Game #73: White Sox 5, Mets 4

Gordon Beckham offered his guests the game. The guests turned around and said, "No thanks, you keep it."

David Wright tied the game in the top of the 9th when Beckham dropped a confusing Daniel Murphy pinch-hit infield popup that would have ended the game, but LaTroy Hawkins's error in the bottom of the frame opened the door for an Alexei Ramirez walk-off single. The result: blunders cancel out, Mets fall to White Sox 5-4.

The Bad Stuff:

• After the unexpected tie on a flyball that three Pale Hose got under and couldn't corral (Luis Castillo revisited, anyone?), Chicago rallied to successfully pick up the pieces.
• Jeff Keppinger singled on LaTroy Hawkins's second pitch to start the bottom of the 9th, then Hawkins mishandled Beckham's sac bunt, putting the winning run on second base with no out. Tyler Flowers grounded into a force out, then Alejandro De Aza popped out for what should have been the inning-ender. But the error loomed large as Ramirez singled to win the ballgame.
• Zack Wheeler had to have his offense bail him out of his second start, as he proved to be human with a four-run, four-hit, three-walk performance in 5.1 innings, striking out just one on 109 pitches (66 strikes).
• Getting what may be one of his final chances with Daniel Murphy's day off,  Jordany Valdepin went 0-3 with two strikeouts against White Sox starter Chris Sale (who struck out 13 New Yorkers in eight innings). Don't be surprised if we never see him start in a Mets uniform again.

The Good Stuff:

• The Mets took an early 2-0 lead when Eric Young led off the game with a double and came home on Marlon Byrd's sac fly three batters later. Byrd later scored on an RBI single by Josh Satin.
• Andrew Brown hit his third home run of the season in the top of the 5th to give the Mets a temporary 3-2 lead.
• Carlos Torres and Josh Edgin kept New York in the game with 2.2 combined scoreless innings.

Final Analysis:
Zack Wheeler will experience growing pains. That's a given. He'll get better as the season goes on. As for Jordany Valdespin, it's been all pains and no growing this year. We could all put up with his antics if he was hitting better than .202. But he's not.

All in all, the team that deserved to win tonight's game won tonight's game. As a Mets fan I wish it had gone our way, but it certainly would not have felt like a victory. Justice was done.

Baseball is a game of justice: it has rules, and they are followed to the best of their ability. This is more than I can say about democracy in some parts of America. An egregious breach of law was carried out tonight on the floor of the Texas State Senate. I will let you, dear reader, look more into the issue should you choose. But if what seems to have happened tonight is confirmed, it is a sad, sad day for American democracy, indeed.

MM

*UPDATE* - It did not, in fact, pass. Constitutional crisis averted.