A Seventh Game Win … Er, Technically

If I had told you that the Mets would win a Game Seven against the Los Angeles Dodgers on the strength of a go ahead RBI by Darin Ruf, a ringing double by James McCann, and a scoreless inning from Trevor May, you would have thought that it was Fan Fiction cooked up by a consortium of twitter users on Opposite Day. But that’s exactly what happened tonight.

I’m taking license, of course. The seven games that the Mets have played against the Dodgers took place in the 2022 regular season, so taking four out of seven means as much as taking 10 out of 11 in 1988. The Mets didn’t have Max Scherzer or Jacob deGrom to go to war with when the Mets played four in L.A. The Dodgers meanwhile nursed Clayton Kershaw through 74 pitches in five innings in his first game back from injury today. Who knows where the two teams will be in October. Who knows who will be playing, who will not be playing (sorry, Walker Buehler), and where everyone’s mental state will be then.

But when I told my wife before the series started that the Dodgers were 54-19 in their previous 63 games, she replied: “And you have to play against them? Good luck.” The Mets would beat this team two out of three, with the last one coming because of some bad luck or, more accurately, bad Lux, as in Gavin who took his sweet time on a ground ball by Starling Marte which Marte beat to start the two run rally in the 6th. That rally was capped off by Francisco Lindor creating the go ahead run with a double to drive home Marte, and a steal of third which led to the sac fly by Ruf). Then in the 7th, Gavin got confused on a pop-up to short right which fell in between he and Mookie Betts to drive home the fourth run to give the Mets a breath. Then Marte brought home Nimmo to make it 5-2 on a 3-0 single to left and give the Mets some extra skoch.

They needed it as Edwin Diaz was brought in for the 8th inning again to face the heart of the Dodgers lineup, and he walked Freddie Freeman and hit Will Smith (with a 1-2 pitch) to start the frame, then gave up a couple of long fly balls on sliders that caught too much middle, and the second one by Justin Turner resulted in a sac fly RBI to make it 5-3, but that was it as he struck out Lux on a 103 mph fastball. Thought it was fascinating to here Gare explain that Diaz was warming up in the 7th with the game at 3-2, but came in anyway with a 5-2 lead. The way I see it, Diaz holding a three run lead against the Dodgers is more valuable than giving him an up/down and having him available tomorrow in a one run game against Washington, so it worked out fine as far as I’m concerned. Besides, the fact that Buck Showalter has evolved from leaving Zach Britton in the bullpen to bringing in Edwin Diaz in the 8th inning is the kind of metamorphosis that I’ll sell on a streaming service.

The Mets are still three games ahead of the Braves after they took two of three from the Rockies, and now the easiest schedule in the league gets ready to face the Mets. There are 30 games left against teams that are playing at a combined 62-100 pace, and that includes the Braves. Imagine playing the 2009 Washington Nationals (59-103) 27 times and somehow losing a three game lead in the division. I mean, if you’re Jerry Manuel you probably could, but Buck isn’t putting a concussed right fielder on a flight any time soon. He is a different breed.

Buck Showalter on the atmosphere around Citi Field lately:

"When we have a full house, I want the hot dogs to be hot. I want the beer to be cold. I want the parking not to be a problem. I want them to leave here and go, 'Boy, that was worth it, and I want to come again.'"

— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) September 1, 2022

I’d sooner put money on the Mets going undefeated in the playoffs than parking at Citi Field not being a problem. But sign me up for fully cooked hot dogs and cold beer and I’d be very happy with that.

Today’s Hate List

I don’t really hate anything in the baseball world tonight. I’m feeling pretty good. But I let my guard down long enough to realize that football season is starting. So I’ll give you some things I hate about football:

1. Announcers that say “RPO” every 40 seconds. And 20 seconds after that they talk about “playing tempo” as if “tempo” means “fast”. There are slow tempos too. Drives me nuts.
2. Exploding touchdown graphics. Are we that ADD that we need a 3-D “TOUCHDOWN” blaring at us like we don’t know what a touchdown is?
3. Guest game pickers. I don’t care who Jack Harlow likes in the South Florida/Miami, Ohio game.
4. Offensive coordinators who, after gaining 7 yards a carry in the last six plays, all of a sudden decide to call a triple-reverse because “we have the defense softened up.” Meanwhile the quarterback is a freshman and the blind side tight end is a JUCO transfer who can’t catch which is how he ended up at your school. Like, I know you want an SEC head coaching job but calling a triple-reverse at the opponents 35 isn’t worth Vanderbilt.
5. Aaron Rodgers. If you made Chase Utley whiny and insufferable, he’d be Aaron Rodgers.