The day started with a clap of thunder and a downpour. Though it was figurative, it was more substantial than the amount of rain which postponed Monday’s game, which also turned out to be figurative.
News: Max Scherzer is going on the injured list. He won't start Friday.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) September 7, 2022
Scherzer on his IL stint: “This is days not weeks.” Says his left side feels “achy.”
— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) September 7, 2022
It’s worrisome because … well, it’s Max. It’s also worrisome because considering what happened last season with Scherzer declining a playoff start in Game 6 against Atlanta because he didn’t get enough work down teh stretch, you don’t want something like that to happen this season. You don’t want Max Scherzer, ultimate competitor, to turn down a playoff start while playing for the Mets because, as you know in this town, optics are everything (he says with a sarcastic growl).
But listening to Scherzer, who doesn’t strike me as a habitual liar, he made it sound like more of a procedural move to bring the Mets the gift of Alex Claudio for a few days rather than being dumb about getting out there and showing the world his optics by not missing two starts. Said it before, and will say it again: Every move the Mets make has to be with the goal of getting the team to October in one piece. If putting Max on the IL gets him to October the way he wants to get there, then it has to be done. It won’t kill you to see David Peterson for two more starts.
The Mets umbrella for this storm was a great start by Bulldog Bassitt, going seven innings and striking out ten, while only giving up one run on five hits and a walk. “Big deal, it’s the Pirates”, they say. Well it was the Pirates on Tuesday too and that didn’t work out so well. So while it was expected, it was also necessary. Thus, it was clutch. And clutch combined with a much needed wooden renaissance from some people. Pete Alonso, who was moved up to the two hole to calm him down and rev him up, had two hits in five at-bats while Tyler Naquin returned to our collective consciousness with a three run homer. Naquin and Eduardo Escobar would go back to back in the fourth to make it 5-0 and the Mets would cruise home from there.
Then they had to wait around for the second game where they would get more bad news in the form of the Braves winning … again … which forced the Mets to have to sweep to hold on to at least a share of first place for yet another night’s sleep. The good news was that they had Jacob deGrom going for them. And although the point was hammered home that deGrom didn’t have his best stuff, he somehow threw seven shutout innings which is what good pitchers do when they don’t have their best stuff. I mean, how many games to you expect him to strike out 18 consecutive batters on swinging sliders? He can’t be a video game every night. But even while supposedly not at his best (so they tell me), deGrom continues to put up numbers that baffle. Three hits and one walk in seven innings is great enough. But consider the following:
Last 6 starts for @Mets' Jacob deGrom:
8/7: Retired 17 in a row
8/13: Retired 16 in a row
8/18: Retired 12 in a row
8/25: Retired 13 in a row
8/31: Retired 12 in a row
Today: Retired 12 in a rowNobody else in last 40 years has retired 12 in a row in more than 4 straight starts
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) September 8, 2022
Stop me if you’ve heard this before, because you’ve probably never heard this before: The Mets gave deGrom ten runs of support tonight as the bats contined to wake up. Alonso had two more hits in the two hole. Francisco Lindor, another player who could use a renaissance, went 2-for-4 while driving in three. Jeff McNeil had three hits and drove in two. Mark Canha had two hits. Naquin had two more this. Escobar went 4-for-5 in his quest to give the Mets fans something to cheer about. James McCann had a hit and walked twice. All of it combined for a 10-0 victory which should quiet the critics for a few more hours until they land in Miami and they can blame Billy Eppler for the plane’s flight patterns.
But not before one more storm that hit during Game 2:
Update on Starling Marte: He underwent a CT scan on his right middle finger that revealed a partial non-displaced fracture. The Mets say he is considered day to day.
— Steve Gelbs (@SteveGelbs) September 8, 2022
The Mets must have imaged him seven times to find this … mostly because they’re doing their due dilligence. But maybe a little bit because they’re just like you and me: not believing that life could be so charmed for them that they could have 1.734 batters hit this season and escape serious injury, so let’s find the next land mine before it finds us. The good news is that “partial non-displaced fracture” means that the bone isn’t completely broken in two, and the partial in front if it means … well it’s better than full and I’ll take it. Amazingly, he’s considered day to day, but when you think about it, Francisco Lindor slammed his finger in a door and didn’t miss much time with his “form of a fractured finger.” So if Marte’s form is anywhere close to Lindor’s form, then while it won’t be what we want, we’ll eventually get what we need, and that’s Marte back in this lineup. You just hope that Marte’s hot bat won’t be cooled down all that much like Lindor’s was after the door incident.
“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.” -Vivian Greene
The Mets are learning, and they’re succeeding. Some of you could use some lessons.
Today’s Hate List
Just a couple of them. But they’re important so I’m going to expound on them:
Yankees President Randy Levine
“I’ve always been a great believer that not only is the town big enough for both of us, but both teams are playing well, it’s great for both teams. You have the excitement, people are talking about it, more people watching and going to the games. We never worried about the Mets. I think sometimes they worry about us too much. I don’t think, I laugh – taking over the town – I don’t even know what that means. All I know is the Yankees have the highest television ratings in history, attendance is coming back, revenue is booming, and I wish Steve Cohen and the Mets all the same success.”
You “never” worried about the Mets. Ever. Okay, that’s rich considering that this is a franchise that signed Danny Tartabull because the former owner, who was a felon, demanded they sign Danny Tartabull in direct response to Bobby Bonilla’s signing. But whatever. I’m sure your buddies Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman had a great yuk over that as the three of you sat down to some high end wine and beluga caviar. Fine. But you must think that the Wilpons are still around to sign all of your discarded milk cartons like Todd Frazier and Dellin Betances because of their Q rating. It isn’t like that anymore.
As for your highest ratings, may I remind you of this analogy:
Good luck against the Guardians in the playoffs, Randall.
Comedian and Kith Spokesperson Jerry Seinfeld
Yeah, I’m putting Jerry Seinfeld on the hate list. I haven’t put a Mets player on the hate list in years, and I’m loathe to call out a fellow Mets fan, especially one I paid money to see do a brilliant set at the Beacon Theatre back in 2019. I love you, Jerry. But you earned this one.
If you haven’t seen it, check this out from the SNY Instagram page:
Jerry Seinfeld – not a fan of the trumpets. pic.twitter.com/KAw84p3lrN
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) September 7, 2022
Now, if it was just this without any more context, I wouldn’t have a problem with it. Hell, I enjoy superstition and I am all for blocking bad mojo. But I rememer Jerry’s last appearance in the SNY booth. Most of the time, he’s hysterical. But that last time, he seemed to be whining a lot about people who complain about the team. Now, this was last season when there was actually plenty of real issues to complain about. It just seemed weird. So now that the Mets are going well, he’s going to complain about Timmy Trumpet? Are we kidding here?
And the Baha Men? The Mets were already down 2-1 in the 2000 World Series. The Baha Men didn’t hurt the Mets more than Games 1 and 2 hurt them. How about complaining about Armando Benitez’s bad mojo? Or Roger Clemens’ bad mojo? No, we’re going to blame the Baha Men, who did nothing but write and arrange a fun little song that we stole from the San Francisco Giants. Great. It’s bad enough you got a group of people wanting to hang Billy Eppler for putting together a team that’s playing .630 ball. And you gotta come along and whip those people up into another lather over Timmy Trumpet, who has never watched a baseball game in his life and within three days pledged his undying love for the Mets? You’re not helping, Jerry!
I guess you have to be edgy now that you’re shilling for Kith.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
