The Mets are already eliminated from postseason contention. The Phillies are mathematically still in it but realistically out of the race. For this game, the most important thing for the Mets would be getting to Aaron Nola, so that they can actually help Jacob deGrom’s Cy Young resume in a roundabout way. Steven Matz would lead that effort, coming off a solid start against Miami and looking to close out a solid, albeit unspectacular, season strong.

Game Recap

Matz was very clearly off in this game from the get-go. In the first, he walked three Phillies, consistently missing off the plate inside to righties. Despite walking the bases loaded, Matz worked out of the jam without allowing a run. He gave up a single and another walk in the second, but worked around that jam too. Still, with Matz seemingly off his game and one of the best pitchers in baseball on the mound for the Phillies, things weren’t looking good.

That is, until Matz came to the plate with one out in the top of the third. After homering in his last start, Matz set his sights on Aaron Nola, got a hanging curveball over the plate and lined it into the flowers on top of the left field wall. It was a significant home run for multiple reasons (see below), but most importantly, the Mets had a 1-0 lead.

In the fourth, they’d stretch the lead to 2-0. After Jay Bruce and Todd Frazier struck out swinging to start the inning, a single from Brandon Nimmo and a weakly hit, poorly played (by Rhys Hoskins in left field) double led to another run. In two innings, the Mets had built a lead and seriously damaged the Cy Young candidacy of one of deGrom’s biggest opponents — giving up a home run to a pitcher is bad enough, and anyone who allows an extra-base hit to Dom Smith (.219/.252/.321, 2.5% BB, 32.8% K) should be immediately disqualified.

Handed a two-run lead, Matz settled in. He started hitting his spots a bit more, working around a single in the third and setting down the Phillies in order in the fourth. Unfortunately, his pitch count was elevated from his early-inning command problems, and the fifth inning looked like it was probably his last. That issue was compounded by a one out walk to Hoskins. Undeterred, Matz capped his outing in spectacular fashion, making what might be the web-gem of the year to catch a ball behind his back and turn an inning-ending double play. He departed after five innings in line for the win.

The 2018 Mets team being what it is — that is to say, bad — Matz wouldn’t get the win. After the Mets left the bases loaded in the top of the sixth, Jerry Blevins and Drew Smith managed to give up five runs without recording an out in the bottom half of the inning. The Mets found themselves in a three-run hole 18 pitches after they had a two-run lead.

Watching the rest of the game as very much an exercise in futility. The Mets managed only one more run, while a cavalcade of unremarkable relievers worked around a couple Philly baserunners to keep things close enough to be interesting but not actually matter. Amed Rosario ended things with a weak bounce out to first, and the Mets had their 81st loss of the year.

Thoughts from the Game

Here are some fun facts about Steven Matz’s home run:

• He dedicated it to Jacob deGrom in his Cy Young battle
• Matz became only the third Met pitcher to homer in back-to-back starts, joining Tom Seaver and Ron Darling.
• This was the first time the Mets have lost a game in which their starting pitcher went deep since 7/24/96, when Jason Isringhausen went deep and lost, breaking a 19-game winning streak.

Other than that, I don’t have much to say about this game. Much like you, most of us have checked out at this point of the year. I spent most of this game doing work stuff and making babka (chocolate, because Jerry could not be more wrong about cinnamon in this context). Out of the three activities, only the babka wasn’t a total disaster. Then again, hitting 1-for-3 puts me in the hall of fame, so I can’t really complain.

Other Met News

The Mets are leaning towards shutting Zack Wheeler down for the rest of the season. Wheeler has been brilliant for much of this season after a slow start, and he’s now tossed 182.1 innings with a 3.31 ERA.It’s tough to describe how big an improvement that is for the former top prospect, who missed two whole season with Tommy John before tossing only 86.1 innings last season. With some struggles in his past two starts, shutting Wheeler down now makes sense, as he’s fully established his place in the Mets rotation for 2019.

Marlins 2, Mets 5 [Game 2]

It was a day where the games mattered even less than usual; Mets captain David Wright announced that this season would be his last, and the collective wail from Mets fans meant the doubleheader sweep of the Marlins was a joyless one.

