The first part of the season really held such promise. They survived a ton of injuries, we were introduced to the bench mob, Aaron Loup was a revelation. Marcus Stroman was in the midst of his best major league season. Edwin Diaz had long stretches of dominance. On and on and on.

But in the end, and make no mistake … tonight was the end … seemed like an all too familiar storyline. They looked good early. Stroman was hummin, Javy Báez was making things happen on the bases, stealing third base in the first which led directly to the first run as he scored on a wild pitch, and then hitting a missile in the third to make the score 2-0. Things were good.

Then Jake from State Farm showed up. And things did not go surprisingly great.

It started in the top of the 6th as Dom Smith had runners on first and second with a perilous two run lead, and looked at strikes two and three to end the inning. It was then that my sinking feeling started, and things didn’t get any better in the bottom of the inning. Stroman hit Eddy Alvarez and gave up a single to Miguel Rojas which sent the speed skater to third. Alvarez scored on a fielder’s choice to cut the lead to 2-1. Then with one out in the bottom of the 7th, Sandy Leon hit a chopper that landed in front of Stroman but spun behind him, and Leon reached first.

Smart Water then pulled Stroman from the game in favor of Brad Hand. When he was acquired, I knew that the final demise of the 2021 version of the Mets would involve Brad Hand. I believe it was foretold in the sea scrolls. After a wacky play in which Hand threw a wild pitch (and not just in the technical sense, I mean it was freaking wild) and James McCann threw out pinch runner and slightly faster catcher Alex Jackson at third on the carom, Hand fielded a dribbler and foolishly attempted to throw out Lewis Brinson at first. Instead, he threw it to Key West and Isan Diaz scored the tying run. That Brinson was thrown out trying to advance to second on the play was a mere footnote on the road to the inevitable.

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