The Mets knew this point in the schedule was coming, a stretch of 14 days playing only the Dodgers and Giants. Rise or fold, we get an answer.
The Mets have teetered on the brink of disaster all season, holding on to a precarious lead in the NL East, but knowing any one of the three teams behind them was capable of putting a string together that could replace them in a matter of days.
The Phillies emerged as that team with the best record in baseball during August. Still, the Mets refused to roll over, sweeping the Washington Nationals at Citi Field to move within a half-game of Joe Girardi‘s team.
But the upcoming schedule with home and away series against the Dodgers and Giants includes a cross-country flight following Sunday night’s ESPN telecast awaiting the team and a date with the NL West-leading Giants.
Mets: Win Or Lose, Tonight It Didn’t Matter
I’m writing this not knowing the outcome of tonight’s series opener at Citi Field that’s seen the Mets come back from a 4-0 deficit to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh inning.
It wasn’t one of those rallies for the Mets history books, as it featured a walk, a wild pitch, and a well-placed base hit by Jeff McNeill, but it signals that this is a Mets team that can never be counted out, and one that will scrimp and battle to do what it takes to get the job done.
Are the Mets a better team than the Dodgers? Hell no, and the National League standings prove that a Dodgers team consistently plays .600 baseball all season.
So what does a team do when they are facing a Dodger’s team with a +181 run differential while they stand at -13 – you do the only thing you can, and you play a spirited game that says, “We’re in this game, too.”
Oddly, with a Mets victory tonight, they can reclaim first place from the Phillies, who lost to the up-and-coming Cincinnati Reds by a score of 6-1 in their home ballpark.
Whatever the outcome of tonight’s game, and this box score will tell the tale, the Mets have once again demonstrated to themselves and their fans; they are a team to be reckoned with this year, despite how gloomy their season looked last weekend.
Mets: No Fairy Tales, But…
I don’t believe in fairy tales, only what I see on the playing field.
Tylor Megill‘s start tonight left much to be desired (five innings and three earned runs), but these are the games a Met of the future needs to learn from and refine his craft.
But the five Mets relievers who followed Megill shut the Dodgers down, making the seventh inning possible.
Luis Rojas could care less about tomorrow, though, as the Mets move into extra innings. Ditto for Dodger’s manager Dave Roberts also tapped into his bullpen for five relievers, including his closer Jeurys Familia.
It all boils down to a game in which Las Vegas odds favored the Dodger all day, something that should not be a surprise to anyone.
But sometimes, the underdog has other ideas, and the Mets are giving Vegas and their naysayers a run for their money tonight.
Alas, Edwin Diaz gave up a two-run home run to Will Smith in the tenth inning to leave Vegas in their usual position of collecting money, not laying it out, as the NL East standings show no change, and it’s onto tomorrow.
Mets Showing Us Something…
Most of you know I am not a pie in a sky-writer, but the Mets showed something tonight, as mysterious as it may seem, keeps me hanging on to the thought there is something going on here that makes this team special – no matter what…
Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal.