On any other day, Game One would have been a thriller, ending on back-to-back home runs for the first time in franchise history, with Michael Conforto homering to tie the game with two outs in the ninth, his 25th, and Todd Frazier following with a walk-off home run, his 18th. Steven Matz surrendered two home runs (three runs overall) and hit a two-run homer himself in the second inning. Jerry Blevins, who had come in in the ninth, got the win, his third.

In the nightcap, a makeup, Jason Vargas pitched six innings for his sixth win of the year, and Robert Gsellman picked up his 11th save. Tomas Nido homered, and Conforto continued his heroics, driving in three of the Mets runs, which was the winning difference.

But it was all an afterthought, as the 2018 season, long a lost cause, managed to find a new, devastating way to break our hearts.

The Mets travel to Boston to face the Red Sox tonight. Noah Syndergaard (11-3, 3.44) will take on Hector Velasquez (7-2 3.29); first pitch is at 7:10 p.m.

Photo credit: Noah K. Murray – USA Today Sports

New York actually got off to a nice start in this one, as Steven Matz breezed through the first two innings with little difficulty, and Jay Bruce deposited Nola’s first offering of the home second into the bullpen to give the Amazins the early lead.

Philadelphia responded quickly in the next inning, however, as  two batters after Matz issued a leadoff walk to Jorge Alfaro, Carlos Santana crushed a long homer to left center to flip the game and give the Phillies a 2-1 edge. New York got it right back in the bottom of the frame though, when Jeff McNeil plated Brandon Nimmo with a double.

The 2-2 score held through the middle innings, and a high pitch count forced Matz to depart after only five innings. Eric Hanhold entered for the Mets in the sixth and was greeted rudely by pinch-hitter Odubel Herrera who led off with a double. Two batters later, former Met Asdrubal Cabrera gave the road team the lead with a run-scoring single, but the Mets again responded an inning later when first baseman Dom Smith crushed a game-tying opposite field long ball.

The Mets summoned Tyler Bashlor in the seventh and the hard-thrower tossed a 1-2-3 inning prior to Smith’s tying home run, but the righty was not as fortunate in the eighth, when Rhys Hoskins crushed a lead-off bomb that would prove to be the difference in a 4-3 victory for Philadelphia.

Up next, New York will send Noah Syndergaard to the bump in search of his 11th win, opposing Phillies’ righty Zach Eflin.

Photo credit: Gregory Fisher – USA Today Sports

The former top prospect has battled injuries in his brief career, clearing the 20-start plateau only once since making his debut in 2015. He hasn’t escaped the usual nicks and dings in 2018, but he’s avoided major injury and looks primed to set a career high in innings.

Matz showed what he’s fully capable of Saturday, allowing just four base runners on the afternoon while striking out 11. He was efficient too, walking just one Giant and using only 93 pitches to get through seven. Health in the rotation is always a question mark for this organization and 2019 figures to be no different. A healthy Matz is almost a must, as the internal starting pitching depth looks pretty thin at this point.

Old friend Tomas Nido collected his first two hits since being recalled from Binghamton last week. He went 2-4 on the afternoon, including an RBI double that scored Brandon Nimmo to tie things up at one apiece. Nido will compete for the backup job in spring training but it’d admittedly be a mild surprise if he were to begin the 2019 season on the Opening Day roster.

Swiss Army Pitching Knife Seth Lugo gave the orange and blue two scoreless innings to force extras in San Francisco. His 2019 role is to be determined — by whom I’m unsure —  but he could fill a variety of different roles depending on how the offseason goes. I’m still of the belief that he belongs in the rotation, but I’ll acknowledge that there’s an argument to be made that he remain in the pen.

Jerry Blevins, a free agent to be, picked up his second win of the season. He was a candidate to be traded before the waiver deadline, but the Mets decided against it for an unknown reason. Daniel Zamora will likely fill the Blevins role in the bullpen next year unless the Mets decide to re-sign the lefty, in which I could then envision a scenario where Zamora is DFA’d off the 40-man instead.

After pledging to use his proven relievers less in an effort to get a look at the new guys, Mickey Callaway instead turned to Robert Gsellman for a second straight day. There’s no good reason to overwork a reliever who figures to begin 2019 as the closer, especially in a lost season, but a master of strategy Callaway is not. With Tyler Bashlor, Drew Smith and now Eric Hanhold in the bullpen, it’s time for Callaway to experiment with the young guys.

