Drop It So We’re Hot

I was conservative when thinking about this Indians series. This team went something like 41-16 to catch the Twins for first place after the Twins were so far ahead of the Indians they were Juan Van de Velde at the British Open. So I thought one win would suffice against the Tribe. That they got that win tonight with the one pitching matchup that wasn’t decidedly in their favor gives me hope that they can get another one off Cleveland and pick up the pace.

After Jason Kipnis tagged Steven Matz for a home run in the second, J.D. Davis responded with a two run jack of his own to give the Mets a 2-1 lead. But the Indians tied it at 2-2 in the fourth and things got tense into the sixth. That’s when Oscar Mercado showed solidarity with the recently incarcerated Luis Castillo by dropping an easy fly ball. (Full disclosure, Mercado is basically a center fielder playing left field, but … yeah.) The Mets made him pay as Michael Conforto gave the Mets the lead with a two run homer of Shane Bieber and the horses were loose.

The Mets touched up the Indians’ pen for four more in the seventh as Amed Rosario and Joe Panik drove in runs with singles, and Pete Alonso put it out of reach with a two run double to center field on a pitch that he had to go out and get on the outer half, yet still have enough brute strength to put it into the left-center field gap. The best part about the Mets opening it up is that Seth Lugo got to sit down and take a breather after he was up in the bullpen in the bottom of the sixth.

Rajai Davis (who I confess I had no idea was back with the club until I saw his name at the bottom of the lineup … and I thought for a second “wait a minute … they just can’t change J.D.’s position in the lineup like that what the hell did Manfred change now”) put a capper on the evening with an RBI double in the eighth to finish off the Mets’ 9-2 victory over the Tribe. The next two games feature Marcus Stroman and Noah Syndergaard vs second year pitcher Adam Plutko and rookie Aaron Civale. One more win in the next two picks up the pace by a game in the quest to go from 84 to 87. Two more? Dare to dream.

Today’s Hate List

1. Justin Bieber
2. Justin Upton
3. B.J. Upton
4. Melvin Upton
5. Bob Melvin