Game #138: Mets 5, Braves 2

Looking for some momentum on an actual getaway day, New York turned to its old reliable and was rewarded mightily.

Home runs by Andrew Brown and Lucas Duda(!) backed Dillon Gee's steady-as-she-goes outing as the Mets salvaged the final game from the Braves 5-2.

The Good Stuff:

• Dillon Gee turned in a Solid Seven with a run and five hits against, walking one and striking out five on 102 pitches.
• Andrew Brown gave Gee an early lead with a towering two-run homer in the 1st inning.
• Lucas Duda homered in the 3rd, one of his three hits on the day to make it his best game since returning to the lineup.
• Daniel Murphy and Justin Turner had two hits and a run each.

The Bad Stuff:

• Vic Black didn't impress in his New York debut, surrendering a solo home run to Freddie Freeman in the bottom of the 8th to give Atlanta some semblance of life.

Final Analysis:
It has gotten to the point where the Mets don't have to worry about whether Gee will give them a quality start or not. At this point, they can be all but assured he will give them a chance to win the ballgame.

New York has the day off before they travel from one Native American-themed mascot to the other as they hit Cleveland to take on the Indians.

MM

Game #132: Mets 11, Phillies 3

What, you were expecting anything less from a lineup of Young-Murphy-Brown-Duda-Turner-den Dekker-Recker-Quintanilla-Torres?

(NYDailyNews.com)

Home runs by Anthony Recker and Andrew Brown and four hits from Daniel Murphy punctuated a brilliant afternoon for the Mets, who blew away the Phillies 11-3 to salvage a series split.

The Good Stuff:

• In a game filled with offense, these New Yorkers stood out in the box score:
• Eric Young (3-5, 3B, 2 R, 3 RBI)
• Daniel Murphy (4-5, 2 2B, R, SB, 2 RBI)
• Andrew Brown (2-5, SB, HR, 2 RBI)
• Anthony Recker (1-2, 2 BB, HR, 3 R, 2 RBI)
• Carlos Torres, supplied with ample run support (five Harvey Days' worth), earned the win with 6.2 innings of one-run, four hit ball, walking none and striking out six on 95 pitches.
• Matt den Dekker made his much-delayed major league debut to the tune of a run, stolen base, and four putouts in center field.

The Bad Stuff:

• How about the obvious: this would have been Matt Harvey's next start. Ouch.
• Lucas Duda struck out twice in his first start since the beginning of the summer.

Final Analysis:
I don't really know how to explain this...so let's just leave it at a fun anomaly of an afternoon. Carry on.

MM

Game #129: Phillies 2, Mets 1

Not even a win could have relieved the stab to the elbow Mets fans felt collectively today. Fortunately(?) that's not something we had to worry about.

(NYDailyNews.com)

Zack Wheeler pitched great in his first game holding the torch for Matt Harvey, and the Mets offense noticed much too well, completely folding up against Cliff Lee and losing to the Phillies 2-1.

The Harvpocalypse:

• If you're reading this, by now you know, but if by some inexplicable circumstance of fate you're first hearing the news from me, here it is: Matt Harvey has a partial tear of the UCL in his throwing elbow, shutting him down for the rest of the year and possibly requiring Tommy John surgery, which will shut him down for 2014 as well.

The Bad Stuff:

• Next to that story, the Bad Stuff can hardly look that bad, right?
• New York ran into the Cliff Lee of old tonight, as Philadelphia's still ace allowed a run on five hits and a walk in eight stellar innings, striking out seven on a whopping 121 pitches.
• Even Lee can't pitch much past 120, so Jonathon Papelbon was called on to close out the night. The Mets didn't have Jordany Valdespin to save them on this occasion (ever thought you'd read that in a million years?), and Papelbon sat down Daniel Murphy, Josh Satin, and Marlon Byrd 1-2-3 to let out the scant air that remained at Citi Field.

The Good Stuff:

• Zack Wheeler pitched well enough for the win, as usual, tossing 6.2 innings of two-run, five-hit ball and matching Lee's line with a walk and seven strikeouts.
• The Mets took an early lead in the bottom of the 2nd on Marlon Byrd's leadoff double and Andrew Brown's RBI single.

Final Analysis:
We had just begun to walk tall again as Mets fans, and then comes this swift kick in the gut. So what now?

Lest we forget, even if we don't want to be reminded at a time like this, Matt Harvey is just one pitcher. Harvey's UCL may be torn, but Zack Wheeler's isn't. Nor is Dillon Gee's, nor Jenrry Mejia's (yet), nor Jonathon Niese's, nor Rafael Montero's, nor Noah Syndergaard's. So, assuming Harvey will undergo Tommy John surgery, 2014 won't be the shining culmination of years of rebuilding, but we won't be the Marlins either. It'll be closer to resembling the mid-'90s Chicago Bulls during Michael Jordan's crack at baseball than the Bulls after MJ went to Washington. What it also means is if the New York Mets can win in 2014, without the man who seemed destined to become the next incarnation of The Franchise, imagine how good they'll be when he does come back.

MM

Game #122: Padres 4, Mets 3

New catcher, same story on Harvey Day.

Matt Harvey's great start was once again wasted as the Padres tied it in the 8th and won it in the 9th to hand the Mets a 4-3 loss and a disappointing series split.

The Bad Stuff:

• See post-Harvey's departure (i.e. Chris Denorfia's run-scoring single after a double against Gonzalez Germen in the 8th, Will Venable's walk-off homer off Pedro Feliciano in the 9th).
• See also: lack of hitting (i.e. six hits in the whole game, 2-6 with RISP, five left on).
• Travis d'Arnaud was identical on Sunday to his debut on Saturday, going 0-2 with two walks and allowing a passed ball.

