PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (April 24, 2018) – The St. Lucie Mets swept their doubleheader vs. the Charlotte Stone Crabs on Tuesday at First Data Field.
The Mets won the first game 5-3. They rallied from a three-run deficit to win game 2 in extra innings, 6-5.
In game 1, Dash Winningham slugged a three-run homer in the third inning to put the Mets ahead 4-3.
In the fifth inning Desmond Lindsay scored on a balk to add an insurance run and make it 5-3.
Mets starting pitcher Justin Dunn settled in after a rocky start. He scattered eight hits and allowed two earned runs in 5.2 innings. He walked two and struck out six.
Ryder Ryan notched a four-out save. It was his first save of the season.
In game 2, the Mets trailed 4-1 with two outs in the sixth inning. Dale Burdick ripped a two-run triple to make it a 4-3 game. Then with a two-strike count, Jacob Zanon used his speed to reach on an infield single and bring home Burdick from third to tie the game.
The game went to extra innings and in the top of the eighth Charlotte’s Jesus Sanchez singled to bring home the free runner Robbie Tenerowicz, who was placed on second base to start the extra frame.
The Mets had no problem coming back again in the bottom of the eighth. Anthony Dimino started the inning at second base. Luis Carpio was hit by a pitch. Then Gene Cone singled to load the bases.
Dan Rizzie lofted a sac fly to bring home Dimino to tie the game. The fly out also advanced Carpio to third base. After an intentional walk to Burdick, reliever Yoel Espinal threw a wild pitch with Jacob Zanon at the plate. The misfire allowed Carpio to scamper home for the walk-off win.
Matt Pobereyko earned the win after limiting the damage in the top of the eighth.
Burdick went 3 for 3 with a triple, two singles, a walk, two RBI and a run.
The Mets improved to 8-2 at First Data Field. Charlotte dropped to 2-9 on the road.
The Mets (9-9) and Stone Crabs (9-10) conclude their series on Wednesday with a single nine-inning game. First pitch at First Data Field is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. It’s All You Can Eat and a Seat for $20.
The Mets Conundrum
ReplyDeleteThe Mets opened the 2018 season with five really decent starters in what looked like a really winning rotation. But since then, three have struggled and have not lived up to anyone's expectation possibly due to the fact that none of the three throw as hard a fastball as they once did. Before getting all out of breath and throwing a hissy fit or tantrum, lets look closer to see if there is something that can be done to right this situation overall. Your commentary will be appreciated here on this too! So add in!
The right here and right now...
Mets top two starters (Noah and Jake) are fine and will hopefully stay healthy all season long especially if wearing their armored suits I sent each one. Zach and Steven are somewhat struggling, mostly because of a fastball slowdown and maybe too leaving pitches up in the strike zone. And Harvey is sitting in the bullpen spitting sunflower seeds with his own fastball slowdown. All three are in the 91-94 mph range now and their "other pitches" are not saving them nor setting up their slowed down fastball effectively enough.
What's down below at AAA/AA to maybe help?
A: Not much. Corey Oswalt came up from Vegas last night and pitched like not the solution for this. He was easily hit, although it was his first attempt up here and this should be weighed in.
Tim Peterson looks tremendous at AAA Vegas, but he's a reliever for certain, and a really good bet to excel once here.
Look, the rotation right now is "slightly damaged goods" it looks like. I don't blame anyone for trying to make this work, I thought it would too, but we may have been wrong and we need now to put our collective heads together to sort thru this. This is not a "wheels have fallen off the applecart" type thing. But rather, it's preventative maintenance in motion.
When I look at AAA Las Vegas Waynenewtons and AA BingPonyriders, I see a ton of what looks like really good relievers, which makes me wonder as to where are all the decent kid starters hiding? A: Good question. I have no clue.
So what's left to do?
1. The Mets could work a trade or two, they have depth at OF and MiLB. 2. The Mets could get daring with two of their franchises best two kid relievers and possibly consider making them into two potentially outstanding starters. I realize that the immediate response here to reading this (by like 99% of the people here) will be..."Oh no, he's at it again." However, with so many decent young relievers down at AAA and AA, maybe we can find the two best guys (with a pitch selection beyond just throwing a hard fastball) that can be converted into two really decent starters. It is a risk but why not.
The two I like the best are: A. Drew Smith (98 mph fastball, a looping curve, and a decent developing change-up). B. And then Gerson Bautista whom we have just seen up here, who also has three pitches (a slider, a fastball you cannot see at 101 mph, and a change-up). 3. The Mets could bring into the rotation Lugo, Gsellman, and Vargas until Matz, Wheeler, and Harvey can be made whole again.
But can these ideas with Lugo, Gsellman, and Vargas be what the NY Mets are actually needing longer term? A: Good question, time will tell I know. However, they could be place holders until my first idea with Drew Smith and Gerson Bautista are greater explored and developed.
(Thinking outside the box)