsellman took the mound against the NL East champions. Gsellman had a great start in Atlanta his last time out, but has been very disappointing after a promising rookie cameo at the end of 2016. For the Nationals, Edwin Jackson and his 6.38 FIP took the mound. They also left literally every position player of note on the bench, running out what was very clearly a post-clinching lineup as they coast into a matchup with the Cubs in the NLDS.

Suffice to say that this series is far from what we all expected and hoped for at the start of the season. This could’ve been a high stakes, tension filled fight for the division late in the season, with both sides matching aces (think back to that three-game series where this happened on Sunday Night Baseball) as they attempt to lock up the division. Instead, rather than struggling to keep our heads on straight and our hearts in our chest for three games, we’ll have to struggle for reasons to watch.

2015 feels so far away, doesn’t it?

Game Recap

Gsellman got off to a good start against the Nationals’ reserve lineup, setting them down in order in the first inning with a strikeout. He lost his control in the second however, as two walks and a HBP (with a wild pitch mixed in) loaded the bases with nobody out. In one of the better displays of composure we’ve seen from a Mets pitcher of late, Gsellman bounced back to work out of it, inducing pop ups from Adrian Sanchez and Pedro Severino before striking out Edwin Jackson to leave the bases loaded.

Perhaps encouraged by their starter’s effort, the Mets got on the board immediately afterwards. Travis d’Arnaud lead off with the bottom of the second by yanking a fastball up around his shoulders down the left field line for a solo home run. Dom Smith followed with a single, but the bottom third of the Mets’ order couldn’t do anything with that baserunner. Nevertheless, the Mets had a 1-0 going to the third.

Unfortunately, Gsellman’s troubles returned in the third. With one out, former Met Alejandro de Aza lined a ball to center field that Juan Lagares misjudged, and it rolled to the wall for a triple. Gsellman then hit Howie Kendrick to put two runners on for Adam Lind, who launched a down-and-in fastball over the right-center field wall for a three-run home run. In a flash, a 1-0 lead was a 3-1 deficit.

The Mets put together a small rally in the bottom of the third as they were seemingly ready to respond. Nori Aoki singled on a bunt ground ball and stole second, and a walk to Asdrubal Cabrera two batters late put runners on first and second with one out. This is the 2017 Mets though, so of course Brandon Nimmo hit a ball hard to de Aza that was caught on the fly and turned into an inning-ending double play.

Gsellman bounced back after the home run, striking out two in a 1-2-3 top of the fourth. He pitched well in the fifth as well, but was undone by some poor defense and worse umpiring. de Aza reached on a fielding error by Amed Rosario with one out, and after a blatantly missed strike three call to Howie Kendrick, the Washington second baseman drove an RBI double to right-center field to stretch the lead to 4-1. Adam Lind was walked intentionally to give a righty-righty matchup against Victor Robles, but he launched a two run triple to left-center, increasing the deficit to 6-1. In an inning that should have been over in three batters, the Nationals scored three runs.

After this rally by the Nats, the Mets managed to answer. Lagares laid down a very nice bunt single, stole second, then scored on a single from Aoki. Jose Reyes and Cabrera followed with singles of their own, pushing another run across the plate and putting men at first and second with one out. Brandon Nimmo worked a six pitch at bat (shocking) but struck out, bringing Travis d’Arnaud to the plate. d’Arnaud got another fastball up in the zone from Jackson that he liked, and he lined a three-run home run to left-center to tie the game at six.

Chasen Bradford replaced Gsellman in the sixth and struck out one in a scoreless inning. In the bottom half, the Mets took the lead against Joe Blanton. Juan Lagares doubled to left with one out and moved to third on a wild pitch. Nori Aoki drove him in with a double to deep right-center over Victor Robles, who was playing quite shallow against the typically slappy outfielder. Lagares’s run gave the Mets a 7-6 advantage at the end of the sixth.

Paul Sewald replaced Chasen Bradford with 1.2 scoreless innings of work (with some help from Lagares on a diving catch), striking out one, and Jerry Blevins finished the eighth by inducing a fly out from Daniel Murphy. That set the stage for A.J. Ramos, making his first appearance since blowing a three-run lead in Miami on Tuesday. This outing didn’t start much better, as Ramos walked Wilmer Difo and gave up a hard line drive to de Aza. Aoki made his latest impressive contribution to the Mets to help out, making a fantastic diving catch to turn that line drive into an out.

