The Mets would have loved to win Game 1 of their first doubleheader of the 2018 season. They had Jacob deGrom pitching, and they knew that they would have to piece together their pitching in Game 2 of the twin-bill.
Well, the Mets’ bullpen handed the first game to the Braves, and it was up to PJ Conlon and the beleaguered Met relievers to salvage the day.
After an extensive rain delay which pushed the first pitch until after 10 pm, there was finally baseball to be played. Brandon Nimmo would ground out to get the proceedings started, but then Michael Conforto single followed by a Jay Bruce double put the Mets in business. Adrian Gonzalez singled home Conforto, and then Jay Bruce scored after Brandon McCarthy threw wildly trying to field Kevin Plawecki’s ground ball. 2-0 Mets.
The inning ended abruptly as Jose Reyes hit into a double play. Of course he did.
The Braves would strike in the bottom of the second on Kurt Suzuki’s solo home run. 2-1. That was Suzuki’s 7th of the year, and I feel like they have all come against the Mets.
Mets leadoff hitter, Brandon Nimmo, who should definitely not lose any playing time when Yoenis Cespedes returns put the Mets back up by 2 with his 5th home run of the year. 3-1.
Has anyone ever heard of a shutdown inning? Ender Inciarte got the bottom of the 3rd started with a base hit to right field. Ozzie Albies hit a ball past the third baseman Jose Reyes for a double which put runners on second and third. Jose Reyes has stated publicly he is not comfortable at third base, yet they put him there anyway. Maybe their inconceivable love affair with Reyes will make someone else demand a trade this season. See: Asdrubal Cabrera in 2017. Sorry. Back to the game.
Freddie Freeman singled to center field which scored Albies and Inciarte, and the game was tied. 3-3. Nick Markakis was up next and he hit a ball right at Jay Bruce. The not so spry right fielder misjudged the play and the ball sailed over his head which put runners on second and third again. That was the end of the night for PJ Conlon and Hansel Robles appeared.
Kurt Suzuki hit a sacrifice fly and Freddie Freeman came home with the go ahead run. 4-3 Braves. That moved Nick Markakis to third base, so the Mets brought their infield in. Everyone except Jose Reyes. He stayed put behind the base at third, because well, he’s not too comfortable playing third base. I wish I was joking! Hansel Robles escaped without allowing any further damage.
In the top of the 6th, Amed Rosario helped the Mets retake the lead as his RBI single drove home Jose Reyes and Kevin Plawecki. 5-4 Mets.
Please? Just one shutdown inning?! Nope. The newly inserted Robert Gsellman worked himself into a huge jam, but to his credit, limited the damage to just one run. Nick Markakis singled home Ryan Flaherty to tie the game. 5-5.
In the top of the 7th (to keep our shutdown inning theme going) we got a possible glimpse of the future. The future of our middle infield that is. Luis Guillorme singled home Jay Bruce and Adrian Gonzalez and the Mets had a 7-5 lead. Amed Rosario then singled home Kevin Plawecki for the second time increasing the Mets advantage to 8-5.
That would be the final score as Jacob Rhame and Jeurys Familia fired 3 perfect innings to close out the game. (Wait so Familia can pitch two innings, he just can’t pitch one inning in 2 consecutive games?)
Well, anyways, good win.
How about Luis Guillorme? 4-9 in the doubleheader, along with some tremendous defense. If his bat continues to progress (play him!) we would have a really nice player on our hands.
Amed Rosario continued his good play with a career high 3 RBIs.
Welcome back Kevin Plawecki! He returned to the lineup with 3 hits. A catching duo of Plawecki and Mesoraco might be a nice surprise for Met fans going forward.
Well, we had a nice end to the day, as the Mets were able to salvage a split of the doubleheader. Steven Matz will pitch for the Mets in the 3rd game of the series.
