IGT Thurs Apr 5 Mets @ Nats "Gay Dame Redux"

[Lefty Specialist]

You know, I could get used to games like this.

[Zvon]

Lugo gets the 9th......

[Fman99]

Lots of live arms in the pen this year.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Zvon wrote: Lugo gets the 9th......

I guess he's at least three days from his next start, with a day off, then Matz and Harvey coming up.

[Lefty Specialist]

They might need him to go for a few innings behind Matz.

[Zvon]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Zvon wrote: Lugo gets the 9th...... I guess he's at least three days from his next start, with a day off, then Matz and Harvey coming up.

In Mickey we trust.

[Zvon]

Mets turn on the wipers! BOOKS!

[Benjamin Grimm]

Gary Cohen tells us that Mickey Callaway joins Joe Torre and Davey Johnson in the "Won Five of Their First Six Games as Mets Manager Club".

[Guest d'Kong76]

Nice to spoil the Natfan's home opener day. In a word, suck it! Well, two.
Stupid day off tomorrow and Saturday looks like a washout.

[Zvon]

[tweet:1g6qxqpl]

[/tweet:1g6qxqpl]

[A Boy Named Seo]

That was immensely satisfying.

[Edgy MD]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Gary Cohen tells us that Mickey Callaway joins Joe Torre and Davey Johnson in the "Won Five of Their First Six Games as Mets Manager Club".

Hmmm .... Also the three youngest managers in team history.

[Lefty Specialist]

A Boy Named Seo wrote: That was immensely satisfying.

Wasn't it? Beating one of their aces, and spoiling their home opener, boy it doesn't get any better than that.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Edgy MD wrote: Benjamin Grimm wrote: Gary Cohen tells us that Mickey Callaway joins Joe Torre and Davey Johnson in the "Won Five of Their First Six Games as Mets Manager Club". Hmmm .... Also the three youngest managers in team history.

Johnson made it to six-of-seven before getting his second loss. Torre did one better, winning seven of his first eight.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Johnson made it to six-of-seven before getting his second loss. Torre did one better, winning seven of his first eight.

No pressure, Mickey.

[Zvon]

Via SNY:

Things you should know about today's game... 1) Jay Bruce's seventh-inning grand slam broke open a 4-2 game. The blast came immediately after Jacob deGrom worked out of a bases loaded, no-out situation in the bottom of the sixth. Bruce narrowly missed a homer in the second inning when he doubled off the right-field wall. He scored the Mets' first run on Stephen Strasburg's balk with two outs in the second. 2) Michael Conforto played his first game since injuring his shoulder last Aug. 24 and slugged a tie-breaking two-run homer in the fourth off Strasburg. The 25-year-old also walked and finished 1-for-4 with two runs scored. Yoenis Cespedes homered for the second straight day for his third long ball of the season. 3) DeGrom (2-00 allowed two runs -- one earned -- on four hits and three walks in six innings. He struck out five and managed to retire three straight batters in the sixth after loading the bases with nobody out. 4) Five Mets relievers combined for three scoreless innings and six strikeouts. News and notes... The Mets' 5-1 start is their best since the 2006 squad won eight of their first nine games. New York entered Thursday with a 56-93 (.376) record against the Nationals since the start of 2010. DeGrom improved to 19-8 with a 1.97 ERA in 40 daytime starts. That is the lowest ERA by any pitcher (min. 200 innings) since 1913. He has won five of six decisions while posting a 2.76 ERA in seven career starts at Nationals Park. Since joining the Mets in 2015, Cespedes is hitting .302 with seven doubles, six homers, 13 RBIs and 20 runs scored in 31 games against the Nationals. New York struck out 11 batters Thursday, giving them five double-digit strikeout performances through six games. Seven of the Mets' eight runs were scored with two outs. Of their 30 runs scored this season, 18 have come with two outs. Phillip Evans was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas to make room for Conforto. Evans was hitless in three at-bats.

[Centerfield]

Lefty Specialist wrote: A Boy Named Seo wrote: That was immensely satisfying. Wasn't it? Beating one of their aces, and spoiling their home opener, boy it doesn't get any better than that.

I don't remember a single moment in 2017 that came close to being as cool as today's win. Like not one.

When we are all drunk at the ticker tape parade in November, we're going to remember that bases loaded no one out jam as the moment that this team took off and never looked back.

I mean, think about it. Bases loaded, no one out. No runs score. The next inning, the other team gets a few breaks from the umps and then hits a grand slam. You can't get any more 2017 Mets than that.

[Zvon]

Centerfield wrote: When we are all drunk at the ticker tape parade in November, we're going to remember that bases loaded no one out jam as the moment that this team took off and never looked back.

Ohhhhhhhhhh yea, this.^

[Ceetar]

Mets capitalized on the Braves window closing in 2006 and should've had a nice run out of it. Perhaps they can slam the Nats window shut and run away with this thing.

but I get ahead of myself.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Centerfield wrote: When we are all drunk at the ticker tape parade in November*, we're going to remember that bases loaded no one out jam as the moment that this team took off and never looked back.

* and mooning people from Lunchbucket's office

[Centerfield]

Also, a few thoughts.