Ramos wasn’t as lucky to Howie Kenrick, who dinked a single in front of Aoki to put runners on first and third with one out. That led Terry Collins to yank his struggling closer for Josh Smoker. Smoker did his job, inducing a pop up from Adam Lind for the second out, setting the stage for Jeurys Familia’s first save opportunity since returning from the disabled list. Familia did his job, striking out the only batter he faced to secure the win.

Thoughts from the Game

Victor Robles is really, really fast. Like, Billy Hamilton fast. I know that last tidbit is probably not true, but it certainly feels like it watching him fly around the bases.

I remain confident that the A.J. Ramos trade is a move the Mets will regret. Ramos is in line for about $10 million dollars next season, and he simply isn’t worth that much. His consistent issues with control have prevented him from registering an elite or even particularly good cFIP as a reliever over the last couple seasons, and his ERA has risen to match. Add in that the Mets gave up a pitcher who was probably better than any player they received in their “hard sell” and things look even worse.

The clear benefit to Ramos is that he is a one-year commitment, amtching the current front office’s long standing disdain for handing out long term contracts to relievers. When building a team for the long haul, this is a good strategy, as relievers are volatile and unreliable in addition to not being a huge chunk of value compared to other spots on the roster. This Mets team is headed for a downturn, however, and the Mets should be doling out big contracts to actually elite relievers, since the long term consequences don’t matter – the team is going to be bad in two or three years anyway.

But no, the Mets will continue to be cheap and delusional about their place on the win curve, and we’ll be stuck having a heart attack anytime Ramos enters the game.

Other Met News

Whisperings from Jon Heyman and elsewhere over the past week have hinted heavily that Terry Collins will not be back next season. Some with the team are convinced he wants to retire, while others simply won’t make any comments about his job security (never a good sign for any manager, let alone one with an expiring contract).

Needless to say, every Met fans should have Handel’s Messiah going off at 120 decibels in their head. Collins has managed the most games of any Mets manager and won the second most games, leading the team to two consecutive playoff appearances in 2015 and 2016 for only the second time in team history. Despite those credentials, Collins has been a detriment to the team more often than not, constructing questionable lineups, refusing to play young players, and making horrendous decisions with his pitchers. Any comments with regard to his ability to manage a clubhouse well seems moot as well given some of the issue the Mets have had (such as with Asdrubal Cabrera).

Where the Mets turn for their next manager is an open question. Smart money is with the usual suspects that have long been rumored to be next in line, such as Bob Geren, Chip Hale, and Dick Scott. Recent reports have suggested the front office wants to bring in someone more familiar with analytics, though bringing up Mike Matheny as an example of such a manager is concerning (Matheny consistently makes many of the same mistakes Terry does). Pedro Lopez has long been considered another internal candidate as a coach who has done well with Mets prospects at multiple levels of the minor leagues. Unfortunately, those of us hoping for a more new age, out-of-the-box hire (oh what I would do to make John Baker the manager for 2018) are probably not going to get our wish, but at the very least we should get an upgrade over Terry Collins’ particular brand of ineptitude.

In other news that I have less to rant about, Noah Syndergaard is scheduled to make a one inning start today, after which Matt Harvey will take over. It’ll be Thor’s first appearance since tearing his lat on April 30. Throwing him out there for an inning is about as low risk as things can get, so if it has a positive psychological impact, there’s very limited drawback.

Photo credit: Andy Marlin – USA Today Sports

It can’t get any worse than last night, that’s for sure.

A day after Matt Harvey (with some help from the bullpen) got slapped around by the Marlins en route to a 13-1 loss, the Mets went back to work in Miami. Seth Lugo and his barely intact UCL faced off against Odrisamer Despaigne, a pitcher with a K/BB of less than one this season who has nevertheless given the Mets fits in the past (he took a no-hitter into the eighth inning while with the Padres in 2014). Phil Evans made his first MLB start at second base, and that that’s a highlight for the primer of this game tells you just how far we’ve sunk.

Game Recap

Jose Reyes got the Mets off to a fast start, dropping a solo home run into the right center field seats with one out in the first. That would be all the offense they managed for the first five innings, as Dom Smith left two men on in the third and the Mets went in order in the second, fourth, and fifth.

