We’ve all been depressed about what’s going on in the world regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, and baseball has become collateral damage. The 2020 baseball season is set to begin in late July. Until then, you can read this blog in the alternate: the one where global pandemics were a myth and baseball was around no matter what. We’re imagining the 2020 Mets season as if everything was normal. Enjoy these works of fiction.
The problem with playing the Yankees is that they could lose their number 1 offensive weapon, have their number two weapon be physically compromised, and lose their number 2 starter to elbow irritation, and they’d still be a dangerous outfit.
That’s what the Mets faced on Tuesday with Aaron Judge on the shelf with bruised ribs, Giancarlo Stanton in the lineup but working through a bum shoulder, and Masahiro Tanaka on the IL with elbow woes. A wounded rat in the corner which is two games behind the Tampa Bay Rays, who seem to get stronger by the day. But the Yankees will always have enough players to get them through a season.
The Mets came in smelling blood, but they had to face Gerrit Cole who seems to be that rare New York athlete who justifies a big contract right from jump (oh sorry, rare relative to the Mets who also play in New York.) Cole’s opposite number on this night would be Michael Wacha, which is probably the embodiment of bringing a knife to a gun fight (I’m using a lot of violent references these days … I blame my societal upbringing.) Wacha struggled, but for the first three innings his defense bailed him out. Gary Sanchez drove one to the gap with two on and two out, but Brandon Nimmo made a great running catch up against the wall to bail out Wacha. Same situation in the second, DJ LeMahieu sent a screaming liner towards right field, but Pete Alonso dove head long and snared the liner for the third out.
Third inning, Wacha walked the bases loaded with one out to bring up Luke Voit. After a visit from Jeremy Hefner, Wacha pitched carefully to Voit but still gave him one to crush, and crush it he did. But Amed Rosario, in what might be the best double play you’ll see all season, snared the one hop bad hop screamer (111 mph exit velo) while on a head long dive, flipped a backhand throw to Robinson Cano for the first out, who in turn sent a screamer to Alonso who scooped it for the double play to end the inning and save Wacha’s bacon. At that point you thought that for the first time since 1986, the baseball gods were un-ironically on our side.
Nah. They got to Wacha in the fourth. Mike Tauchman sent a double to the gap to start the inning before Wacha walked Gio Urshela. Clint Frazier drove home Tauchman with an RBI single, and at 100 pitches, Luis Rojas had enough. So out went Wacha, and in came Chasen Shreve, sent away by the Yankees for Voit, and now asked to face LeMahieu, Brett Gardner, and Gleyber Torres. Shreve got the first two hitters with no issue, but damn you, you three batter minimum rule. Torres sent the next one flying through the window of the oncoming 4 train to make it 4-0 Yankees.
The Mets got to Gerrit Cole in the sixth as Nimmo and Jeff McNeil reached on infield hits. Alonso lined a single into right center to score Nimmo to make it 4-1. Michael Conforto’s sac fly made it 4-2. But Cole got out of it as he struck out Cano and got DH Yoenis Cespedes to fly out to the wall in left field. J.D. Davis would lead off the 5th with a solo home run to the short porch in right to make it 4-3 and the Mets were humming.
But Torres struck again in the 8th off Dellin Betances with a base hit to make it 5-3, and Giancarlo Stanton’s sac fly made it 6-3 to seemingly put the Mets out of business. But Aroldis Chapman made the game extra wacky by walking the bases loaded in the top of the ninth before giving up a two run single to Alonso to make it 6-5. but Chapman struck out Conforto for the first out, and got Cespedes to chase a slider for the 4-6-3 double play to end it. That combined with the Braves victory over Pittsburgh put the Mets eight games back of Atlanta, but they still hold a wild card spot. Still, no matter how much the players may say these games are just like any other, the Mets can ill afford to lose two to the Yankees, just for practical purposes alone. The Braves aren’t losing to the horrible Pirates any time soon, and the Mets have to play with that assumption in mind.
Today’s Hate List
- Aroldis Chapman
- Gleyber Torres
- DJ LeMahieu
- Giancarlo Stanton
- Gerrit Cole
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