A Rare Feat

When it was 2-1 Nationals in the 7th inning, it felt like it was 9-1. Part of it was the lack of a crowd in the stands (it was damn cold), but part of it is an indictment of just how laborious and flat this team still is after their successful west coast trip.

The laborious part was Kodai Senga. He gave up two runs in five innings, but he wasn’t crisp at all. The two runs he gave up were in the second, as Dom Smith (Hi Dom!) doubled to put runners on second and third with nobody out, quickly followed by two run scoring singles by Lane Thomas and CJ Abrams. He got better after Jeremy Hefner visited him later in the inning before he struck out Jeimer Candelario to end it. But he threw 94 pitches in five innings, and he’s not fooling anyone. Hasn’t fooled anyone since Miami, if we’re being honest.

The flat part was the hitting. The lineup made MacKenzie Gore look like Steve Carlton. And at the point that I referenced it felt like 9-1 instead of 2-1, Candelario hit a home run off Jeff Brigham to make it 3-1, and then it really felt like 9-1. But the Mets had a chance in the 7th. Carl Edwards Jr. walked Brett Baty and Daniel Vogelbach to start the inning. Brandon Nimmo then grounded out to first base to move the runners up, and then Dave Martinez brought in Hunter Harvey to gace Starling Marte and Francisco Lindor. Harvey blew Marte away with fastballs, then made Lindor look ugly on two splitters, playing Lindor’s overanxiousness against him.

And that was your ballgame.

The title of this post is “A Rare Feat”. The rare feat wasn’t two straight flat losses, or four straight losses overall. It was this:

Earlier in the day I saw the Brooklyn Cyclones in Jersey Shore losing to the BlueClaws in a morning start. Daniel Suarez came in to face a lefty with two outs and runners on second and third, and got him to dribble it 25 feet for the third out … except that Suarez threw the ball to Brick, NJ. So two losses, one by the Mets and one by a Mets farm team … in one day. First time ever for me. Hashtag blessed?

Today’s Hate List

1. The women who barged into the men’s room during the ninth inning in the Promenade Level.
2. Jeimer Candelario
3. MacKenzie Gore
4. Hunter Harvey
5. Bryan Harvey