R Train To Hell

I wanted to say that Terry Collins was at fault for using Hansel Robles for a second inning of work. But I did some research and Robles has had plenty of outings this season where he went two scoreless innings of work. I also wanted to blame Collins for not paying attention to reverse splits. But Aaron Hicks, who hit the game winning home run in Game 1 of the 2017 Mets/Yankees series of disappointment, is a lefty. So I can’t blame Collins for this one. Nor can I defend Hansel Robles, whose gopher ball of doom meant to go inside but drifted towards the middle of the plate and … I wouldn’t say it screamed “hit me”. It was more like a polite request.

Hicks did, and the Yankees took the first game of the series by a score of 4-2. Gary Sanchez put the icing on the cake with a solo home run off of Erik “Goopy” Goeddel, and rendered solo homers by Curtis Granderson and Yoenis Cespedes moot (except to any team that still wants to trade for Granderson). Rafael Montero, when he wasn’t nibbling the hell out of Sanchez in the fourth inning, had a decent game. He gave up one run on a Sanchez sac fly which bailed Montero out because it was ball four and would have loaded the bases, and a second run on an Aaron Judge home run. But that was it in six innings, along with five hits and two walks. The outing, besides confusing us as to whether there’s something there with Montero or not, was wasted not only by the Mets bullpen but by the Yankees bullpen, which shut the Mets lineup down after Luis Cessa left the game with a right rhomboid injury. (Cessa was an ex-Met farmhand so it would make sense that he would injure a body part that nobody has ever heard of with Ray Ramirez in the building.)

Because the main event of Rafael Montero vs Luis Cessa turned out to be, as expected, a 4-2 pitcher’s duel, it would stand to reason that the undercard of Jacob deGrom vs Sonny Gray will end 15-12, because baseball makes no sense. And because Collins will no doubt find an excuse to put Robles in the game again because his arm hasn’t quite fallen off yet after only appearing in five games this month. Then at least I’ll have my excuse to blame Collins and not Robles. Screw it, I’ll just wind up blaming them both anyway. Along with Travis d’Arnaud because blaming d’Arnaud is fun.

But at least if the Mets get swept, it won’t be because of anybody they traded to the Yankees because … you know.

Today’s Hate List

1. Chad Green
2. David Robertson
3. Aaron Hicks
4. Aaron Judge
5. Aaron Boone