Mets Game 138: Win Over Braves
Mets 5 Braves 2
Mets pull out an afternoon win against Atlanta to stay within a dozen games below .500.
Mets Game Notes
Like many of you, I was earning a paycheck while this game occurred, so I have no personal observations to share. Looking at the boxscore, and seeing that Braves starter Kameron Loe allowed 14 baserunners and two homers in 4 1/3 innings, it’s slightly surprising the Mets scored only five — but then, five runs is like ten in the PEDs era, right?
Starting Loe makes me think this was a throwaway game for the Braves, who will be mathematically winning the NL East soon enough. Good that the Mets were able to take advantage.
Also from the boxscore, it looks like Dillon Gee threw another brilliant ballgame. Good for Gee, he’s easy to root for.
Next Mets Game
The Mets move on to Cleveland to face the Indians on Friday night at 7:05 PM. Current Mets phenom Zack Wheeler faces former Mets phenom Scott Kazmir.
Mets Item of the Day
I can’t provide any game insight, but I can offer you a fantastic Mets item. Sticking with the “back to school” theme, how about a set of New York Mets pens? Like the Mets themselves, they’re disposable, and they cost only about four bucks for a set of 5. If you don’t see the picture below to click and buy from Amazon, try this link:
MLB New York Mets Disposable Pens
There are consistently solid insights from your blog, but today I got a chuckle over a game you didn’t even watch.
Keep up the good work, Joe.
Leading off the 7th, yet another routine grounder to short went for an infield hit when Q couldn’t get to it and get rid of it in time. After that, at around 90 pitches, Gee seemed to tire a bit, and started missing his spots. The Braves helped him out a little there with some lazy fly balls.
It’s a weird feeling, enjoying a pitcher’s artistry, rooting for him to go deep into the game, and then also hoping the manager has a quick hook as soon as the pitcher starts to lose it. 6.2 innings doesn’t look as nice as 7, but if the 20th out is followed by two singles and a HR, you learn to take the 6.2. I learned this lesson from watching Rick Reed.
The answer may be “not many”, and if that’s the case, then taking a lot does make sense. For a better hitter, that wouldn’t be the case, but Duda is who he is.
Oddly enough, who he is is probably the 2nd best hitter currently in the organization. Besides Wright, Duda is the only one who’d surprise me if his OPS dropped below .700.
If this were 2010 or 2011, I might agree with the idea that the rotation is pretty good. But in 2013, when pitching throughout MLB is performing better than it has since the 1980s, the Mets’ staff isn’t all that special. And a “decent’ team in 2013 only means it isn’t as bad as the Astros, because there are about five teams absolutely dominating, and then half of the league is ten games below .500. So a “pretty good team” would be what? .500? Two games below? Two games above? Or does it have to be 10 games above?
Are the Washington Nationals a “pretty good team”? If so are you suggesting that with a few breaks the Mets would be at their level? Or are the Reds “pretty good”? Personally, I don’t think the Mets stack up with either, which is why, in my mind, they stink — in other words, lumped together with all the other “second division” clubs who have no shot at the postseason.
Even in an offense-starved 2013, the Mets lineup is terrible. Their defense is terrible. Their starting pitching is average. Their bullpen is whatever. The only reason they had a decent run in July was because of a perfect storm of sending a fresh group of highly motivated over-achievers facing opponents on downswings. EYJr. isn’t that good over a full season. Neither is Omar Q. Neither is Lagares. Nor Satin. Nor Byrd. All five are reserves on most clubs — even teams equal to or worse than the Mets. Maybe Byrd is a starter this year, in his career year, but I don’t see that as sustainable any more than Scott Hairston’s career year last year was sustainable. The Mets in 2013 were and are a bad team with no depth, and their only strength — starting pitching — was unremarkable in a year that most teams had similar strength.
If you start out expecting a bad team, and then get what you expected, it’s hard to stay positive. The one solace was watching Harvey dominate every 5 days, and now that’s gone too.
On the plus side, no one knew we might have the best defensive CF in the game playing RF in AAA, so that’s been a nice development. The team is also still putting up some decent ABs and running hard in September, which is better than the last two years.
I agree, somewhat, on the “lack of depth” argument, but perhaps you’re ignoring the enormous turnover in both pitching staff and lineup between April/May and June/July. It was the AAA replacements that made the team into a better one. And the rotation improved substantially with the additions of Hefner, Mejia, and Wheeler. That they couldn’t rebound from the loss of Wright, Parnell, Hefner, Mejia, Harvey, and Byrd after the makeover isn’t surprising at all.
I’m cool with agree-to-disagree on this. I firmly believe that despite sketchy defense and an anemic bottom of the order even at their best, the Mets team that came together in late June and July were a team worth watching, and they rewarded their fan base by winning more than losing. I don’t think it was a blip, because they team was clearly playing hard and aggressive, even though they had no shot at winning anything. And that’s progress that shouldn’t be discounted, so long as it carries over into next year. And it’s why I find the dismissive “they stink” uncalled for.
In my not-so-humble opinion: as a result of the miraculous “Mets Makeover,” the team from Flushing became a good AAA team. Also IMNSHO, they stink.
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It’s a pleasure arguing with you, Crozier — I mean that sincerely and without a glint of sarcasm. You always make me stop and wonder if I’m just being a crusty old d-bag longing for the good ‘ol days — and maybe I am.
Here’s the thing: If the Mets rotation is strong, they don’t need to win games by 6 runs; they only need to win. Look how many close games they’ve played this year, and imagine them just a little better. I expect Alderson to overpay/trade for two impact players during the winter. If so, and if his picks don’t go all Jason Bay on him, the team will compete โ yes, despite inadequacies wherever they may lie, because a solid pitching staff overcomes such issues, especially in today’s environment of near-parity. We’ll see soon enough.