Seth Lugo made that lead stand up at first. He worked around a walk to Giancarlo Stanton in the first (one of many unintentional-intentional free passes the Mets have doled out to the prodigious slugger this season) by inducing a reviewed double play from Christian Yelich. He induced another double play in the second, working around a single from Justin Bour and a double from Derek Dietrich. Things were quieter in the third, when Lugo set the Marlins down in order.

Miami finally broke through in the fourth, when Yelich launched his 18th homer of the season to left center. J.T. Realmuto followed with a two out double, but Lugo struck out Dietrich to keep the game tied at one. Lugo bounced back in the fifth with another 1-2-3 inning, but that would end his evening. The right-hander tossed five innings of one run ball, striking out three and walking one. The outing lowered his ERA to 5.03.

Though Lugo departed a tie game, the Mets worked to get him in line for the win. In the top of the sixth, Reyes led off with a single before both Asdrubal Cabrera and Dom Smith lined out. With two outs, Travis d’Arnaud stepped to the plate, and he blasted a two-run home run to center field to give the Mets a 3-1 lead. Brandon Nimmo followed that up by lining a first-pitch single (a very uncharacteristic move) to left, but he was stranded when Juan Lagares flew out to end the inning.

Josh Smoker entered for the bottom of the sixth and worked a scoreless inning, working around yet another walk to Giancarlo Stanton as well as a wild pitch. After a quiet top of the seventh, Jeurys Familia relieved Smoker, striking out two and walking one in a scoreless inning. It was one of Familia’s better outings since returning from the disabled list with blood clots in his throwing shoulder, as he looks to work himself back into closer shape going into the 2018 season.

The Mets put together another threat in the top of the eighth, when Cabrera singled with one out. Smith followed with a strikeout before d’Arnaud singled and Nimmo walked to load the bases with two outs. Lagares then had a ten-pitch battle with Junichi Tazawa, including five straight foul balls. Unfortunately, when Lagares finally got around on a ball, he lined it directly to second baseman Derek Dietrich to end the threat.

After working around yet another walk to Giancarlo Stanton in the bottom of the eighth, the Mets managed to push across an insurance run in the top of the ninth. Phil Evans lead off with a line drive single to center, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Matt Reynolds, then to third on a ground out from Nori Aoki. Reyes drove him in with a single, stretching the lead to 4-1.

That run would prove to be important, as A.J. Ramos made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth. Justin Bour lead off the inning by golfing a pitching that was practically lying on home plate for a solo home run. J.T. Realmuto then singled on a slow ground ball to short, and Brian Anderson made things even dicier with a single to put runners on first and third with one out two batters later. Ramos pulled within one out of the save before A.J. Ellis pushed a ground ball through the right side of the infield to cut the Marlins deficit to one run. Ichiro Suzuki followed with a line drive single just over the glove of Reyes, driving in Anderson to tie the game at four.

At this point, most of us were probably just rooting for the Mets to complete the implosion and lose the game. Instead, Paul Sewald entered (after Ramos walked Stanton for the fourth time this game) and struck out Christian Yelich, forcing the game into extra innings. Mercifully, things ended quickly. A leadoff single from Smith was wasted, and J.T. Realmuto lined a walkoff solo home run off of Sewald in the bottom of the 10th.

The loss drops the Mets to 65-86, keeping them in the fifth spot in the reverse standings. Another painful loss, but at least they didn’t drag things out too long.

Thoughts from the Game

I’d use this game as an excuse to bring up my doubts about A.J. Ramos (and my corresponding dislike of the trade to acquire him), but judging relievers on a one-game sample is silly and pointless. This could also be a chance to rant about Terry Collins failing to recognize when a reliever has nothing, but basically every major league manager does this with his closer. Perhaps another chance to complain about Jose Reyes still being on this team, but he went 4-for-5 with a home run.

No, there’s just nothing worth mustering up the energy to complain about at this juncture in the season. We’re just playing out the string here folks, even in the recap section.

Other Met News

Amed Rosario missed a second straight game with gastroenteritis, with the Mets describing him as violently sick. Rosario had a bout of the stomach flu earlier this season, missing a week or so of action while with Las Vegas. The young shortstop visited the hospital but spent the night in the team hotel, and has been instructed to stay there while resting up in order to get back to game shape. With the Mets season already long over and Rosario having received a decent sampling of MLB pitching, there’s no reason to rush him back at this point.

