Some things in baseball just give you chills.
Welcome back, @Starlingmart! 🧡💙 pic.twitter.com/jMOhHUbqpZ
— New York Mets (@Mets) May 21, 2022
It was the first pitch he saw since the passing of his grandmother, who raised him since the age of nine. Maybe it’s all just a random confluence of events. Or maybe somebody is sending a message that they’re safe and loved on the other side. Whatever you believe, it’s a moment in time that can’t be denied of the emotion attached to it. I other words … damn.
Also, in a different corner of the world, that home run gave the Mets a 2-0 lead in the first off German Marquez, who in the past has looked very good against the Mets but in the first two innings today the Mets were getting softball swings off him. Patrick Mazeika added a two run double in the second as Marquez gave up five hits in the first two innings, but settled in afterwards.
Speaking of random confluence of events, three of the four Mets pitchers made their Coors Field debuts in Game 1 of the DH. Drew Smith you understand. But in the long careers of Carlos Carrasco and Seth Lugo they have never pitched in Coors Field, which seems a little weird. Perhaps in past seasons, managers didn’t want to make Lugo work extra hard because of his arm problems, and they didn’t want to overextend his ligaments. (Coors Field tends to make pitchers throw their off-speed stuff out of necessity.) For Carrasco to have missed Coors Field since his debut in 2009 just seems like dumb luck. Perhaps if you asked Cookie, he would tell you it’s good luck.
But here’s the thing: They were excellent today. Carrasco gave up seven hits in 5 and 1/3 innings, and most importantly didn’t walk anybody. The one run he gave up was an inherited runner that Adam Ottavino let score … you know, the pitcher who pitched at Coors Field 181 times. (Also, the one who walks around barefoot to “connect with the earth“.) And Lugo pitched two scoreless innings to close the game out with a 5-1 Mets victory. Two pitchers never having experienced the lunacy of Coors Field pitching after a damn snowstorm could have been a disaster. But they held up very well.
Hopefully the Mets can continue to fatten up on the carcass of the Rockies with Trevor Williams heading up what will surely be a bullpen night in Denver.
Today’s Game One Hate List
1. Josh Donaldson
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