Photo credit: Neville E. Guard – USA Today Sports

It’s tough to find the positive in a 15-0 shutout, of which 14 of the runs were scored in the final two innings, but Steven Matz was a revelation in a truly ugly Sunday. The lefty tossed seven innings of one-run ball, faltering only when Juan Soto drove in a run on a groundout following back-to-back hits by Trea Turner and Anthony Rendon.

That’s it. That’s the only good part.

The bad

Jeff McNeil, after extending his hitting streak to 11 games, left after the seventh inning with right quad tightness. He said after the game that it’s “nothing too major,” so he may just be ready for spring training.

Also, the offense has gone back to that whole we-don’t-believe-in-hits-anymore thing.

The ugly

Photo credit: Wendell Cruz – USA Today Sports

Looking at this game, what’s the hook? Why should you, the viewer, care about a bad team playing a mediocre team with two nondescript starters on the mound? These are the sort of questions I spend 15 minutes staring at a blank document debating at this point in the season.

Anyway, Steven Matz got the start against Chris Stratton. Matz is still on a pitch count after his stint on the disabled list and the Mets burned most of their bullpen Monday in their 13-inning loss, so that has the potential to be a disaster. At least it can’t get any worse then a dropped pop up that drives in the game-deciding run.

Game Recap

Matz’s evening did not get off to a stellar start. Andrew McCutchen walked to lead off the game and Evan Longoria launched a ball into the left field seats two batters later to give the Giants a quick 2-0 lead. Matz rebounded very nicely, however, setting down the next 12 Giants before allowing a one-out double to Gorkys Hernandez in the top of the fifth. Hernandez didn’t get any further, inducing a ground out and striking out Chris Stratton. It was an excellent, albeit short start, as Matz struck out five and allowed only two hits and one walk.

As has become tradition at this point, the Mets simply refused to score for their starter. Jeff McNeil and Wilmer Flores had singles in the bottom of the first, but a double play off the bat of Michael Conforto ended that threat. The Mets didn’t manage another hit until the fourth, on another McNeil single, and he was thrown out trying to steal second. Corey Oswalt, pitching in relief of Matz, didn’t get any help either, as the Mets again went down in order in the bottom of the sixth.

McNeil came through again in the seventh with another single, and this time the rest of the lineup got their act together. A double, sacrifice fly and an RBI single later, and the game was tied at two. In the eighth, McNeil struck again with an RBI double to give the Mets a 3-2 lead. After an intentional walk to Flores, Conforto lined an opposite field, three-run home run to put the game out of reach. Oswalt, who was brilliant in three innings of relief after being booted from the starting rotation, was rewarded, and Matz was off the hook.

Seth Lugo entered for the ninth and worked around singles from Evan Longoria and Austin Slater (the latter of which clanked off of Jose Bautista’s glove and should’ve been an error) to close out a 6-3 win. Fittingly, the final out was a ground ball to McNeil, who was very easily the start of the game. The win improves the Mets to 55-70 on the season, and Noah Syndergaard will take the mound tonight.

Thoughts from the Game

McNeil is incredible and should 100% be the starting second baseman for the Mets next season. He’s now batting .318/.381/.455 on the season with two home runs in 99 PA, consistently making good contact and rarely swinging and missing. I’m not the first to make this comp, but he resembles an early-career Daniel Murphy in many ways, except McNeil is an actually competent second baseman. Every time he loses a start to Jose Reyes down the stretch is an insult to the team.

We got another extended rant from GKR about the shift in this one, after Zack Wheeler complained about a shift leading to a run-scoring bloop single in last night’s game. This time around, Ron kept talking about how “feel for the game” should change the shift at certain times, while also admitting to understanding and supporting the idea of playing the percentages. It’s an impressive bit of cognitive dissonance in order to get in a “back in my day” bit.

Other Mets News

Not much happening in Met land right now. David Wright finally broke through with two hits yesterday and had another hit today as he continues to rehab in St. Lucie. Jay Bruce has three hits of his own, and is probably pretty close to a return.

Photo credit: Noah K. Murray – USA Today Sports

Game Two: Phillies 9, Mets 6

Just over two weeks after an epic drubbing by Washington — where they lost by 21 runs on July 31 — the Mets saw things from the other side of the equation as they scored the most runs in franchise history, which included a 10-run fifth inning capped off by a Jose Bautista grand slam.

