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 last thing the Mets needed was to go into the Yankees series losing 3-of-4 to San Diego (as decent as the Padres are this season.) The narratives made up by Andy Martino would have been just too depressing and annoying.
Dinelson Lamet returned from the IL for this Monday wraparound finale, and was hit around a bit. Jeff McNeil hit a one out double, and he was brought home by Michael Conforto with a two out single to make it 1-0. San Diego tied it off Marcus Stroman in the third with a solo home run by Franchy Cordero, but Conforto tagged Limet again with a two run HR to make it 3-1. Good thing, because Stroman was worked hard by the Padres lineup all day. He got out of a bases loaded one-out jam in the fourth when he got Jurickson Profar to ground into a double play, and then in the fifth he gave up a lead-off walk to Cordero to start the frame, and then a ringing RBI double to pinch hitter Josh Naylor to make it 3-2. But Stroman somehow worked around it when he struck out Manny Machado and Eric Hosmer to end the inning. Stroman was lifted after five as he worked harder than usual on a very humid day.
So this means a bullpen game, and you can pretty much figure out that this was going to be a wild game. Robert Gsellman gave up a couple of runs in the 6th, but the Mets tied it off of Matt Strahm on a dinger by Amed Rosario. Dellin Betances gave up a two run HR to Manny Machado to make it 7-5, which put the Mets right in the crosshairs of a series loss to the Padres.
But the Mets got to Emilio Pagan in the 8th. Robinson Cano led off with a single, and Pagan walked J.D. Davis. With no lefties coming up, Pagan was asked to hang in. Wilson Ramos followed with a single to drive in Cano to make it 7-6. After striking out Rosario, Pagan got to face pinch hitter Yoenis Cespedes. It was so obvious that he was pitching around him that Cespedes didn’t even bother cocking his bat after ball 2. After the Cespedes walk, the Padres brought in Drew Pomeranz hoping that he could get out a couple of lefties to get through the inning.
He didn’t even get through the first one.
Brandon Nimmo worked the count 3-2 and Pomeranz, knowing that Nimmo likes to work out walks here and there, tried to sneak strike three by him with a fastball on the outside corner. But he left it middle-middle, and Nimmo drove it to left center for a two run single to give the Mets an 8-7 lead which they would not relinquish. Edwin Diaz shut down the side in the 9th to give the Mets perhaps their most satisfying split of the season to date.
(And it was especially satisfying as the Mets were lucky to get this one in before the skies opened up.)
The Mets are now 50-41 eaded to a showdown with the Yankees, who are having some injury issues and chasing the Rays in the A.L. East. The Mets, meanwhile, are still keeping a death grip on a wild card spot while waiting to see if the Braves are going to obliterate everyone and acquire Kris Bryant. But until then, let’s enjoy hearing everyone tell us that games against the Yankees are just like any other game.
Today’s Hate List
- Yankees
- Yankees
- Yankees
- Yankees
- Yankees
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