Game #152: Giants 2, Mets 1

Both teams had a late night last night. It showed.

The Mets were completely shut down by Madison Bumgarner, falling to the Giants 2-1 in the series finale.

The Bad Stuff:

• MadBum limited the less-than-Amazin's to four hits in seven innings and struck out 10. Enough said.

The Good Stuff:

• Jonathon Niese didn't deserve the L, allowing two runs on seven hits in his own Solid Seven, walking two and striking out four on 100 pitches.
• Daniel Murphy's RBI single in the 4th kept New York from being shut out.

Final Analysis:
Howie Rose reported that apparently Josh Satin messed up his friends' rooting interests last night when he hit a walk-off to beat his hometown San Francisco Giants. Betcha his friends were happy today.

MM

Game #151: Mets 5, Giants 4

Tonight I was prepared to write another piece with the them of the New York Mets being lifeless in their final two weeks of 2013. But against all odds, in the bottom of the 9th tonight against the defending world champions, the Mets woke up.

(NYDailyNews.com)

Josh Satin's walk-off two-run single capped an improbable four-run comeback as the Mets nipped the Giants at the last possible moment 5-4.

The Good Stuff:

• Down 4-0 in the bottom of the 8th and showing no signs of getting anything going, Matt den Dekker worked a full count and singled to lead off. He stole second and advanced to third on an error, coming home on Josh Satin's sac fly. "Okay," Mets fans thought, "at least we won't get shut out."
• Then came the bottom of the 9th and an Andrew Brown leadoff walk. Then after a Lucas Duda strikeout came a Juan Lagares walk. Then a Zack Lutz double to score Brown and make it 4-2. Then Juan Centeno got his second hit and first RBI in his first major-league game to make it 4-3. Then after Anthony Recker was brought on to pinch run, den Dekker drew himself a walk. Then Omar Quintanilla flew out to bring up New York's last gasp in the form of Satin. Then, working from his last strike, Satin made contact with a fastball right down the middle, lacing it into left to plate the winning runs. Then came the celebration. And oh, was there a celebration.
• After Aaron Harang's shaky start, Carlos Torres, David Aardsma, and Vic Black kept the Mets within range for four relief innings, as Black picked up his second W with the team.

The Bad Stuff:

• Harang again wasn't great, allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits and three walks in five innings, striking out eight on 100 pitches.
• Ruben Tejada's season came to a painful end in the top of the 9th when, after colliding with Andrew Brown while going after an Angel Pagan popup, fractured his right fibula. That's right: fractured. He finished his tumultuous 2013 hitting just .202.

Final Analysis:
Sure, it's a meaningless game, but that doesn't have to mean it's worthless. In contention or not, the Mets just managed their first four-run comeback of the season, and Josh Satin had his first career walk-off. Good stuff still happens to losing teams in late September. Way to go, boys.

MM

Game #150: Giants 8, Mets 5

Unlike tonight's four-hour affair, this blog post will be significantly shorter.

Zack Wheeler couldn't find the plate for five innings and a Mets rally came up short as they fell to the Giants 8-5.

The Bad Stuff:

• Wheeler's final line: 5 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 6 BB, 3 K, 107 pitches.
• Sean Henn (who?), Gonzalez Germen, and Jeurys Familia (remember him?) allowed in the other four runs, with Henn taking the loss.
• New York hit 3-11 with RISP and stranded nine, including leaving the bases loaded to end the bottom of the 9th. Lucas Duda, who had the chance to win it with a grand slam, popped out in foul ground.

The Good Stuff:

• Ruben Tejada was 1-3 with a double, two runs, and a walk.
• Daniel Murphy hit his 36th double of the year and drove in a run.
• Eric Young stole his 39th base of the year and 31st with the Mets.

Final Analysis:
Meh. What else do you want me to see? Wheeler was bad tonight. The bullpen was bad tonight. And where were those five runs during every Matt Harvey start ever? Meh, I say. Meh.

MM

Game #88: Mets 7, Giants 2

After the offense delivered the beating, Zack Wheeler brought the knockout punch against the team that gave him up.

(NYDailyNews.com)

Wheeler had his best start in the majors and was backed by three 1st-inning runs off Matt Cain as the Mets clobbered the Giants 7-2 for the sweep.

