Where do you begin
with this game?
Well, when the first
pitch of the game results in a stand-up inside-the-park home run that
fell between the normally sure-handed Yoenis Cespedes (and not
fielded by Michael Conforto either), you knew this night was not
going to be easy.
Then there were the
first 3 innings or so when the closest the Mets got to a hit was the
excellent sliding grab made by Alex Gordon in left field to rob
Wilmer Flores (who later got robbed by Mike Moustakis, too).
The Fox Sports
multitude of broadcast problem…
When Lucas Duda
twice beat the shift, it looked like fortunes could be turning…
Curtis Granderson
provided the long ball that Daniel Murphy finally failed to deliver.
A couple of slick fielding plays by the guy they say can't play shortstop.
Juan Lagares delivering with the bat and his legs even though his arm looks totally shot. His AB against Herrera was a thing of beauty (as was his leadoff bunt in the 11th)
The ball gets by
Buckner, er, Hosmer...that looked like the final positive omen that
the Mets were destined to win this one...
When Jeurys Familia
gave up the game tying homer to Alex Gordon you could only tip your
hat to the All-Star left fielder...remember, folks, even Mariano
Rivera blew saves occasionally.
Stunning catch by Curtis Granderson in the bottom of the 11th.
The weird hit off the bag that popped up into the air by Salvador Perez...
Jon Niese delivering arguably the strongest couple of innings of his career...
Tough break on the carom from the wall right into Perez' glove on Murphy's strikeout.
Bartolo Colon showing big cat-like reflexes off the mound to field the bunt and throw out the baserunner to Murphy at 1st.
Flores putting a charge into one off Chris Young, but foul...then working out a rare walk only to have Kirk Nieuwenhuis squander the baserunner. (But hey, at least he made contact which is more than Cuddyer did in his ABs)...
Colon getting out of trouble not once, but twice
Wright having defensive issues in the 13th and 14th innings...
Then came Hosmer's sac fly to end it all...
The first 4.5 years
of Terry Collins once again reared its ugly head tonight in multiple
ways – playing Michael Cuddyer instead of Juan Uribe for multiple
ABs (3 Ks in a row for the former Rockie and Twin)...being afraid to lift Matt Harvey in the 6th when
he was losing it before the runs scored...not letting Addison Reed
start the 8th after cruising effortlessly in the
7th...bringing in Juan Lagares for defense early in the game when it's clear
to everyone but Terry Collins that he's NOT the player he was in
2014...
9 comments:
Oh, and another thing about the great motivator...when Conforto finally delivers a sac fly in the clutch after struggling mightily in the post season, he's promptly benched. Nice job, Mikey...way to go...now go sit in a corner and don't even think about building on that success.
Reese is back...
I give credit when it's due but the flip side is the person who screws up must be held accountable for his mistakes, too.
I think Conforto has showing rookie growth pains but also hit in very bad luck this post season, except for the foul pole HR.
I think Conforto has showing rookie growth pains but also hit in very bad luck this post season, except for the foul pole HR.
First, let me say it was an incredible game. I've rarely seen anything like it. Look at the final line...
14 innings
Mets: 4 runs, 11 hits, 1 error
Royals: 5 runs, 11 hits, 1 error
I don't think we faced a team this good at any time this season. And we hung with them in THEIR park for 14 innings. We played smart, aggressive baseball and proved we are just as good as they are and deserve to be here.
Mistakes became runs. We made two. They made one. That was the difference.
The things you cite, however, were NOT mistakes. Uribe is the only real backup for Flores at short on the roster (you could stick Johnson out there, I suppose, but please note he's played exactly one game at the position in his big league career and that was for us this year and he made an error there). If you bat Uribe as a DH, you risk losing the DH position and having to bat the pitcher, should anything happen to Wilmer. This is where losing Tejada really hurts us; we no longer have options except emergency ones. If both Tejada and Uribe are healthy, its Kirk who stays home and we have greater flexibility in the infield. As it is, Uribe is like Plawecki...use only in case of emergency. You can use either Johnson (lefty) or Uribe (righty) as your DH--you can't afford to use both in that slot.
If anything, I'd have left Matt Harvey in for the seventh. I was certainly more comfortable with him in there in the sixth than I would have been with anyone from the bullpen. He's an ace with exceptional command and his pitch count was low. Its not like they were blasting moon shots off the guy. Collins has assigned roles to our relievers. Reed-7th, Clippard-8th, Familia-9th. You can argue the wisdom of doing so, but its not like he's the only manager in baseball who does that; most of them do. You don't suddenly change that plan for no good reason. As for Lagares, once you've got a two-run lead, you go defense in that park. It's one of the more "spacious" outfields in baseball. (And, really, if being replaced in a game we're leading for defense by a gold glover "de-motivates" Conforto, then he doesn't belong in the major leagues yet.)
But here's the thing that you just totally blow by in your effort to find fault with Collins. None of what you cite as his managerial misdeeds figured in the game at all. Harvey did his job (he was 26-1 when giving up three runs or less). Reed and Clippard did their jobs. If anything, you could argue that Lagares gave us superior OFFENSE to Conforto in this game (whom even you admit hasn't been an offensive powerhouse this post-season).
We were leading in the ninth with our closer on the mound. That's the script you want. So Collins, too, did his job. Who didn't get the job done? Familia. And yet you have no criticism for him. Nor should you. Stuff happens. These guys are great fastball hitters. And Familia's great fastball met the bat of a great fastball hitter and, poof, just like that its extra innings. At that point, its just down to who makes a mistake first or who gets lucky first. We made the mistake. A great defensive third baseman made an error on what I thought was a pretty tough play. And KC took advantage of that mistake. There really was nothing Collins could have done differently that would have changed the outcome of the game.
Hey this really looks like an Ali vs. Frazier 15 rounder if the first game is any measure of what's to come. I know the game plan here: give up a HR to your first batter and go on to lose the game to give em a false sense of security and then win 4 straight.....hey it worked beautifully in 69'....All kidding aside we need to just enjoy every game and remember how long it took to get here.
It was a great game, Stubby.
Gary, ready for game 2 of the Thrilla in Missoura! Tonight we win on all judge's scorecards.
I fail to see how by any stretch of the imagination it makes sense to take out your ACE after he allowed ONE run, and even that run scored only because of a defensive failure.
And if he did take him out in a 1-1 tie and the pen blew it, tell me you wouldn't be ripping Terry for that.
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