Reese Kaplan -- Baseball from Afar After Flying and Driving Home Again

I'm back home again in Ipoh and it's time to refresh from the "living in Malaysia" outlook and return to matters at hand in all things Mets.  I will, however, offer one concluding set of thoughts about transportation.  After acquiring a minivan (don't laugh -- it was the best bargain in automotive transportation -- passage for seven people or lots of bargains bought at various inexpensive shopping locations -- for $17K including auto insurance.  Did I mention that it was brand new and top of the line?)

Anyway, piloting the Proton Exora (yes, that is the brand and model name) out of downtown Georgetown in Penang made me remember how much I despise sitting in traffic and dodging people who apparently think that little blinking light that could foretell passersby your intention to shift lanes or make a turn.  

We first couldn't wait to get out of the Little India congested neighborhood which was culturally interesting, but with some side streets blocked by the police for some kind of event it was wreaking havoc on the GPS.  

When we got onto what passes for a major road those lack of directionals became a higher risk issue as people are traveling at much faster speeds.  We somehow meandered our way out of downtown, across the freeway, over the 17 KM bridge and into the waiting Ikea parking lot.  

Nothing spells a trip to Malaysia more than a Sunday brunch of Swedish meatballs and a tour around what used to be familiar ground in Elizabeth, NJ.  

Anyway, getting home reinforced our feeling of satisfaction with the location we selected.  Not only was it refreshingly familiar already, but there were no long lines of cars clogging the roads, no jammed parking lots no matter where you turned and I discovered my tropical fish thriving on the long term feeding tablet deposited in my absence.  Three packages arrived in our absence and I will no longer be laundering the same few socks, underwear and shirts over and over again.

Getting back to the game we all love, it turned out on your Saturday night while I was getting repacked Sunday morning that Edwin Diaz looked human after all.  Yes, he came out to great fanfare with his new incoming theme song playing on the Citifield speakers, but after a couple of baserunners got on board and put themselves into go-ahead position with a double steal it seemed as if a meltdown over the day-long 1-0 lead was about to take place.  However, Sugar Diaz dove deep inside himself to render the final batter helpless with yet another strikeout and the Mets carried off that rare thing -- a 1-0 victory which was cause for pent up celebration.  

It flashed in my mind the days when John Franco and later other closers would flirt with disaster but emerge on the winning side.  I'd rather see Diaz get the bad days out of the way now rather than in the postseason.  

Now to be fair to Phillies' starting pitcher Aaron Nola, he was going virtually pitch-for-pitch in quality with Jacob deGrom.  The Mets seemed pretty feeble against a quality arm and didn't muster up much of a threat to score again after the first inning.  

The Mets managed just four hits all day which were nearly matched by the Phillies' three against the four pitchers Buck Showalter sent to the mound.  

I know I'm a day behind commenting on a Saturday night game and here it is Monday morning, but such are the vagaries of time zones and publishing deadlines.  It was good to see people throwing and fielding the ball, though not much hitting was done.  

Still, tip your cap to two-time Cy Young Award pitcher Jacob deGrom for his double digit strikeout performance and graciously salute the 8 innings pitched by Nola that should have been enough for a victory with just 4 hits and 1 walk allowed to go along with his own 8 strikeouts.  

I certainly hope the Philadelphia front office watched what the man did and exercises his 2023 option or works out an extension for the man who has only know the city of brotherly love for his entire professional career.  He's just 30 years old and should be able to provide his team with 5-6 more years of top notch quality.  

For the week ahead for the Mets, let's see how they do when the opponents change from the Phillies to a return of the Atlanta Braves for 4 games in their own ballpark, 4 more against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park and then two more against the crosstown rival New York Yankees at a rocking Yankee Stadium.  They'll need that day off to rest up before facing the Rockies and Dodgers.