Photo credit: Jason Vinlove – USA Today Sports

It’s been a while since I’ve written one of these. The distraction of starting a Ph.D. and moving back to my native NYC has been rather nice, giving me a multitude of excuses to duck out on watching a bad Mets team drag the corpse of their season across the finish line. It’s always worth it to tune in at the end of the season though, just to listen to GKR for a couple more hours before the long offseason begins.

To the game itself. Matt Harvey toed the mound as the Mets started a three-game set in Miami, their last trip south of Philadelphia for the season. Opposing him was Dan Straily, the Marlins’ return in the soon-to-be-infamous Luis Castillo trade with the Reds this past offseason. To make a bad game worse, Amed Rosario was scratched with an upset stomach, giving us an extra dose of a Cabrera-Reyes-Cecchini infield. This season really can’t end soon enough.

Game Recap

The Mets seemed primed to jump out to an early lead against Straily, with Nori Aoki singling and Jose Reyes walking to start the first inning. Both runners would be stranded, however, as Asdrubal Cabrera and Travis d’Arnaud struck out, sandwiching a line out from Dom Smith. That missed opportunity immediately became irksome, as a couple of soft ground ball hits and a line drive from Justin Bour drove in a run for the Marlins in the bottom half of the inning to put the Mets in an early 1-0 hole.

Harvey was able to dance around more trouble in the second, stranding two runners who reached on softly hit ground balls up the middle. He wasn’t as lucky in the third, however. Giancarlo Stanton started the inning with a three-pitch walk, and Bour followed two batters later with a screaming line drive double to put runners on a second and third with one out. A wild pitch to Brian Anderson pushed Stanton across the plate, and an intentional walk and another infield single loaded the bases for Dan Straily with two outs. Harvey was able to stop the damage, but was up to 54 pitches and seven hits allowed (four of them very soft, two of them extremely hard) through three innings.

After stranding a plethora of baserunners through the first three innings, the Mets finally generated a response in the top of the fourth. Brandon Nimmo worked a walk (what else is new) before Juan Lagares grounded into a fielder’s choice and stole second base, putting a runner on second with two outs. Gavin Cecchini followed that up with a ground ball single up the middle to drive in Lagares, cutting the Miami lead to 2-1.

Harvey and the Mets gave that run and more right back. Dee Gordon led off the bottom of the fourth with a bunt single, then stole second. Harvey then yanked a fastball into Tomas Talis, putting runners on first and second with none out for Stanton. I’m sure you’ve already guessed how that turned out, as Stanton vaporized a flat fastball in the middle of the plate for a three-run home run that landed in the back right of the home run monstrosity in center field. The homer was Stanton’s 55th on the season, and it gave the Marlins a 5-1 lead. It was also the longest home run at a 17 degree launch angle or lower ever tracked by Statcast, travelling 455 feet.

The fifth inning started just as poorly for Harvey, as he allowed a flair single to Ichiro Suzuki and a ground ball single to Mike Aviles. That would chase him from the game, as the pitcher who used to be the Mets’ next best hope lasted only 4+ innings, the seventh straight start in which he went five innings or fewer. He allowed 12 hits, and, while there was certainly some bad luck in there (three infield hits, two dribblers into the outfield, and a flair that dropped) he also gave up plenty of rockets. Harvey’s stuff is still flat and his command is still spotty. On the bright side, he seems to have recovered at least one of the ticks he lost, but that’s really reaching for positives.

Tommy Milone entered in relief and retired Christian Yelich (pinch hitting for Dan Straily) on a weak dribbler in front of home plate. Dee Gordon made that out irrelevant, lining a triple into the right-center field gap to push the Marlins lead to 7-1. All seven of those runs were charged to Harvey, ballooning his ERA on the season to an almost inconceivable 6.59.

Milone walked Tomas Telis before being replaced by Hansel Robles. Robles’s results weren’t any better, as he allowed RBI singles Stanton and Ozuna. Brian Anderson then lined the second two-run triple of the inning for the Marlins before scoring on an RBI single from Suzuki. Erik Goeddel entered and finally stopped the bleeding, but the Marlins had turned things into a laugher, leading 12-1.

The rest of the game was fairly mundane. Chris Flexen tossed a scoreless inning with two strikeouts in relief. Jacob Rhame gave up a home run on the second pitch he threw, walked a batter, and struck out one in an inning of work. Jaime Callahan added a clean inning in the eighth. Meanwhile, the Met offense didn’t score, going quietly into the night in a 13-1 loss. At 65-85, they remain in line for the fifth pick in the draft.

