Game #95: Braves 2, Mets 1

From a six-inning no-hitter to no hit when they needed it most.

John Buck's critical passed ball led the way for two Atlanta runs off Bobby Parnell, and the Mets' chance at a comeback was snuffed out by Jason Heyward in the 2-1 loss.

The Bad Stuff:

• Things were looking so good through eight innings. Then Bobby Parnell came on and did his best K-Rod/Frank-Frank impression. Brian McCann singled through the shift and Evan Gattis blooped a single in front of Marlon Byrd. After David Wright forced the lead runner at third, John Buck let a fastball go through his glove, and both runners advanced. That led to Chris Johnson's game-tying RBI groundout and Reed Johnson's go-ahead single, and all of a sudden a 1-0 Mets lead was a 2-1 Mets deficit.
• The bottom of the 9th got interesting as New York did its best to get to Craig Kimbrel. Buck was hit by a pitch and Omar Quintanilla drew a 10-pitch walk with two outs. That brought up Justin Turner, fresh off the DL, and Le Grande Orange came this close to delivering himself his own pie with a bloop shot to left center. But Jason Heyward laid out for a spectacular diving catch, putting it in the books for the Braves.
• David Wright and Marlon Byrd stranded two men on base each in the 8th inning, two of the eight men the Mets left in scoring position in the game.

The Good Stuff:

• Dillon Gee's spectacular efforts went to waste, as he took a no-hitter into the 7th and finished matching Matt Harvey's start from yesterday, tossing seven shutout innings. After loading the bases with one out, Gee got Johnson to ground into the force at home, then followed that up with a three-pitch strikeout of pinch-hitter Joey Terdoslavich (the best Braves name since Tim Spooneybarger of 10 years ago).
• Byrd took advantage of poor fielding by Justin Upton in right by running out a triple in the 4th inning, and Ike Davis singled him home on the next pitch for New York's lone run.
• Davis went 2-4 with a double and RBI; his third at-bat was a very hard groundout to first, and in his last he took a typically nasty pitch from Craig Kimbrel for the backwards K.
• Eric Young didn't get a hit but reached base on a fielder's choice in the 8th and promptly stole both second and third.

Final Analysis:
Dillon Gee more than deserved that win tonight. Unfortunately he was dealt a dead battery in the 9th, as this one falls on both Bobby Parnell and John Buck. For shame - aside from that, this was a really fun game to watch. But serious props to Jason Heyward for making that catch: he comes up a foot short and it's a walk-off double for Turner. Bad luck for the home team.

MM

Game #55: Nationals 3, Mets 2

Just when you thought it was save to go back into the water of 9th-inning security...

Bobby Parnell blew the save for Jeremy Hefner, as Steve Lombardozzi's walk-off sac fly with the bases loaded sank the Mets 3-2.

The Bad Stuff:

• Bobby Parnell gave up a leadoff double to Ryan Zimmerman in the 9th inning, then after a wild pitch to send him to third, Adam LaRoche tied the game with a single. Then came the double by Ian Desmond, the intentional walk of Roger Bernadina to load the bases, and Lombardozzi's sac fly. Game over, put it in the books for the other team.
• Despite two errors by the butterfingered Washingtonians, New York could only manage two runs and four hits off Jordan Zimmerman, stranding four of the few runners they could get on base and hitting 1-5 with RISP.
• David Wright's slump continued, as his 0-3 night dropped him to .273.
• Daniel Murphy, Lucas Duda, John Buck, and Ike Davis each went 0-4.

The Good Stuff:

• The bad luck continues for Jeremy Hefner, who was in line for his second W of the year after yet another quality start: he allowed a solo home run to Ian Desmond but only three other hits in seven frames, walking one and striking out seven on 103 pitches.
• All the New York offense of the day came from Omar Quintanilla, who is tearing it up in the leadoff slot for a team desperate to do just that. Mr. Q went 2-3 with a walk and the go-ahead two-run triple in the 5th. His second hit was a double in the 8th that would have provided some insurance had Murphy and Wright come through.

Final Analysis:
Bobby Parnell had a sub-2.00 ERA coming into tonight's game and had finally established himself as a genuine closer. But of course with the Mets, nothing comes that easy. We knew from Ryan Zimmerman's double to lead off the 9th that we were doomed. The rest was just a formality.

Jeremy Hefner has to be the unluckiest guy with that name on the planet (share some of the love, Hugh). But once you get past that, you see a guy who has strung together six quality starts in his last eight, including three straight. I can see the arguments for bumping him out of the rotation once Zack Wheeler comes up, but Hef has one of the hotter hands in Flushing, Queens, arguably second only to that of Matt Harvey. Let him stay.

MM