The Good Stuff:

• See Matt Harvey, usual outing (i.e. 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 86 P).
• Things looked great at the start when Justin Turner tripled and came home on Marlon Byrd's double.
• Wilmer Flores's sac fly in the 4th doubled Harvey's cushion.
• Omar Quintanilla doubled with two outs in the 7th, forcing Terry Collins to pinch-hit Andrew Brown for Harvey. The moved paid off as Brown blasted a shot off the wall in center field to give the Mets a 3-2 lead.

Final Analysis:
We all act like we're shocked and disappointed at this result of a Matt Harvey start, but to be honest, did we expect anything different? I think I'm more surprised when Harvey does win than when he doesn't. Whatever plagued the New York offense during R.A. Dickey's starts in 2011 is acting in full force against Matt Harvey in 2013. What more is there to say?

MM

Game #115: Mets 9, Diamondbacks 5

New York is used to power pitching, but today they got power from the other side of the plate.

(NYDailyNews.com)

Home runs by Andrew Brown and Wilmer Flores backed Jonathon Niese's solid return as the Mets took the series from the D'backs 9-5.

The Good Stuff:

• Jonathon Niese returned to the mound after his DL stint and was relatively solid for six innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out five on 83 pitches.
• The Mets got four unearned runs in the top of the 1st when Paul Goldschmidt mishandled Mike Baxter's (he's back?) hard groundball with the bases loaded. Another run went on the board in the 3rd when Omar Quintanilla singled home Ike Davis (Baxter was thrown out at the plate on the same play).
• The deciding runs came in the 7th inning when Andrew Brown smashed a pinch-hit three-run homer that made it 8-4.
• Wilmer Flores added one more run in the 9th with his first career home run, a solo shot to opposite field that resulted in the ninth RBI of his week-old career.

The Bad Stuff:

• Eric Young struggled once again at the plate, going 0-4. He had but one hit in the entire Arizona series and is only batting .182 in his last 10 games.

Final Analysis:
It's good to see Jonathon Niese back on the mound. He won't be able to get away with four runs every game, but I think a bit of leeway can be given in this, his first major league start in nearly two months.

Wilmer Flores looks awfully good at the plate, and he's going to make Terry Collins's job hard when David Wright comes back, as Flores can be easily put at first base.

A 5-1 record and series wins against two thorny NL West rivals - I'd say that's a good week to be a Mets fan. Hopefully the West Coast magic can continue in Los Angeles and San Diego this week.

MM

Game #87: Mets 10, Giants 6

Fly away Byrdie, fly away all.

Marlon Byrd's seventh career grand slam provided the final margin for the high-flying Mets, who took down the Giants 10-6 to clinch the series.

The Good Stuff:

• Down 2-0 in the 4th, Andrew Brown singled home the tying runs with the bases loaded, and Omar Quintanilla followed two batters later with the go-ahead base hit.
• San Francisco had tied it by the 6th inning, but Anthony Recker crushed a Barry Zito cutter for a two-run homer to put New York up 5-3.
• The Giants again tied it by the 8th inning, but the Mets put up a five-spot through Daniel Murphy's sac fly and Marlon Byrd's grand slam on Jake Dunning's first pitch. 10-5 Mets, and the Giants would not come back from that deficit.
• The best offensive numbers for the team that pounded 12 hits were:
• David Wright (2-3, 2 BB, 2 R)
• Marlon Byrd (2-4, BB, 2 R, GS, 4 RBI)
• Omar Quintanilla (3-5, R, RBI)

The Bad Stuff:

• Dillon Gee wasn't great in his 6.2 innings, allowing five runs on nine hits and constantly letting the home team back into the game.
• Anthony Recker and Daniel Murphy each had errors for the visitors.

Final Analysis:
At this point I'm sure the Mets are just happy to play a game that didn't go four hours, but that was quite the game to play. Byrd's value continues to rocket as the NY offense finally has found its footing. Great sights to see.

Zack Wheeler returns to face his original franchise this afternoon in the series finale.

MM

Game #69: Mets 4, Braves 3

The boys from New York rallied around one of their own tonight and came up big in their traditional house of horrors.

Josh Satin's pinch-hit RBI double put the Mets over the top in the 7th inning, and Bobby Parnell and company slammed the door shut on the Braves as the Mets won 4-3 to clinch their first series in Atlanta since 2011 and deal the Braves their first series loss at home this year.

The Good Stuff:

(NYDailyNews.com)

• David Wright socked two solo home runs, one in the 1st and one in the 4th.
• Andrew Brown hit a pinch-hit home run in the 5th to tie the game at 3-3.
• After Omar Quintanilla battled Mike Minor to a 10-pitch double to lead off the 7th, Josh Satin pulled through with a double of his own to provide the final margin.
• After Jonathon Niese's early departure (see below), the New York bullpen came together to toss 5.2 scoreless innings in relief. LaTroy Hawkins was on the winning line for the Mets after taking care of the 5th and 6th innings, and Bobby Parnell picked up his 11th save with a no-nonsense 1-2-3 9th.

The Bad Stuff:

• Jon Niese left the game in the 4th with discomfort in his left shoulder, the same shoulder that bothered him earlier this season. Niese will head back to New York for an MRI.

Final Analysis:
Now that is how you win a close game. Clutch hitting and clutch pitching haven't come together often for the Mets, but when they do, it's a thing of beauty. Now they can celebrate (to a degree) winning a rare five-game series in Turner Field, where so much had gone wrong in the past.

The only thing that spoils the victory is Niese's lingering shoulder problems. This hasn't been his season, and he will be crucial to the team's success in the long-term. It would be so wonderful if he only had to miss a start or two, but if you're looking for silver linings in a potential long loss of playing time, at least we didn't lose him at the height of a pennant race. Get well soon, Jon.

MM