The lowlight of the afternoon came when Brandon Nimmo took a ball off his hand with the bases loaded in the top of the third. It rolled into fair territory, and the ignominy of a rally-killing dribbler paled in comparison to the sight of Nimmo lying face-down in the batter’s box. This horror show came almost a year to the day after Michael Conforto ended last season on a swing that injured his shoulder. Nimmo came out of the game, and initial reports were that x-rays were negative for a fracture. Given that past reports of a player’s robust health have proven grossly exaggerated (stay off those heels, Yoenis!), Mets fans will be forgiven for still living in dread.

That existential terror aside, the offense exploded for the second game in a row, plating 24 runs on 25 hits, helped by some execrable Philadelphia defense: third baseman Maikel Franco committed two of the Phillies’ four errors. The Mets feasted on the Phillies pitching, both when facing professional pitchers and after Philadelphia skipper (and ice cream enthusiast) Gabe Kapler waved the white flag and sent out position players to toss the final three innings.

Six Mets had at least three hits; Conforto, Amed Rosario and Bautista (who replaced Nimmo in the outfield) homered. Bautista’s seven runs batted in were a franchise record for a player coming off the bench. Kevin Plawecki had another outstanding game, going 4-for-4 with three runs scored and three runs batted in.

Corey Oswalt went six innings for his second win of the season. Thanks to those errors, only half of his counterpart’s eight runs allowed were earned; Ranger Suarez is now 1-1 in two career starts. Jerry Blevins pitched an inning of relief and collected his first major league hit.

In the nightcap, the Ballad of Steven Matz continued its doleful tune. The Mets southpaw lasted two innings, surrendering two home runs and six runs overall (four earned). Zach Eflin pitched 6.2 innings for Philadelphia, allowing four runs and striking out five.

Rosario collected another pair of hits in the second game, and was the bright spot in an otherwise lackluster Mets offense — although, to be fair, six runs is a pretty above-average showing for this year’s Mets team, especially if you ignore the 24 runs they scored a few hours before.

Trailing from Matz’s early exit by as much as six runs over the course of the game, the Mets did mount a rally in the ninth, managing to bring the tying run to the plate to make things interesting. After six-plus hours of baseball and a combined forty-three runs scored, there was only so much interest to go around.

The series continues at Citizens Bank Park at 6:05 p.m. Friday, as Noah Syndergaard (8-2, 3.22) faces Aaron Nola (13-3, 2.28).

Photo credit: Bill Streicher – USA Today Sports

Zack and Jake are still here. That’s good! Bautista and Mesoraco are still here. That’s bad. Both will pass through waivers. That’s good! The Nationals didn’t blow it up. That’s bad. This game (Steven Matz vs Tanner Roark to start a two game set in D.C.) comes with free frogurt. That’s good! The frogurt is cursed. That’s bad. Jose Reyes isn’t starting. That’s good. Jose Reyes contains potassium benzoate.

If you’re ready to leave now, get in line with the rest of the Mets fans who wish this season was just over already.

Game Recap

There’s a great scene in “Moneyball,” where Billy Beane is driving to see Oakland’s minor league team while the major league team plays for the 20-game win streak. His daughter calls and tells him to come back and watch the game, at which point he turns on the radio and hears the broadcaster simply say, “If you’re just joining us, you’ve missed a lot. I think my recap will be simple: the A’s scored six in the first, one in the second and four in the third.” Beane proceeds to make a U-turn, return to the stadium and watch the A’s finish their historic streak in truly stupendous fashion on Scott Hatterberg’s walkoff home run.

So on that note, you’ve missed a lot. I think I’ll keep the recap simple: the Nationals scored seven in the first, three in the second, three in the third, three in the fourth, three in the fifth, six in the eighth and beat the Mets into the ground by a final score of 25-4. Steven Matz was awful, and the cavalcade of relievers the Mets sent out were just as bad for the most part. Wilmer Flores left the game in the first with dizziness and dehydration, and he was probably the lucky one.

There were a couple of bright moments. Jeff McNeil hit his first career home run off the facing of the second deck in right. A Michael Conforto double and a home run from Austin Jackson led to a three-run rally that really pissed off Nationals reliever Shawn Kelley, which was amusing.We also got to see Jose Reyes pitch and get destroyed, which was somewhat cathartic. Other than that, this was a game you were better off missing.

