Honey Chased By Moose Rump

So the good news: Max Scherzer was Max Scherzer. In his return from an oblique injury, he struck out 11 batters in six innings and gave up no runs on no walks and two hits. His fastball was on point, his off-speed stuff was great for a guy that missed six weeks of the show, and the best part was probably his mind. The Reds were looking fastball and getting sliders, and vice versa. Welcome the f*** back, Max!!!

Oh yeah, Max is back.

Scherzer strikes out the side in the 5th, and has set down 5 straight via the K pic.twitter.com/WvRu3GUkSJ

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 6, 2022

Now the bad news: The Mets wasted Max’s gem. They faced Nick Lodolo, who might as well have spelled his name Lololol the way he had the Internet laughing at the Mets’ lineup. He only went 4 and 2/3’s but when you saw his lefty side-winding delivery, you knew the Mets were barely going to touch him tonight, getting three hits and three walks but striking out eight times. The problem was that the Mets got the Reds bullpen for 4 and 1/3 innings and did just as bad against then, getting three hits and not reaching base otherwise.

It was ultimately the reason why they lost, but 2022 Seth Lugo morphing into a combination of 2022 Chasen Shreve and 1999 Kenny Rogers didn’t help. (And by the way, the return of Scherzer meant a farewell to Shreve, who once again proved the Brett Myers theory correct that “sequels usually suck.” After Joely Rodriguez pitched a scoreless 7th and Tommy Hunter weaved in and out of trouble in the 8th, Lugo gave up a fly ball to Tommy Pham that upon replay looked like Starling Marte either lost it for a brief second or got altered by where he thought the wall was, and the ball dropped just fair for a leadoff double. Then, after intentionally walking Tyler Naquin, Lugo lost Donovan Solano after falling behind 3-0 immediately to load the bases. Then after falling behind Mike Moustakas 2-1, Lugo came into him and Moustakas hit a sac fly to end the game.

But it was the bats that disappeared for nine innings which doomed this one when it came down to it, especially for the 4 and 1/3 where they didn’t have to face a lefty with a release point somewhere in Kentucky. It was all made worse by the Braves who, it is apparent that, will never lose again. Scherzer provided promise for the future, but it still doesn’t take away the bad taste of the present. When you’re the ace of the Mets, you have to assume the requisite amount of run support, obviously.

Welcome the f*** back, Max.

Today’s Hate List

The Reds Ripoff Cracked Out Mascot …

THIS IS BLASPHEMY!!!!! Take care of this immediately, @MrMet!!!

(photo credit @fredneurohr) pic.twitter.com/SI5y0bHHfO

— Metstradamus (@Metstradamus) July 6, 2022