Hello, Sandy? I’ve got a guy for you. He’s 37, used to be good, cheap and he has a marketable name.
Sign him!
If you haven’t heard, the Mets signed free agent Jose Bautista yesterday. He actually landed at La Guardia Airport at 6:15 last night, and was somehow in the starting lineup at Citi Field for a 7:10 start. Pretty impressive.
For some reason, the Mets did not put Jose Reyes on a flight, and he is still on the team. More on that later.
Zack Wheeler, who is coming off an awful start against Toronto, got the start against Miami, who he always seems to pitch well against. That trend would continue, though he did run into trouble in the 2nd inning.
Brian Anderson led off with a double. Derek Dietrich and Miguel Rojas followed with a single, making the score 1-0. Lewis Brinson lined out to Jose Bautista for the first out of the inning. The pitcher, Caleb Smith was up next.
Smith attempted to lay down a sacrifice bunt, but popped the ball up. Jose Reyes fielded the ball, looked at every base and then fired a ball into the dirt to first which loaded the bases. Miguel Prado popped up and the ball was fielded cleanly, and there were 2 outs.
Just when you thought the Mets could get out of the inning, J.T Realmuto stepped to the plate. He hit a ball that deflected off the glove of Zack Wheeler. The ball then glanced off the leg of Asdrubal Cabrera, before going into center field, scoring 2 runs. 3-0. Justin Bour struck out to end the inning, but the damage was done.
The Mets would get a run back in the bottom of the inning. Jose Bautista, in his first at bat for the Mets, doubled into the corner. Jose Reyes grounded out, but Bautista was able to advance to third. That may have been the most productive thing Reyes has done all season. A Tomas Nido sacrifice fly put the Mets on the board. 3-1.
That would be all the offense the Mets could muster.
Marlins’ lefty Caleb Smith kept the Mets quiet over 6 ²/³ innings of work. He allowed one run on just three hits. He walked two and struck out 8. The Mets offensive woes continue.
A.J Ramos allowed a 2 run homerun in the top of the 8th to Derek Dietrich, making the score 5-1. That would be the final score, and the Mets winning streak comes to an end at 4.
The Mets did threaten in the bottom of that inning, putting runners at the corners with 1 out, but an Asdrubal Cabrera double play ended the inning.
Zack Wheeler was saddled with the loss, but pitched very well. He went 6 innings and allowed 3 runs (1 earned) on 7 hits. He didn’t allow a walk and struck out 9. He couldn’t work around a Jose Reyes error in the 2nd, but swept another Reyes throwing error in the 5th under the rug.
Can someone explain to me why Jose Reyes is on this team? He hasn’t helped the team on the base paths. He has been awful at the plate. Now he’s throwing balls all around the diamond. Is he really that valuable as a mentor? Come on now. Zack Wheeler has a higher wrC than Reyes this season.
Jacob deGrom will pitch the series finale. Dan Straily will pitch for Miami.