Thoughts from the Game

The only major thought from this game is man, do the Mets have a lot of work to do in their bullpen. Most of the relievers they traded for at the deadline last year are bad, and for some reason, several intriguing arms are still lingering in the minors or sit unused in the bullpen. Tyler Bashlor, Drew Smith, Eric Hanhold, Stephen Villines, Adonis Uceta and the newly acquired Bobby Wahl should all see significant major league action the rest of the season to evaluate their viability for 2019. I’m sure the Mets will just opt to track down Chris Beck again though, because that’s just how they roll.

Other Mets News

The Mets let the trade deadline pass without making any moves. In a vacuum, that’s not entirely surprising; the roster is a mix of guys who they really shouldn’t move (Jacob deGrom and Zack Wheeler) and rental pieces that don’t have much value (Jose Bautista and Devin Mesoraco). The latter group will almost certainly pass through waivers, meaning the Mets still have another month to snag a couple more marginal pieces.

More concerning than the lack of moves was the press conference that followed. John Rico came out and said the Mets haven’t decided whether they’ll go for it or rebuild for 2019. Commentary on which direction makes more sense aside, this is the latest in what feels like a tsunami of examples of the incompetence and dysfunction within the front office. It’s baffling that a major league team would enter a trade deadline with what amounts to no long term plan, but it’s just par for the course for this organization.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Photo credit: Charles LeClaire – USA Today Sports

News broke late Friday night of an impending trade with the Athletics for closer Jeurys Familia, which was finally finalized at 3:50 p.m Saturday, just as the Yankees scored their seventh run of the ballgame. The Mets were reportedly seeking prospects in the higher levels of the minors and that’s what they will receive in Bobby Wahl, a reliever with MLB experience who’s currently in Triple-A. He’ll sit in the mid-90s and touch triple digits with his fastball to go along with a hard breaker. The Mets have a type of reliever they love to target, and Wahl fits the same mold as Gerson Bautista, Eric Hanhold and others the team has recently acquired via trade.

The other player coming to Queens (eventually) is Will Toffey, a fourth-round selection by the A’s in last year’s draft. He played his college ball at Vanderbilt but holds just a .733 OPS in his first 373 minor league at-bats, split between short-season and Advanced-A. He doesn’t fit the typical third base profile -he’s more of a line drive hitter than a home run guy- but he’s got a chance to become a second-division regular.

The Mets also acquired an apparently $1 million of international pool money, which isn’t enough to stop this from being a disappointing haul overall. The Mets already have this type of relief pitcher in the system and have been reluctant thus far to even use them. Toffey doesn’t currently project as an impact player at the major league level. There’s not much good to say about this deal, folks.

Anyway, Old Friend Yoenis Cespedes returned to the lineup Friday night but had some interesting and revealing postgame comments. He’s dealing with an issue in both heels that can only be corrected with surgery, which holds an 8-10 month recovery time. Cespedes is unlikely to ever play healthy without the surgery, and there’s no better time for him to have it than right now. The Mets are out of contention and need a healthy Cespedes if they truly want to compete next season. Running a broken down player who has worked incredibly hard to return into the lineup in the midst of a lost season is very Mets.

The even bigger story is that the Mets are publicly saying they were unaware of the chronic heel issues. This seems highly unlikely, of course, as they’ve given Cespedes two separate physicals before acquiring him and had to be aware of the severity of the injury. Manager Mickey Callaway was completely unaware of Yo’s postgame comments, which just confirms the many suspicions about the lack of communication between the front office and the coaching staff.

As for the actual baseball game, Steven Matz was tagged for five earned runs in five innings of work. Both relievers who pitched Saturday, Tim Peterson and Anthony Swarzak, each allowed a run as well. The final score was much closer than the game actually was, as Aroldis Chapman couldn’t find the strike zone and almost allowed the Mets to tie things up in the ninth inning. Yankee manager Aaron Boone pulled his closer for Chasen Shreve, who secured the final three outs and earned the save. Michael Conforto homered and Amed Rosario added another three-hit game to his resume, but the Mets only picked up five hits on the afternoon.

Photo credit: Andy Marlin – USA Today Sports