The Good Stuff:

• Whatever New York did to try to psyche out Matt Cain, it worked. Big time. The Mets scored three runs in the 1st inning, two from John Buck's bases-loaded single, and knocked last year's All-Star starter out after just two outs. A wild Cain walked three batters and gave up two hits on 36 pitches, only half of which went for strikes.
• The immediate lead was just what the doctor ordered for Zack Wheeler, who breezed to the easy victory against pre-Beltran team. Wheeler went seven innings for the first time as a big-leaguer, allowing a single run on three hits and three walks, striking out five on 101 pitches. Zack had himself a no-hitter going for 11 outs; no Matt Harvey, but pretty darn good.
• Wheeler got additional run support in the 5th and 6th inning when San Francisco longman Matt Kickham ran out of juice:
• Marlon Byrd line a two-run home run over the wall in right center, good for his 15th homer and 49th RBI of the season, which lead the team. Pretty good for a $700,000 man.
• The 6th inning became the story of Gregor Blanco's shallow play in center field. John Buck led off with a line drive that went over Blanco's head and ended up with a double. After Omar Quintanilla struck out, Wheeler himself delivered a liner over Blanco's head, resulting in Zack's first extra-base hit and RBI. Daniel Murphy then sent him home with a double down the left field line that almost took out the security guard again. Touchdown, 7-0 New Yorkers.
• The 7-spot gives the Mets 21 runs for the three-game set, and everyone in the starting lineup got on base at least once this afternoon.

The Bad Stuff:

• LaTroy Hawkins gave up a triple to Brandon Belt in the bottom of the 9th, and Tony Abreu's sac fly made it 7-2.

Final Anlaysis:
Warm up the cable cars, we're sweeping up the town! Zack Wheeler lived up to his billing and unlike pitchers of past got some run support behind a one-run gem.

Since Kirk Nieuwenhuis knocked Carlos Marmol out of Chicago, the Mets have been winning at a 16-9 clip, sport a not-good-but-better 40-48 record, and are unbelievably within single digits of the second NL Wild Card. Hey, the '73 Mets were doing even worse at this point, and look where they ended up. Ya Gotta Believe!

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 #86: Mets 4, Giants 3 (16)

Come on, the Mets could only play so many marathons before catching a break. The Giants agreed at about 3:00 in the morning New York time.

Eric Young scored on Brandon Crawford's error in the top of the 16th and Bobby Parnell mercifully closed the door on a comeback as the Mets took a marathon game from the Giants 4-3.

The Good Stuff:

• Down 2-0, John Buck got the scoring going in the top of the 5th with an RBI double. Then in the 6th, the Mets were beneficiaries of some truly dreadful San Francisco defense. The first two miscues were committed by ex-Met Andres Torres, whose misplay of an Eric Young line drive led to a leadoff triple and missed tough catch resulted in Daniel Murphy's game-tying RBI single. David Wright followed with an infield single that Pablo Sandoval couldn't turn the double play on, and Murph went to third on a Marco Scutaro error trying to get out Wright. Ike Davis's double play killed the rally but brought home the go-ahead run to make it 3-2, and if not for the double play another run would've come home on Marlon Byrd's Gregor Blanco-assisted triple.
• After the Giants tied the game on the first two pitches of the 7th, the scoring stopped for almost an entire extra game. The star of the game at this point became the New York bullpen: Carlos Torres (2), David Aardsma (1.2), Scott Rice (0.1), Greg Burke (2), and Josh Edgin (2) stewarded the Mets through eight scoreless innings.
• New York was also beneficiary of some excellent clutch pitching and defense, as the Giants hit just 1-15 with RISP and stranded 18 men on base. And none of those tough outs came through the double play.
• The Mets' bats finally woke up in the top of the 16th, led by Eric Young's one-out single. Young promptly stole second and went to third on Murphy's groundout. After Wright was walked intentionally, Anthony Recker hit into what should have been the third out, but shortstop Brandon Crawford bobbled the ball and had no play. Young scored, and the Mets were back up.
• Bobby Parnell walked Marco Scutaro and allowed a Buster Posey single, threatening to spiral the game back into the Fourth of July's back-and-forth-style affair. But Parnell buckled down to strike out Brandon Belt between Scutaro and Posey, strike out Pablo Sandoval, and force Guillermo Quiroz to ground into the 5-4 force play. Game over, marathon over, Mets win.

The Bad Stuff:

• Harvey Day seemed almost an afterthought after the 13th, but Matt Harvey's outing was spoiled by three bad pitches: a 3-1 1st inning fastball Buster Posey turned into a two-run homer, a fastball Hunter Pence led the 7th off with a triple, and a changeup Brandon Crawfored parlayed into the game-tying single. His final numbers produced a quality start (7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 6 K, 121 pitches), but based on Harvey's lofty standards we'll categorize it as Bad Stuff.
• New York's bats did their best to make Tim Lincecum look like vintage Big-Time Timmy-Jim, as the former Freak struck out 11 and walked just one in his seven innings.
• The Mets could absolutely not get reigning NL MVP Buster Posey out: Posey went 5-8 with his two-run homer and two doubles.

Final Analysis:
Well, it certainly looks like the Mets will set a record for most innings played in one season. That was a great win, enough said.

MM