Framber Valdez was absolutely amazing tonight. He had a perfect game through five anad a third. He gave up one hit and one walk through seven innings. His sinker and cutter and curve were all coming in off the same release point and going in different directions. The Mets couldn’t touch the sinker anyway, but it’s even more hellacious when he mixes in a cutter which goes left instead of down, and a “f*ck you, that’s why” curve ball. The only hope that the Mets had is if Valdez had decided to retire in the middle of the game to join the circus.
He got touched up in the 8th for two runs but that’s Dusty Baker trying to squeeze one more inning from him for some reason like he was managing a video game. Baker should have paid for it, and he would have if Corey Julks and Kyle Tucker not made good to great plays in that 8th inning that saved the Astros from a worse fate. If Baker wasn’t so desperate to get a win after losing five straight, maybe he would have shook Valdez’s hand after seven. But with a 4-0 lead, why not stick with Valdez? Point is, the Mets only made it close because Dusty Baker let them get close.
Justin Verlander was okay. He went seven innings whihc is good for the bullpen, I guess. He gave up four runs, which isn’t great. But Alex Bregman’s two run HR was the epitome of knowing your former teammate, as he moved up in the box on 3-0 and took a rip, and Jose Altuve hit his curveball in the 7th like he knew it was coming. (Not that the Astros know anything about knowing what pitch is coming. But let’s face it: You don’t need trash cans or buzzers to face the 2023 Mets.)
But I’ll take solace in “okay”. It’s not the usual horrible that the Mets starters have given the team when they haven’t been good. But while “okay” would have been enough yesterday when they scored 11 runs, it wasn’t good enough tonight when they were facing a World Series MVP (or at least he should have been the World Series MVP.) But that’s been a storyline from this season: they’re not good enough to overcome their flaws. Give up two runs, score one. Score seven runs, give up nine. Brutal starting pitching, inconsistent offense (especially against anyone with a left hand), and a bullpen that is doing their best to make up for the loss of Edwin Diaz but there are just too many cracks in the dam for them to be effective all season long.
My head tells me that there is plenty of time left. My eyes tell me that it probably won’t matter.
Today’s Hate List
- Alex Bregman
- Jose Altuve
- Mike Scott
- Glenn Davis
- Billy Hatcher
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