One way to forget about a blowout loss?
A blowout win!
Baseball fans got concerning news this morning, as essentially everybody on the Marlins’ roster tested positive for Covid-19. Miami’s game with Baltimore was cancelled tonight. Additionally, Philadelphia, who played the Marlins over the weekend had their game against the Yankees cancelled.
Just like that, we were reminded how tenuous the plan to play an entire season truly was.
The Met game was not cancelled, so there was baseball to be played in Boston.
Last night, we focused on the Mets’ rotation. That is certainly the most pressing issue, but there are other areas which need improvement.
The offense was M.I.A in their opening series against Atlanta, but the Mets are going to hit. The Mets looked lost at the plate in last night’s debacle, but this is a terrific lineup.
I don’t know if we should praise the Met offense, or chalk it up to just taking advantage of abysmal Boston pitching, but the Amazin’s scored some runs tonight!
Michael Conforto! I gotta tell ya, it really makes me angry when he is dropped towards the bottom of the lineup. So, it has brought me great joy to watch him rake against lefty pitchers this season.
In the second inning, Conforto went deep for the first time this season, giving the Mets a 2-0 lead.
In the third, Pete Alonso got into the mix, hitting a missile over the monster to double the Met lead to 4-0. 116 MPH exit velocity!
That’s what I’m talking about! Could we continue this trend in the 4th inning? Dominic Smith says yes! This three run blast put the Mets up by a touchdown.
Dominic Smith was the designated hitter tonight. I’m not quite sure why you’d put Smith in the DH spot. But Smith has brought his hot hitting from spring into the regular season.
Jeff McNeil had two hits tonight which was certainly nice to see. Wilson Ramos had two hits as well. In fact, everyone in the lineup had a hit tonight besides one player. I’ll let you guess who that was.
That was all the offense the Mets would muster tonight. Would it be enough?
We’ll let that graphic tell the story. Look at the velocity! Michael Wacha‘s main problem after his shoulder issues was the speed in which he was throwing his fastball. That’s a huge concern, as his best pitch is his changeup which obviously needs to play off the heater.
Last season, Wacha was averaging 93.0 MPH on his fastball. Tonight he ramped that up to almost 95. When he does that, he gets swings like this on the change!
Fantastic debut by Wacha. He surrendered a solo shot to Mitch Moreland in the fourth, which was the only damage allowed. He stranded two runners in the fifth before giving way to a guy you may have forgotten was on the Met roster.
Chasen Shreve! He is on the Mets and was the pitcher in the sixth and seventh innings. Xander Bogaerts took him deep to right center which cut the Mets’lead to 7-2, but was perfect aside from that.
We’ll take it! Anyone who can come out of this pen and get outs is certainly a welcome sight.
That brings us to the 8th inning. Enter Jeurys Familia. So far this year, Familia has looked great. Tonight was a little dicey for him.
Walk, double, groundout, single. Just like that, it was a 7-4 game and Seth Lugo got the call. Lugo retired the side without allowing any further damage. Did you expect any differently from Lugo?
7-4. Who would pitch the ninth? Would Lugo remain in the game for a 4 out save? Or would they bring in the guy who we traded the world for?
Lugo. Good call.
Seth Lugo. That’s a man who does his job. He was handed a lead and protected it. Crazy right? Two ground outs to second and a ground out to short in the ninth and the “Ballgame is over!”
Lugo is money!
Tomorrow is a question mark in regards to the Met pitching? Seth Lugo won’t be available tomorrow so that’s not ideal.
Maybe the Mets should make a franchise altering trade for a closer? Kidding, kidding. Way to bounce back after a rough loss.
We’ll see you tomorrow!
