Friday night in Atlanta, Yoenis Cespedes remained scorching
hot with 3 hits, a homer and 3 RBI as the Mets behind Steven Matz won their 5th
straight as they bested the Braves 5-1. Matz didn’t have his great stuff…but he
held the Braves off for 5 innings. In the Meantime the Mets took the lead off
Matt Wisler in the top of the 3rd inning. Curtis Granderson walked
and the ever hot Yoenis Cespedes hit a screaming liner over the head of Michael
Bourn in right center for a double to make it 1-0. In the 5th Curtis Granderson
singled, Cespedes singled. They advanced to 2nd and 3rd
on a grounder by Daniel Murphy. Then a balk by Wisler, brought home Granderson
and the Mets led 2-0. In the bottom of the 5th Matz gave up his only
run as Daniel Castro hit a solo homer, his 1st on the year and it
was 2-1. Matz left after 5. In the top
of the 8th with 2 out Michael Cuddyer had a pinch hit single. EY ran
for Cuddyer. Ruben Tejada singled to make it 1st and 3rd.
Christian Bethancourt was then charged with a passed ball that brought home
Young and a 3-1 lead. In the 9th Cespedes put an exclamation point
on the night demolishing a titanic 2 run homer, his 15th as a Mets
and 33rd on the year to cap the scoring. Cespedes went 3 for 5 with
a single, double homer and 3 RBI, Murphy and Michael Conforto had 2 hits apiece
as the Mets churned out 11 hits. Matz improves to 3-0 on the year going 5
innings allowing 6 hits the 1 run (earned) walking 2 and striking out 2. Erik
Goeddel pitched the scoreless 6th; Addison Reed struck out the side in the 7th and Tyler Clippard pitched a scoreless 8th. Jeurys
Familia pitched the 9th in a non-save situation. Wisler takes the
loss, falling to 5-7. With the win the Mets improve to a season high 19 games
over .500 at 80-61. They are also now just 2 games under .500 on the road at
35-37. The Marlins beat the Nationals on Friday, so the Mets now lead the NL
East by 8 ½ games. Saturday night it’s game 3 of the series. Noah Syndergaard
(8-6 3.31) goes for the Mets, Williams Perez (5-6 5.42) goes for the Braves.
3 comments:
Another night, another win from Cespedes and the Mets. 8 1/2. Wow. That homer was Ruthian.
Matz to me appeared to get squeezed on several pitches, and he still pitched well. When he gave up that homer to a singles hitter, he was ticked. Love the intensity, as long as he stays composed. Great relief pitching.
Here's hoping Thor gives us more.
Would love to see a re-energized Thor lay this Braves team to waste.
Pillage!
Plunder!
This guy is one of the keys.
I still have much confidence in Matz, who is not yet sharp after the layoff.
I'm not ready to set the postseason rotation -- that won't be easy -- but I do take issue with TC's pronouncement that Matz can't be used as a reliever because he's a post-TJ guy. I mean, that surgery was not last year, or even the year before that. He really couldn't work in the pen for 3-4 weeks? That's not an option, medically?
More and more, I'm inclined to believe that the new "approved" Harvey plan is a recipe for ineffectiveness and, ironically, a greater injury risk due to the long layoffs. That is, I'm not sold that it's good for the Mets OR for Matt Harvey. I could be wrong, for sure, but there's no way of knowing until we roll him out in a huge, huge game. What a gamble. There's a part of me that wonders if under these conditions if the Mets might be better off shutting him down entirely. Such a tough situation for everyone concerned, except for Scott Boras, who simply sits home & hopes the Mets lose. That would solve his problems.
James Preller
James Preller
James, Boras can keep wishing,we're not losing this pennant race. Harvey's profession is pitching. He'll have to figure out how he'll be effective...and stay healthy. Matz should get 4 more starts....hopefully enough to be a playoff starter. IttookJake several starts, as he career began, before he suddenly became lethal.
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