We got two breaks in that grand slam inning.

One was the Cespedes checkswing. It looked like he did not go, but lazy umps have been calling that strike 3 for the past few years. Very fortunate there. We were even more fortunate on the 2-2 pitch to Bruce right before the GS. That was a strike. I feel like the pitcher thought so too, and felt like he had to get a lot of plate to make sure he didn't walk in a run. The rest is history.

Some of this is offset by the bullshit strike 3 on Cabrera, but in 2017 no way we get those breaks.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Centerfield wrote: I don't remember a single moment in 2017 that came close to being as cool as today's win. Like not one.

I think you're right. The best thing I remember from 2017 is the TRESPEDES game, where the Mets clobbered the Phillies before we knew that the season was going South. But a win against the Nationals and Stephen Strasburg is much more of a statement than a win against the Phillies.



And now that I've dug up that cover, I see that even that day was tainted with bad injury news.

[G-Fafif]

Mets are four above .500. Last year, they rose to four above .500 (7-3) with that 16-inning win in Miami and never sat that high again.

Let's not be that way this year.

[Frayed Knot]

Centerfield wrote: We got two breaks in that grand slam inning. One was the Cespedes checkswing. It looked like he did not go, but lazy umps have been calling that strike 3 for the past few years. Very fortunate there. We were even more fortunate on the 2-2 pitch to Bruce right before the GS. That was a strike. I feel like the pitcher thought so too, and felt like he had to get a lot of plate to make sure he didn't walk in a run.

All of those pitches were borderline -- the Trea Turner strikeout too -- and certainly could have gone either way. And when there are multiple coin-flips you don't figure to win all of them.
But, breaks or no breaks, how does Dave Martinez not have one (or more) of his Four LHRs ready for Bruce when a single in that situation breaks the game open and the worst case scenario essentially puts it away?!?
110 points of OPS lower for his career when facing L as opposed to R. And while Kintzler was one of their big relief acquisitions last year and a guy they're counting on, he's also the guy who just loaded the bases.

This is where the old saying about making your own breaks comes into play.

[MFS62]

Luck is the residue of design ... unless you're really lucky.

Later

[Guest cooby]

Via SNY: Things you should know about today's game... 1) Jay Bruce's seventh-inning grand slam broke open a 4-2 game. The blast came immediately after Jacob deGrom worked out of a bases loaded, no-out situation in the bottom of the sixth. Bruce narrowly missed a homer in the second inning when he doubled off the right-field wall. He scored the Mets' first run on Stephen Strasburg's balk with two outs in the second. 2) Michael Conforto played his first game since injuring his shoulder last Aug. 24 and slugged a tie-breaking two-run homer in the fourth off Strasburg. The 25-year-old also walked and finished 1-for-4 with two runs scored. Yoenis Cespedes homered for the second straight day for his third long ball of the season. 3) DeGrom (2-00 allowed two runs -- one earned -- on four hits and three walks in six innings. He struck out five and managed to retire three straight batters in the sixth after loading the bases with nobody out. 4) Five Mets relievers combined for three scoreless innings and six strikeouts. News and notes... The Mets' 5-1 start is their best since the 2006 squad won eight of their first nine games. New York entered Thursday with a 56-93 (.376) record against the Nationals since the start of 2010. DeGrom improved to 19-8 with a 1.97 ERA in 40 daytime starts. That is the lowest ERA by any pitcher (min. 200 innings) since 1913. He has won five of six decisions while posting a 2.76 ERA in seven career starts at Nationals Park. Since joining the Mets in 2015, Cespedes is hitting .302 with seven doubles, six homers, 13 RBIs and 20 runs scored in 31 games against the Nationals. New York struck out 11 batters Thursday, giving them five double-digit strikeout performances through six games. Seven of the Mets' eight runs were scored with two outs. Of their 30 runs scored this season, 18 have come with two outs. Phillip Evans was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas to make room for Conforto. Evans was hitless in three at-bats.

5) Jay Bruce earned me 16.5 fantasy points today!

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Let's fuck these guys up. Of course this will go to the end but here's a chance to make a statement aka the wonderful opener of 2015, which felt like a winning season from that day even when shit went sideways later.

Was this just what Dr. Johnny ordered or what?

[Chad ochoseis]

G-Fafif wrote: Mets are four above .500. Last year, they rose to four above .500 (7-3) with that 16-inning win in Miami and never sat that high again. Let's not be that way this year.

Yeah, I was thinking that, too. My memory is that the April schedule last year was really soft. I think 7 of the first 10 were against Miami and the other three were against Philadelphia. If we continue beating up on the Nats, I'll start thinking this team is for real.

[Edgy MD]

Frayed Knot wrote: But, breaks or no breaks, how does Dave Martinez not have one (or more) of his Four LHRs ready for Bruce when a single in that situation breaks the game open and the worst case scenario essentially puts it away?!?

So, basically, the Mets are in first place because our rookie manager hasn't (so far) been undermining his cause like the division's other rookie managers?

Matheny didn't seem to be particularly doing the Cardinals any favors against the Mets either.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Cast your vote!