Mets Game 118: Win Over Reds
Mets 8 Reds 4
Mets save up all their offense for the final game. Why didn’t they put that Harvey kid in the lineup in the first two games?
Mets save up all their offense for the final game. Why didn’t they put that Harvey kid in the lineup in the first two games?
Braceletgate, and Bruce is The Boss of the Mets, who suddenly have a hungry heart in the badlands by the river in Cincinnati. The offense was blinded by the light of Mike Leake‘s fastball, and their at-bats resembled someone dancing in the dark.
The team from Queens falls to the team in the Queen City.
I can never again roll my eyes when Jason Bay walks into the batter’s box. I can never again get angry when he pops up or swings through a hittable fastball or chases a slider in the dirt. Because while I used to think Bay’s tenure with the Mets has been a nightmare for us fans, it finally hit me on Friday (when Bay hit the wall) that it’s probably more of a nightmare for Jason.
Signing somewhere as a Free Agent is a choice. It’s like having a steady job, then accepting another offer from another company. If things don’t go well at your new place, you start to feel regret. Jason Bay is too much of a professional, too much of a class individual and teammate (by all accounts) to show any regret. But deep down, is there a part of him that wishes he stayed in Boston, or signed somewhere else?
There’s no guarantee that he would have continued his 30 HR, 100 RBI ways in another city (From ’05 to ’09 he had at least those totals 3 times), but his drop off the statistical cliff was so dramatic when he came to Queens, at the age of 30, why not factor in his location?
And why not factor in bad luck? I’m not usually the superstitious type, but look at what has happened to Bay over the last 2+ years he’s spent with the Mets.
On Opening Day, 2010, he whistled a drive off the 415 sign of the cavernous right-center field wall. It went as a triple. It would have been a home run in any other ballpark. As the early season went on, long fly balls to left were gobbled up by Citi Field. The frustration was visible in Bay’s face. The dimensions clearly got in his head.
That year, he didn’t hit his first home run until April 27. He didn’t hit his next until a 2-homer game on May 23. He would hit only 3 more the rest of the year – a year that ended for him in July thanks to a concussion he suffered, slamming into the left field wall while attempting to make a catch.
Sweep, get swept. Sweep, get swept. So, does that mean the Mets are due to sweep the Orioles?
In truth, this game was inches away from being a 7-1 loss. But then, that’s why they call it a “game of inches.”
After a nice breather playing Adulterated Baseball against a couple of tomato cans from the AL East, the Mets get smacked with a dose of reality playing the real game against a legitimate NL power.
After a brief homestand, the Mets head north to Toronto to take on the Blue Jays. Yes, interleague play is here. The Mets survived Brewing trouble and the Red scare to come away with a 2-2 homestand. Now they venture not only into the true north (strong and free, apparently), but into the American League East.
Blogging about it…these guys:
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