The Mets lost a wild 10-8 game to the Texas Rangers on Tuesday. They left a ton of runners on base, and after chasing former friend Dillon Gee off the mound (in a stunning development, because I thought if the Mets were going to go down it would be because Gee threw a gem), the Mets could barely get anything going against the Rangers middle relief corps, which included a guy named Austin Bibens-Dirkx, who was an option in a recent poll asking “which unknown pitcher would be next to get a win against the Mets”:
Who will be the next unknown pitcher to get a win against the Mets?
— Metstradamus (@Metstradamus) May 26, 2017
As it turns out, 31% were right on the money. (And 67% voted for the press secretary from the 80’s television show “Benson“. Hopefully, ironically.)
The Mets rallied against closer Matt Bush, who came down with Billy “I can only pitch in save situations” Wagner syndrome as he gave up homers to Curtis Granderson and Travis d’Arnaud before righting his ship and getting a strikeout and a double play to end it. There are many ways to dissect this loss in a vacuum, but none of it matters.
None of it matters because if Jacob deGrom can’t go more than four innings, the Mets are sunk. All teams have injuries, but when a team has as many injuries to important players such as the Mets, and add to that the pitchers that are coming back from injury and having down years like Matt Harvey, and to a lesser extent Addison Reed, the one thing you hope for is that the healthy ones remain healthy and the dependable ones remain dependable. Jacob deGrom is that last piece. It’s not Jay Bruce, it’s not Wilmer Flores, it’s not Neil Walker. It’s deGrom. And for the second straight start, he stunk. It’s frustrating because besides the obvious, we can’t respond by breaking down every late night and every magazine cover and every Saturday morning golf outing like we do with Harvey. It’s Jacob deGrom. Either he’s hurt, or he just stinks. And if he just stinks, then there’s no amount of anything that Terry Collins or Sandy Alderson can do to save this season. Steven Matz and Seth Lugo going back into the rotation isn’t going to matter if deGrom is giving seven or eight runs a game.
It made seeing this game unfold like seeing your lost love behind a pane of glass. They’re right there but you can’t touch them or hold them. And they can’t hear you so you can’t tell them how much you love them. Then they try to break through the glass but the cops have arrived and they’re taking your loved one away. So close you can touch them, but you can’t. And slowly, they fade away. That’s what Tuesday’s game felt like, and that’s the way this season is starting to feel like. You walk the streets alone watching other people canoodle with their loved ones. Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper, Chase Utley … all out in the open in the sidewalk café of a Met fan’s mind. Holding hands, twiddling fingers and gently kissing their loved ones well into September and October. All this while our season is in a holding cell without visitation.
Today’s Hate List
- Matt Bush
- Austin Bibens-Dirkx
- Joey Gallo
- Nomar Mazara
- Kenny Rogers
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