Thoughts from the Game

Time to twist the knife of a lost season and another brutal loss a bit more. Eleven years ago last night, Jose Reyes and David Wright danced in the clubhouse and smoke cigars on the field as they clinched the NL East title. I don’t mean to re-write the eulogy for the 2006 Mets for the three millionth time, but it’s a sobering reminder of how far away the current iteration of the Mets are from getting back to that level.

I also want to share a pessimistic bet I’ve made with a couple friends. Nori Aoki is a marginally useful extra outfielder, and honestly not the worst option as a reserve on a good team. He’s also performed quite well since joining the Mets on September 2, running a 119 wRC+ in his very brief tenure. However, it should be very clear that Nori Aoki has no business being a starting outfielder at this point of his career, and if the Mets try to sell him as such (or even as a short term replacement should Michael Conforto’s return from shoulder surgery be delayed at all) it will be an abject disaster for 2018.

Other Mets News

Noah Syndergaard pitched a simulated game in front of the major league coaches in Miami today, facing a handful of live hitters. There’s a chance Thor gets back in a major league game this season, even if it’s just as a reliever, but it’s nice to see the Mets being extra cautious with one of their players for once.

Photo credit: Steve Mitchell – USA Today Sports

The Marlins return for the first time in almost two weeks, forced to play three “home” games in Milwaukee over the weekend while storm-ravaged Miami continued to pick up the pieces from Hurricane Irma.

New York is 7-9 against the Marlins this season with a run differential of +1.

When and Where

Game 1: Monday @ 7:10 p.m. EST (TV: SNY; RADIO: 710 WOR, ESPN Deportes)

Game 2: Tuesday @ 7:10 p.m. EST (TV: SNY; RADIO: 710 WOR, ESPN Deportes)

Game 3: Wednesday @ 1:10 p.m. EST (TV: SNY; RADIO: 710 WOR, ESPN Deportes)

Baseball Weather

Monday: 40% chance of scattered thunderstorms with a low of 77F; Winds between 5-10 mph

Tuesday: 80% chance of thunderstorms with a low of 77F; Winds light and variable

Wednesday: Mostly sunny with a high of 88F; Winds between 5-10 mph

Probable Pitching Matchups

Monday: RHP Matt Harvey (5-5, 6.14 ERA, 5.52 DRA, .300 TAv, 0.1 WARP) vs. RHP Dan Straily (9-9, 4.24 ERA, 4.61 DRA, .273 TAv, 1.8 WARP)

Harvey took a step backwards on Wednesday at Wrigley Field, allowing five runs on seven hits and four walks over 3.1 innings. The former All-Star is now 1-2 with a 12.19 ERA in three starts since returning from the disabled list.

Straily was also hit hard his last time out, charged with eight runs on 13 hits in six innings at Citizens Bank Park.

Tuesday: RHP Seth Lugo (6-5, 5.21 ERA, 5.55 DRA, .289 TAv, 0.0 WARP) vs. TBD

Lugo was also knocked around by the Cubs, lasting just three innings and allowing eight runs (seven earned) in the loss. He will once again be limited to around 70-75 pitches.

Wednesday: RHP Rafael Montero (5-10, 5.08 ERA, 4.79 DRA, .294 TAv, 0.9 WARP) vs. RHP Jose Urena (13-6, 3.62 ERA, 4.52 DRA, .260 TAv, 1.7 WARP)

Montero lost for the first time in almost a month behind 4.2 innings of three-run ball in Atlanta on Friday night. The 26-year-old has a 3.51 ERA dating back to August 14, a span of eight appearances (seven starts) in which he has struck out 38 batters over 41 innings.

Urena did not factor in the decision in Friday night’s loss in Milwaukee, needing 101 pitches to get through 4.2 innings. A bright spot for the Marlins this season, the Dominican native is 2-3 with a 3.50 ERA lifetime against the Mets.

Who’s Hot?

Mets 1B Dom Smith (1.433 OPS with 2 HR and 6 RBIs since Wednesday)

Mets INF Asdrubal Cabrera (.556 AVG (10-for-18) during his six-game hitting streak)

Mets OF Nori Aoki (On base 6 times in last 10 plate appearances, including two doubles and a triple)

Mets 2B/SS Gavin Cecchini (4-for-8 with 2 RBIs in Braves series)

Marlins 2B Dee Gordon (4-for-8 with 2 runs scored since Saturday)

Marlins 1B Justin Bour (5-for-11 with 3 RBIs at Miller Park)

Marlins 3B Derek Dietrich (3-for-8 with a homer and 3 RBIs this weekend)

Who’s Not?

