Mets Game 142: Loss to Nationals

Nationals 5 Mets 3

As a result of this loss, Gio Gonzalez remains the only NL pitcher with 19 wins.

Mets Game Notes

It could be argued that R.A. Dickey pitched well enough to win his 19th game of the season. After all, he allowed three earned runs on eight hits and three walks in seven innings. Not his best outing, but certainly a strong performance. But, not good enough to offset the futility of the Flushing offense.

I was mildly surprised to see R.A. removed from the game for pinch-hitter Jordany Valdespin leading off the seventh. I understand that the Mets needed to score in order to win, but in my mind, their best chance to win had more to do with continuing to prevent the Nats from scoring, and their best chance of doing that was to leave R.A. in the game (he had thrown only 84 pitches). Of course, it wasn’t the worst move, especially considering all the pinch-hit homers that Valdespin has hit this year. Sometimes you have to roll the dice; I’m just not sure I would have done it there.

Speaking of pinch-hit homers, Scott Hairston blasted one in the bottom of the ninth. He’s pretty much priced himself out of a 2013 Mets uniform, which is fine with me (and Izzy). And as Izzy pointed out in the previous game’s comments, it would seem that Sandy Alderson missed an opportunity to stock the minor league system by not trading Hairston either before July 31 or during August. Hairston would be a welcome bat on at least a half-dozen teams in the playoff mix right now.

Fred Lewis led off the ninth swinging at the first pitch he saw, with the team down by three. Really? This is basic, little league stuff. And we wonder why the Mets didn’t promote him from AAA sooner.

For the first time in a long time (August 12th, to be exact), the Mets scored two runs in one inning at home. They erupted for two scores in the fifth thanks to a Daniel Murphy double and David Wright single. Is it any surprise that the Mets have so much trouble scoring more than once an inning, considering that their lineup is littered with punch-and-judy slap hitters?

Jason Bay’s mullet is getting really long. Can someone please tell him it’s not 1987 any more? Though, maybe it’s part of a surreptitious plan to trade him to an Australian Rules Football club (or possibly Kajagoogoo for a bass player to be named later) — in which case, go ahead and perm that ape drape, Jason!

Next Mets Game

The Mets and Nationals do it one more time at 7:10 p.m. on Wednesday night. Matt Harvey goes to the hill against Long Island’s John Lannan. Will there be more fans rooting for the Mets or shooting down the L.I.E. to see hometown boy Lannan?