Okay, first before I get into the recap of tonight’s absolutely unbelievable New York Mets game, let me take a moment to apologize to my sleeping mother and my neighbors. I screamed so loud at Curtis Granderson’s walkoff homerun in the bottom of the 9th that you would’ve thought it was the deciding game of the World Series.
It wasn’t, but considering the fact that the New York Mets are celebrating the 30th anniversary of their 1986 World Series win this weekend, it was apropos to have some adrenaline-pumping excitement.
The reality? The Mets didn’t need the excitement. They had their first game of the series against the Los Angeles Dodgers wrapped up going into the top of the 9th with a 5-1 lead. Jeurys Familia, who was called in to seal the deal had a terrible outing and gave up 4 runs to tie the game, with the tying run coming in thanks to, who else, Chase Utley.
At that moment, Jacob de Grom lost his chance for a win after pitching seven innings, giving up three hits and striking out seven. On top of that, Mets fans who had started heading home thinking the team had this one in the bag, were about to miss an awesome moment.
After finally ending the top of the 9th, Curtis Granderson came up to bat to try and get something started for the team and, even though he’s struggling a bit, he came through in the clutch. It was on the second pitch in the inning when he plowed it inside the right field line and the Mets won 6-5. Let the screaming commence! And the Gatorade pour!
What a Grand Walk-Off it was! ?https://t.co/YrrsCcjjfp
— New York Mets (@Mets) May 28, 2016
The Mets are now 28-19.
Okay, now let’s talk about two more interesting points of the night. First, the doofus award of the night goes to New York Mets coach Terry Collins who, when talking about putting Conforto at first base to replace Lucas Duda said, “We are not here to take a kid who has never played first base at the major-league level in a situation where we’re expected to win a lot and put an inexperienced guy at a tough position,” Collins said.
Okay, that’s fine. I get it. Don’t put the inexperienced guy at first.
But the doofus said this, “As I’ve tried to gingerly say it, this isn’t high school where you put the fat kid over at first.”
Oh Terry. Really. Fat kids can’t play first? Or maybe they can’t play first, but they can play second, right? Stupid, stupid comment. How about next time just leave it explaining why Conforto isn’t experienced in the position.
Next, the media reported that the Dodgers had a lot riding on tonight’s game because it meant the debut of 19-year-old Mexican pitcher Julio Urias. Well, welcome to the big league kid. The New York Mets tore Urias apart, forcing him to sit out the rest of the game after only 2-2/3 innings pitched, after the Mets had scored 3 runs. He had come in to give Alex Wood some rest and brought with him a 27-inning scoreless streak at Triple-A into the outing. With two outs, Neil Walker delivered the first run off Urias with an RBI single, and Juan Lagares followed with a two-run double.
So let’s review — Asdrubal Cabrera looked good after being sidelined with back spasms. David Wright hit a homerun, but come on David, even my 80-year-old mother knew that ball wasn’t rolling foul. Granderson saved the team’s victory and de Grom looked a lot better. Keep it going guys.
On Saturday, May 28, Noah Syndergaard will take the mound in the second game of the series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Over his last three starts, Syndergaard is 3-0 with a 0.82 ERA, 27 strikeouts and one walk. That includes eight innings of two-run ball May 11 against the Dodgers, whom he also faced twice — once in a spectacular relief outing — in the 2015 NLDS.
He’ll face Kenta Maeda, who carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning his last time out, but a three-run bloop triple spoiled an otherwise strong outing. He faced the Mets earlier this month, surrendering four earned runs in five innings of work.
