The quintessential crazy Mets game in San Diego ends with Lenny Dykstra chucking Gary Templeton out at the plate, then John Gibbons turning around and throwing it to Howard Johnson to get Tim Flannery trying to reach third base on the play as the Mets would seal a 6-5 extra inning win.
Friday’s game may not have been as crazy, although it did go extra innings, and it involved a play at third base that similarly caused you to ponder what the hell just happened.
Tommy Pham baits Ha-Seong Kim into a basreunning blunder 🙌 pic.twitter.com/VgBh6Og2YL
— SNY (@SNYtv) July 8, 2023
Tommy Pham’s perfect throw upped the crazy level of this game, and that’s saying a lot because, you know, Daniel Ichirogelbach had two freakin’ infield hits. Juan Soto followed that with a double which officially made the above mistake by former Kiwoom Hero Ha Seong Kim a blunder of useful proportions. Instead, the game remained tied 3-3 going into the 10th inning thanks to Drew Smith getting Soto to ground out to end the 9th with a runner on second. It was a matchup that had me terrified, but Smith got the job done and on we went to the 10th.
That’s where the Mets, who were 14-3 in extra inning games since the start of 2022, went to work. Jeff McNeil’s first pitch double made it 4-3, Francisco Alvarez’s RBI single made it 5-3, and Francisco Lindor’s third hit of the ninth drove in two runs which seemed to be window dressing. But after David Robertson gave up a two run dinger to Manny Machado in the bottom of the 10th, Lindor’s hit became the most important hit of the game.
The Mets have now won their last six games after a 7-5 extra inning win thanks to Lindor, Vogelbach, and Kim thinking he could run on Tommy Pham with the play in front of him. Francisco Alvarez also had four hits, and the middle of the bullpen was solid, led by Smith’s improbable outcome against Soto, but Adam Ottavino also got four big outs. Also, the Padres bullpen without Josh Hader (who was unavailable after pitching the last three against the Angeles) is like lying in a cloud of marshmallows and lined with creamy nougat. They probably won’t have the luxury of avoiding Hader tomorrow, but Blake Snell is only going six innings beecause managers live to torture him, and someone else is going to have to pitch. So as long as David Peterson continues to figure it out, the Mets have a real shot at 7 straight as they steam into the All Star Break.
And you know what that means? It means that you’re going to get two months of me talking myself into the hope of grabbing the final wild card spot. Most likely, it’ll end in this team kicking me in the nuts like it has done every year since 1987. But for now, I’m going to enjoy lying in that marshmallow cloud. It’s all I got, so enjoy the ride.
Today’s Hate List
David Peralta. How dare you.
David Peralta chased Eduardo Escobar off the field with a fake cat 💀
(via davidperalta.6 / IG) pic.twitter.com/iglr8yt8pN
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) July 8, 2023
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