Mets OF Brandon Nimmo (1-for-11 with 5 strikeouts in Atlanta)

Mets CF Juan Lagares (.143 AVG (5-for-35 over his last 10 games)

Marlins OF Christian Yelich (2-for-20 over the past week)

Marlins RF Giancarlo Stanton (3-for-18 with no extra-base hits in his last 5 games)

When We Last Met

The Mets dropped two of three at home a month ago, winning the middle game behind six strong innings from Montero and homers by Smith, Wilmer Flores, and Kevin Plawecki.

It’s Literally a 10-Day DL

Marlins: SS Miguel Rojas left Sunday’s game early after straining his left shoulder diving for a ball.

Mets: RHP Noah Syndergaard (torn right lat) will pitch in a simulated game this week and could be activated for next weekend’s home series against Washington.

Notable Quotables

“It’s been a difficult trip, I think, for a number of reasons. Number one, obviously, I think we haven’t played well so that’s the start of it and it gets extended so it’s a little up in the air and a lot’s going on. We had guys that had to stay back for a day and then they flew in, or two days, and kind of lived through the hurricane for different reasons. You had guys with things going on, so there’s a lot going on with families and things that are back in Miami or Florida in general.” – Marlins skipper Don Mattingly on the recent road trip

“I tried to get the sinkers away from the lefties. There’s a lot of lefties in the lineup and I used my changeup and I thought it worked well.” – Mets starter Robert Gsellman discussing his win on Sunday, in which he allowed just an unearned run over seven sharp innings

“I thought I’d give him a start today, big hit for him. I thought he made some good plays at third. He’s another guy that’s had to reinvent himself a little bit. He signed as a shortstop. They moved him around the infield a little bit and he’s not a big power hitter but he’s a pretty good offensive (player). He puts the bat on the baseball.” – Mets manager Terry Collins on rookie third baseman Phil Evans, who drove in and scored his first big league runs on Sunday

Photo credit: Benny Sieu – USA Today Sports

The blue and gray Mets!

WHAT HAPPENED, THE NORI AOKI GAME:

Normally I lead my recaps off with pitching, but yesterday was different. It deserves a shakeup, all thanks to the one of the one they call Norichika Aoki. Leading off for the Mets on Sunday, Aoki reached base four times (two singles, a triple, and a walk). The journeyman outfielder scored once and was the only Met to record multiple hits. Aoki didn’t factor much into the score, thanks to three plate appearances where he came up with two outs, but his afternoon shouldn’t go unnoticed.

In terms of how this game was won at the plate, the Mets held on to a 2-1 lead up until the ninth inning. They had scratched a pair across off Julio Teheran in the first inning, which looked to be more than enough for Robert Gsellman. Nevertheless, a Phil Evans’ RBI double preceded an Asdrubal Cabrera pinch-hit dinger, and suddenly the Mets found themselves with a commanding 5-1 heading into the bottom half. For Cabrera, it just adds to what has already been a ridiculous September. He is now 22 for 56 this month with three homers and eight doubles. That is certifiably Very Good.

WHAT HAPPENED, GSELLMAN GETS GROUNDERS:

Robert Gsellman was the best version of Robert Gsellman on Sunday. After allowing just three hits in his first four frames, he retired eight consecutive batters. The streak ended following an Amed Rosario fielding error, which repeated itself on the very next play and stuck runners at the corners with just one away in the seventh inning. Though a groundout by Jace Peterson brought a run home, Gsellman was able to keep the lead. A Kurt Suzuki pop-out to Dom Smith just in front of the firstbase dugout would end the inning, as well as Gsellman’s afternoon.

Though he only struck out three batters, Gsellman walked none and was able to keep the ball on the ground. We know, of course, that Gsellman is a groundball pitcher. However, he really excels at this against Atlanta. Out of the 64 Braves batters Gsellman had faced coming into Sunday, 35 put the ball on the ground. Knowing that, it should be no surprise that his 13 grounders-induced on Sunday matched a season-high set against, you guessed it, the Atlanta Braves (April 26). All-in-all, maybe this shouldn’t be surprising. The Braves own one of the highest groundball rates in the National League, the philosophical hitting-antithesis of our beloved dinger-smashing Mets.

