And they’re off! One game back in the wildcard standings, the New York Mets won by a score of 5 – 1 in last night’s game against the Washington Nationals. It puts them one game back from the St. Louis Cardinals in the wildcard chase and the Mets are definitely running toward that first place finish. They are only 1.5 games back of the Giants.
I admit that as a fan, I had given up. Can you blame me? The list of injured seems longer than their list of active players, so the odds that they would just limp to the season finish instead of chase a wildcard spot were strong. Yesterday didn’t help matters either when Terry Collins said it was ‘likely’ that Jacob deGrom would miss his next two starts. Not one, two. This is due to his sore right forearm. DeGrom will take medication to relieve the soreness and will resume throwing when the discomfort subsides.
But they are doing it. They have pulled into contention for that coveted spot, especially thanks to Curtis Granderson and Jay Bruce.
Rookie Seth Lugo had seven strong innings, and Curtis Granderson and Jay Bruce each hit a two-run homer (The Grandy man can when he wants to!). The only Nationals run came from Danny Espinosa in the second inning, with one man out. It was Espinosa’s 21st homerun on the season. Curtis Granderson hit his 23rd blast of the year, while Bruce hit his 29th. Bruce and Wilmer Flores also went 2-for-4.
“These guys hate failure,” Collins said after the game about Bruce. “They hate that they’re not helping the club. Hopefully, this guy gets as hot as we know he can, because he’s going to have to carry us for a while.”
Curtis Granderson, who has been the subject of trade chatter in the press lately, has hit three homers, eight RBI and has scored six times in his last six games. His go-ahead two-run homer run last night vs. Washington was his 11th go-ahead home run this season.
We won’t talk about Seth Lugo’s blister he’s had for a few starts now because he’s pitching through it and doing a great job, so let’s hope he just keeps going. He pitched seven innings in yesterday’s victory, struck out 4 and earned the win. Even though he gave up six hits, this kid does a good job of not getting rattled. Either that or he sells his calm demeanor very well.
Today, the Mets get up early to get to Cincinnati for the start of their three-game series against the Reds, the previous home of Bruce, who will be returning to the stadium for the first time since becoming a New York Mets player on August 1st.
Also joining the Mets today is infielder Matt Reynolds, who has been recalled from Las Vegas (AAA) of the Pacific Coast League and will wear #15. Tomorrow, the Mets will recall outfielder Brandon Nimmo (#9), infielder T.J. Rivera (#54), infielder Eric Campbell (#29), LHP Josh Edgin (#66) and RHP Erik Goeddel (#62) from Las Vegas (AAA). I like Nimmo so I’m hoping he stays this time. Neil Walker will also be placed on the 60 day disabled list.
Bartolo Colon is on the mound for the Mets, who flew ahead of the team to get ready. He is 7-4 on the road with a 3.26 ERA (28 earned runs/77.1 innings pitched) in 14 games (13 starts) on the road this season. He has struck out 37 and walked 14 and is 3-2 in his last five road starts. He’ll make his 245th career road start, which is the most
among active starting pitchers.
Against the Reds, Colón is 4-1 in his career with a 4.01 ERA (15 earned runs/33.2 innings pitched)
in six career starts, has struck out 29 and walked 11. He’ll face Robert Stephenson of the Reds, who was just recalled.
The Mets are feeling that wildcard is in their reach and even though I stink at predicting things (considering I predicted they were going to roll over at this point), I’m going to say that they are going to take this game. My only concern is the fatigue of a late night game followed by traveling to an early day game, but they are pros and adrenaline just might be the deciding factor here.
