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| PC - Ed Delany |
Press Release:
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (August 5, 2018) – The St. Lucie Mets won a marathon game 5-4 in 12 innings over the Daytona Tortugas on Sunday afternoon at First Data Field.
The game was the longest in terms of innings (12) and time (3 hours, 44 minutes) for the Mets this year.
The result was worth the wait. Anthony Dimino ripped a walk-off double deep to right field off of former teammate Kevin Canelon in the 12th to plate Gene Cone for the winning run.
The game entered extra innings tied 4-4. Both teams failed to score their free runners placed on second base in the 10th and 11th.
Stephen Villines ended the ninth with a strikeout and held the Tortugas off the board in the 10th and 11th. Austin McGeorge struck out two batters in a 1-2-3 11th inning to get the win.
Six Mets pitchers combined for 21 strikeouts, besting the previous high this season of 15.
The Mets took a 2-0 lead in the third inning on a two-run double by Cone.
Daytona scored three runs in the sixth to take the lead. The tying run and the go-ahead run in the inning scored on wild pitches by starter Joe Cavallaro.
The Mets scored twice in the seventh to go up 4-3. Jeremy Vasquez scored on a throwing error and Dan Rizzie followed with a sac fly to put the Mets in front.
Daytona’s Ibandel Isabel led off the eighth with a solo home run, his league-leading 24th of the year, to tie the game 4-4.
Mike Paez singled in the 11th inning to extend his hitting streak to 16 games.
Cavallaro surrendered three runs but matched his career best with nine strikeouts.
The Mets took two of three in the series and finished the season series vs. Daytona with an 8-5 record.
21 strikeouts. Wow.
ReplyDeleteExcellent game last night. Mets fans, it looks like we have an outfield now. The four, Ajax, Nimmo, Cfort, and Joey Bats. Not bad! I'll take it! Bingo!
ReplyDeleteBrandon Nimmo's finger looks finally healed to me. Only three doubles last night. Why not four Brandon? LOL Brandon is a MLB batter that can hit to all three outfields. The guy is amazing. (Who am I? cc)
On Tony's post today on Corey Oswalt.
I concur Tony, Corey is big league material and should only be getting better from here. His rise this season has been one of the "brightest spots" on this 2018 Mets team for us Los Metsos fans.
Here's how I see the 2019 NY Mets rotation. Sit down first, okay?
From the right side it is already set I think, that is baring any injuries the rest of the way 2018. The four starters are of course, Jake, Noah, Zachary, and Corey. Hard to beat this for any other MLB rotation, I believe, when you compare.
From the left side, things here may need some upgrading. But it is non-arguably difficult to just find good lefty (and younger) starters out there who would bolster this excellent rotation. Even lefty AAA starter J. Sheffield (on the Yankees) has location and control things to conquer first.
The 2019 starters on the free agent list are all too old now I think. How do you give a three or four year contract to the ones on this FA list?
However, Oakland is interesting right now, here's why...
The Athletics are in the "Playoff Hunt" right now. Their current rotation (to me) is a little too old and maybe too brittle as well. Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill, Edwin Jackson, still alright but getting older.
On the other hand, the Mets have someone here that they might find as appealing for their rotation, Steven Matz.
Matz is 27, has 310 career strikeouts in 349 innings, a reasonable ERA at 4.10, and a decent career WHIP 1.315. But Steven also brings intangibles hard to find at just 27, like experience from the left side.
At Oakland's AAA Nashville Sounds, there is a 20 years old, 6'1" lefty starter named Jesus Luzardo that I like a lot. In not quite three MiLB seasons, he has a 12-5 record, a .95 WHIP, 165 strikeouts in just 141 innings, an opposing team BA against him of just .207, 28 walks, and 1.91 ERA.
This is just a "hypothetical trade idea" and not to be taken too seriously. But it does demonstrate how a team can get both better and younger now before this season ends. Although many fans will oppose such a "crazy idea" for a deal as this one is to them, maybe they should.
Why could something like this work?
Because the A's starting rotation is too weak to compete this season against the likes of the Red Sox, Houston and Yankees, the AL's top teams. Their rotation obviously needs to be bolstered a little bit more. The Athletics should be playing for the right now. A trade like this one could get it done for them, even if the Mets had to throw in another young pitcher with Matz (not from the four righty starters I have mentioned above) and make this a four player deal.
In the Mets case, they get a really promising younger lefty starter (Jesus Luzardo) with less injury luggage than Steven Matz, with a very impressive early on stat sheet. Down the road a ways too, Jesus Luzardo might be well paired up with say a J. Dunn and/or a N. Crismatt, that is if both are to keep on improving at Vegas first.
With the four righties mentioned above, Jesus Luzardo makes some sense I think. But I'll let you all decide for yourselves because it might just be a "crazy idea" only too.