WHAT HAPPENED, YESTERDAY:

On one fine afternoon, Robert Gsellman looked great again. Had it not been for a couple of errors, he would have blanked the Atlanta Braves. It hasn’t been his best season, but hopefully he can build on starts like this during the last two weeks of a campaign he surely must be ready to put behind him.

WHAT HAPPENS, TODAY:

The Mets head to South Beach to wrap up their penultimate road trip. Matt Harvey is slated to take the mound against Dan Straily, and with two weeks left the biggest storyline might be what the Mets will do with Noah Syndergaard. In a season that has been over for months and contains nothing left to play for but some semblance of pride and a distant optimism for a healthy 2018 roster that can compete in the NL East, which is fostered by trying to help players avoid extended (and potentially lingering) trips to the disabled list with two weeks left in the season, it’s a real tough decision.

Photo credit: Dale Zanine – USA Today Sports

Of course, 2017 hasn’t worked anything like the Mets had hoped. Those hapless Braves have a better record than the should-have-been-a-contender Mets. Jacob deGrom has been an ace, but he’s been the only healthy ace. Brandon Nimmo and replacement level pickup Nori Aoki were fueling the offense. Nonetheless, Saturday’s big win reminded fans of what could have been instead of a team just playing out the stretch while booking tee times.

deGrom dominates: Jacob deGrom scattered five hits over seven strong innings as, once again, the Mets’ ace relied on command and attacking the strike zone. Of course it’s easier to rely on command when you can throw the ball past people at 95 miles per hour, but deGrom hasn’t pitched this efficiently throughout the entire season. He racked up the walks trying to blow everyone away in May, and his walks have crept up again over three disappointing starts. On Saturday, deGrom recommitted himself to efficiency and overpowered the thin Braves lineup.

Offense strikes quickly: The Mets got to former ace R.A. Dickey in a hurry. Juan Lagares singled past second baseman Ozzie Albies and Dom Smith motored around from second to score in the second inning. Gavin Cecchini drove in Travis d’Arnaud to get his first of three hits. Aoki, Nimmo, and Asdrubal Cabrera hit consecutive doubles in the third to score two more runs. Cecchini singled in another run in the fourth and Smith capped the Mets’ offense with a two-out double in the seventh.

Bullpen hangs on: After a week of bad losses, Terry Collins turned to Jeurys Familia and A.J. Ramos to give them some work. Familia looked rusty as the Braves put the first three pitches in to play. A.J. Ramos started worse, walking leadoff batter Kurt Suzuki. He followed up with a wild pitch and collided with Smith going for a pop up. Ramos dug a bigger hole looking for the perfect game ending pitch against Jace Peterson, going to a full count, and giving up a single on a fastball over the middle. Ramos looked for another perfect pitch and gave up a two-run single. Once Dan Warthen came out and told Ramos to throw strikes, he was finally able to get the last out.

Yesterday’s Terry Collins headscratcher: After scoring two runs off Dickey, the Mets had runners on the corners with one out. Collins asked deGrom to put down a suicide squeeze bunt. Against the knuckleballer! DeGrom missed the sign and pulled the bat back, leaving Lagares hung out to dry.

What’s Next? Julio Teheran makes his fifth start against the Mets in 2017. Even in a down year, the Braves’ most established pitcher has been effectively wild against the Mets, limiting hitters to a .596 OPS.

Photo credit: Adam Hagy – USA Today Sports

Terry Collins’ beleaguered pitching staff made history this week by allowing 39 runs on Chicago’s North Side, the most in a three-game set in Mets history.

The rebuilding Braves have won six of eight and would surpass their 2016 win total with a sweep.

Atlanta will visit Citi Field for four games in the season’s final week, including a doubleheader on September 25.

When and Where

Game 1: Friday @ 7:35 p.m. EST (TV: SNY; RADIO: 710 WOR, ESPN Deportes)

Game 2: Saturday @ 7:10 p.m. EST (TV: WPIX; RADIO: 710 WOR, ESPN Deportes)

Game 3: Sunday @ 1:35 p.m. EST (TV: SNY; RADIO: 710 WOR, ESPN Deportes)

Baseball Weather

Friday: Partly cloudy with a low near 65F; Winds light and variable

Saturday: A few clouds with a low of 66F; Winds light and variable

Sunday: Mostly sunny with a high around 85F; Winds between 5-10 mph

Probable Pitching Matchups

Friday: RHP Rafael Montero (5-9, 5.05 ERA, 4.86 DRA, .293 TAv, 0.7 WARP) vs. LHP Sean Newcomb (2-8, 4.38 ERA, 6.16 DRA, .288 TAv, -0.5 WARP)

Montero has won each of his last three starts, holding opponents to a .194 average over 18.2 innings. His recent success has involved a bit of luck, however, as the inconsistent 26-year-old has walked 14 batters during that stretch.

