Railings, Firings, Lats, Rats, Raccoons and Wonder Woman: Just an Average Week in Mets Land
Perhaps the worm is turning, or the nightmare is just being depending on how Jacob deGrom's MRI comes back. Sunday was the culmination of a season's worth of drama in one week for the New York Mets. It started on Sunday night, with the Mets winning on a rail. The next day saw the firing of hitting coach Chilli Davis as the Mets began a four-game series in St. Louis.
After escaping Philadelphia, with a series win against the Phillies, the Mets went to Busch Stadium for a four-game set with the Cardinals. It started poorly. The Mets had a 5-2 lead but lost 6-5 after a Nolan Arenado home run tied the game. Luis Rojas kept Joey Lucchesi in the game, and he gave up another run that proved to be the winning run. The Mets bullpen came on and pitched strong as the bats failed. After the game, the decision to fire Davis was announced, with Hugh Quattlebaum being named the new hitting coach. I wonder if his friends call him Donnie?
The next day was rained out, as Jacob deGrom was scratched and underwent an MRI that revealed an inflamed lat muscle. Playing a doubleheader on Wednesday, the Mets were again lethargic in Game 1, losing 4-1 as Marcus Stroman had some bad luck with a Francisco Lindor error leading to two runs, as the Mets bats were feeble again. Especially Lindor, who in the midst of an 0-for-27 stretch. The second game went considerably better as the Mets went with a bullpen game, while Lindor got a much-needed game of rest. The replaceMets did the job as Kevin Pillar, Jonathan Pillar, and Tomas Nido had big hits, a 7-2 win.
The Mets would lead St. Louis with a split as Taijuan Walker was brilliant in a 4-1 win. The Mets won the game but had their difficulties in clutch hitting as 17 men were left on base. Fortunately, the Cardinals' pitching was all over the place as the Mets scored three of their four runs on bases-loaded walks. The Mets road trip was an overall success as they were 4-3 and coming home with a .500 record.
Coming home, the Mets began a five-game homestand against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Things looked bleak early, as David Peterson allowed three runs and was chased in the second inning. The D-Backs made it 4-0 in the third inning with a run against Robert Gsellman. The Mets bullpen was solid the remainder of the evening as they kept Arizona at four runs. Things could have fallen apart in the seventh inning as Francisco Lindor, and Jeff McNeil squabbled in the dugout. Lindor came out and hit a two-run home run that changed the atmosphere in the dugout and Citi Field and could have saved the Mets season. The Mets would win the game 5-4 in the tenth inning, as Patrick Mazeika plated Pete Alonso with a swinging bunt.
The Mets had planned to go with a bullpen game on Saturday and won again 4-2 as Jeff McNeil provided the power with a home run, while Francisco Lindor showed his speed and hustle, scoring after stealing second as the ball caromed into no-man's land in centerfield. The Mets won the game 4-2, as Trevor May earned his first save with the Mets. However, Jeurys Familia got the biggest outs, pitching around bad luck and bad fielding to keep the Diamondbacks off the board.
Mother's Day has always been bad for the Mets, especially in recent years. The Mets looking for a sweep had Jacob deGrom on the hill. The Mets ace who missed a start Tuesday did not have his best stuff but set down the first 12 batters. The Mets, meanwhile, scored a pair of runs in the third inning, as Jacob deGrom laying down a perfect bunt, helped his own cause by beating the throw to first. Francisco Lindor is now starting to look like an All-Star drove in the first run with a sac-fly. Things got dicey in the fifth as the Diamondbacks loaded the bases, but deGrom limited the damage, allowing just one run.
In the sixth inning, rain began to fall as dark clouds surrounded Citi Field. Jacob deGrom walked to the mound and threw two warm-up pitches, and asked to be taken out. His back and side were tightening up, leading to another MRI. The Mets will review the MRI on Monday and announce their plans. Hopefully, it will not be too bad, as the Mets will need Jacob deGrom to be healthy all season if they plan to compete. The rains fell harder as Miguel Castro allowed the first two runners to reach, but as he has all season, Castro buckled down and retired the next three batters.
The Mets scored on a bases-loaded walk in the sixth, as Jake Mazeika got his second career RBI. Dom Smith drove in a run in the seventh inning, as the Mets stretched the lead to 4-1. In the eighth inning, Asdrubal Cabrera homered to get Arizona back within two runs. As Jacob Barnes struggled after winning a long battle with Pavin Smith, Luis Rojas decided to call Edwin Diaz to get a five-out save. Diaz hit Josh Meeter but induced a double play to end the inning. Diaz was straight filthy in the ninth, striking out the first two batters before getting Nick Ahmed to pop up. The ball fell in front of Jonathan Villar and was somehow ruled a hit. Had this been other years, a two-run home run was sure to follow. However, Edwin Diaz blew away Daulton Varshow to end the game as the Mets completed the sweep of Arizona with a 4-2 win.
It was a good week for the Mets, as they end it in first place at 16-13. The Mets bullpen has been beyond fantastic this year, as the Mets see the Edwin Diaz that was in Seattle. The trumpets seem to have been working magic as Diaz slowly is redeeming himself from his past failures. The buzz created by "Narco" is great with 8,000 fans; I can only imagine what it will be like once Citi Field is allowed to be filled to capacity again. Jeurys Familia is looking like the reliever that got the Mets to the World Series in 2015. Trevor May has been nearly unhittable since that disastrous first game, while Aaron Loup and Jacob Barnes each have pitched well. Even Robert Gsellman has Gsolid.
If the Mets make the postseason, their win, Friday could be the turning point. Down four runs, the Mets had their biggest comeback in two seasons. However, the McNeil-Lindor incident went from potentially being a big story that clouded an already ugly start to a funny footnote, as Francisco Lindor and Jeff McNeil disarmed the incident with the story of the rat and raccoon. It is obvious something happened in the tunnel. The full story will come out one day, but the Mets coming out of it with a sweep is a character-building trait. The incident was also followed by a game-tying home run by Lindor that seemed to break him out of his season-long funk. This home run also helped to disarm the incident as it helped everyone, fans and players alike, breathe easier. Had Lindor popped up and the Mets lost, the fight would have been the headline, the rat and raccoon story would not have hit with the same tone, and things would start looking like that 1992 team.
Looking ahead, the Mets have a day off on Monday, a much-needed rest bit for an overworked bullpen that carried the team over the weekend. Now the focus shifts to the health of Jacob deGrom. After his inflamed lat muscle forced him to miss one start, he will likely go on the ten-day injured list if only for precaution. We will know more today when the Mets release a statement on the MRI. The only thing the Mets can hope is that is only ten days because we have seen that David Peterson is unreliable and Carlos Carasco and Noah Syndergaard are at least six weeks away from returning.