Drafted 15th overall by the Angels in 2014, Newcomb made his big league debut against the Mets on June 10 — charged with the loss despite allowing just an unearned run in 6.1 impressive innings.

Saturday: RHP Jacob deGrom (14-9, 3.63 ERA, 2.77 DRA, .242 TAv, 5.9 WARP) vs. RHP R.A. Dickey (9-9, 4.28 ERA, 5.25 DRA, .281 TAv, 0.6 WARP)

The only steady presence in an injury-plagued rotation, deGrom rebounded from a drubbing at the hands of Philadelphia to hurl six innings of two-run ball against the Reds on Sunday, striking out 10 in the process.

Dickey faces his former club for the third time this season, earning the win in both starts behind a mediocre 4.09 ERA (5 ER in 11 IP, including 3 HR). The former Cy Young Award winner has been rocked the past two times out, allowing 12 runs (11 earned) in 9.1 innings.

Sunday: RHP Robert Gsellman (6-7, 5.58 ERA, 6.22 DRA, .317 TAv, -0.7 WARP) vs. RHP Julio Teheran (11-11, 4.57 ERA, 4.33 DRA, .276 TAv, 2.4 WARP)

Gsellman took the loss in Chicago on Tuesday, charged with four runs in four innings pitched.

Teheran has won four straight behind a 2.08 ERA (6 ER in 26 IP), striking out 20 during the streak. The two-time All-Star is 1-1 with a 3.33 ERA in four starts against the Mets this season.

Who’s Hot?

Mets INF Asdrubal Cabrera (.560 AVG (14-for-25), 1.371 OPS over his last eight games)

Mets SS Amed Rosario (6-for-11 in Cubs series)

Mets INF Jose Reyes (.375 AVG since Sunday with 4 RBIs and 4 runs scored)

Braves OF Lane Adams (2 singles, 2 walks, a triple and a home run in his last 8 plate appearances)

Braves 2B Ozzie Albies (.340 AVG (17-for-50) with 2 homers and 9 RBIs during 12-game hitting streak)

Braves C Kurt Suzuki (8-for-17 over his last four starts)

Who’s Not?

Mets OF Nori Aoki (2-for-17 this week)

Mets CF Juan Lagares (4-for-24 (.167) in his last seven games)

Braves SS Dansby Swanson (.125 AVG (2-for-16) since last Friday)

When We Last Met

The Mets won three of four at SunTrust Park in early June, losing the series opener on Rio Ruiz’s walk-off single against Josh Edgin. New York’s starting pitching was key, including dominating performances by Gsellman, Steven Matz and Seth Lugo.

It’s Literally a 10-Day DL

Braves: 1B Matt Adams (right hamstring tightness) appeared as a pinch-hitter in the series finale at Nationals Park, his first game action since Sunday.

Mets: RHP Noah Syndergaard (torn right lat) was expected to throw a bullpen session on Thursday. INF/OF T.J. Rivera underwent Tommy John Surgery on Thursday to repair a partial tear of the UCL in his right elbow. SS Amed Rosario left Thursday’s game early due to a tight hip flexor. He is day-to-day. C Travis d’Arnaud was also pulled mid-game after twisting his right knee, but should be available for Friday’s series opener.

Notable Quotables

“Our bullpen, for the most part, has done a pretty good job. Actually we’ve pitched pretty good lately. We just did not pitch very well here… Hopefully our bullpen can pull together and get us going a little bit.” — Mets manager Terry Collins following the Cubs series

“I was struggling with both breaking balls, both of them I elevated too much over the plate. My fastball was all right. I’ve just got to be better at making an adjustment to go to pitches that are working, figure that out sooner… It’s been a rough season for me. It’s been a rough season for a lot of guys but I feel like lately I’ve been throwing the ball well, not so much tonight, but I’m going to try to go back to what I was doing the last few weeks and finish the season strong.” — Lugo, who was rocked for eight runs (seven earned) over three innings in Thursday’s loss

Photo credit: Brett Davis – USA Today Sports