On to Pittsburgh -- IGT 7/26/18

[Frayed Knot]

Coming off A SERIES WIN and a two-game IGT winning streak for me, a streak which raises my number of winning IGTs since the beginning of 2015 to (checking the math here: take the seven, carry the four, square the remainder) ... two!


The Pyroots got shut out by Cleveland (or 'The Land' as the cool kids call it these days) on Wednesday afternoon bringing their impressive 11 game winning streak to a halt. Maybe LeBron pitched, I dunno.
During that streak they averaged nearly 7 R/G and out-scored their (not-insubstantial: WAS, CLE, MIL, CIN) opponents by a 71-24 margin.
Oddly this recent stretch has only lifted their heads (and their run differential) slightly above the break even point (53-50; +6) as it's been an up-and-down season for them.
This is a team that gave up 17 runs in two games just four days apart earlier this month.


But all good things must come to an end as the Mets head to PNC Park for four games: Thurs - Sat all at 7:05; Sunday at 1:35
Thursday's opener sees Steven Matz facing 26 y/o rookie Nick Kingham: a one-time rumored NYM trading target IIRC although I can't remember the specific circumstances.
A 2010 4th round draft pick out of a Las Vegas HS, Kingham has made ten ML starts in his season/career where he is 5-4 with a 4.11 / 1.105 ERA/WHIP. 8.5 / 2.2 Ks & BBs per 9
Three pretty good starts recently -- all wins for him and the team -- since getting lit up by the Dodgers back on July 2nd


So far no reports of any Mets coming down with Cholera in the last 24 hours.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Luplow lf
Harrison 2b
Polanco rf
Freese 3b
Bell 1b
Cervelli c
Rodriguez cf
Mercer ss
Kingham p

[Guest d'Kong76]

Rosario ss
Cabrera 2b
Conforto lf
Flores 1b
Nimmo cf
Bautista rf
McNeil 3b
Mesoraco c
Matz p

[bmfc1]

Always great to see Cervelli. Nice of him to come off the DL today so we can see him pump his fist.

[Edgy MD]

Tied with Miami for fourth, as far as games back go, but still a few percentage points behind by virtue of playing four fewer games.

Pittsburgh's loss last night ended a potentially season-turning 11-game winning streak.

It's a big game!!

[Lefty Specialist]

bmfc1 wrote: Always great to see Cervelli. Nice of him to come off the DL today so we can see him pump his fist.

Come in spikes high, Metsies.

[G-Fafif]

Tonight's will be the Mets' 100th game of the 2018 season. If the Mets win, they will have the same record after 100 games as the 1978 and 1979* Mets. If the Mets lose, they will have the same record after 100 games as the 1977* and 2003 Mets. Either way, not the most flattering of company. (The 1977 and 1979 asterisks take into account suspended games from earlier in the schedule that weren't made up until later in the season -- record stated here reflects what the standings said after 100 games in those respective seasons had been played to completion.)

Mets clubs the 2018 Mets will have a better record than after 100 games: 1995 (41-59 but rising); 1967 (39-61); 1983 (37-63, yet on the cusp of a perception-shifting surge); 1993 (35-65, after a late-July burst of competence); 1963 and 1965 (both 32-68); 1964 (30-70) and 1962 (26-74). The 1981 Mets' combined record after 100 games was 40-60, but also irrelevant in real time in light of the split season.

1986 leads the 100-game pack at 68-32, eight games better than runner-up 1988 (60-40). Several 59-41 outfits follow: 1984, 1985, 1990, 1999 and 2006. Shockingly satisfying 1997 and eventually disappointing 2007 are next at 57-43. Then you get 1969 at 56-44, a record to be matched 31 years later by another World Series participant, the 2000 Mets.

Other playoff Mets clubs-to-be after 100 games: 2016 at 53-47; 2015 at 52-48 and the patron saint of lost causes, 1973, at 44-56. Best 100-game record by a Mets team that would end with a losing record? That would be the spiraling 1991 Mets, down to 55-45 at this stage of the schedule, en route to a woeful 77-84 (from a high of 53-38).

Twenty-six Mets teams were above .500 after 100 games, 29 below it (30, if you wish to count 1981). The only literal 50-50 proposition in Mets history? Terry Collins's inaugural edition of 2011.

[Guest d'Kong76]

G-Fafif wrote: Other playoff Mets clubs-to-be after 100 games.... ....and the patron saint of lost causes, 1973, at 44-56.

Yeah, dagnabbit! It's doable! #lgm #ygb #bbbyyy
(pay no attention to me, got a little too much sun this afternoon)

[Guest 41Forever]

d'Kong76 wrote: G-Fafif wrote: Other playoff Mets clubs-to-be after 100 games.... ....and the patron saint of lost causes, 1973, at 44-56. Yeah, dagnabbit! It's doable! #lgm #ygb #bbbyyy

Hell, yes!

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Matz pisses me off

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Matz pisses me off

[Edgy MD]

That lady in the banana-yellow top took her eye off the ball. It hit right in her glove but she failed to squeeze.

[Edgy MD]

Anyhow, Mets back on top.

Keith was shocked by Scandal's "Goodbye to You" blasting from the PA. The funny thing is that he probably knows Patty Smyth.

[Edgy MD]

Mets get a run on Bautista hustle and then lose the loaded bases when Bautista thinks the ball got away and jogs into an out.

C'mon, Sherlock!

[Edgy MD]

That play might actually have been McNeil's fault.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Matz has kinda hit stride, wonder how many scouts are looking on in the
city of convergence. I'd rather see him go than Wheels.

[Edgy MD]

Yay, the Mets are beating the red-hot Pirates.

Boo, many of the guys winning it for them — Wilmer, Druby, Meso, Bautista — are all on the block.

[Edgy MD]

McNeil! We have a bunter in captivity!!

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

d'Kong76 wrote: Matz has kinda hit stride, wonder how many scouts are looking on in the city of convergence. I'd rather see him go than Wheels.

yup ®

I don't think the Mets have the guts tho.

How about Alli McBeal here?

[Edgy MD]

If popups were Christmas presents, Reyes would be Santa Claus.

[Edgy MD]

I love that it's Cervelli's first day back and he's already had the red ass for half the game.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

this won't go down as Frankie Fistpumper's best game.

Pirates look worse than we did.

[Edgy MD]

Mets' first double-digit scoring game in over a month. The 12-2 win in the opener in Colorado on June 18.

In fact, they haven't scored more than 7 since leaving Colorado.

[Edgy MD]

Is Jordan Luplow any relation to Lyndon Johnson-era Met Al Luplow?

[Frayed Knot]

Edgy MD wrote: Is Jordan Luplow any relation to Lyndon Johnson-era Met Al Luplow?

Yup!
I saw the Luplow name a few weeks ago for the first time and figured that it's unusual enough to likely be a match. But then I couldn't find anything so I figured maybe no.
Turns out he's a grand-nephew of Al (grandson of Al's brother?) according to Gary during the first inning tonight.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Luplow flashin' some speedy leather.

[Edgy MD]

Frayed Knot wrote: Edgy MD wrote: Is Jordan Luplow any relation to Lyndon Johnson-era Met Al Luplow? Yup! I saw the Luplow name a few weeks ago for the first time and figured that it's unusual enough to likely be a match. But then I couldn't find anything so I figured maybe no. Turns out he's a grand-nephew of Al (grandson of Al's brother?) according to Gary during the first inning tonight.

That's great. Al died at Christmastime last year but Jordan debuted in 2017, so I guess he got to see his big league legacy continue.

[Edgy MD]

Keep the pressure on in the ninth, Mets. You got to get deep in the pen in Game One.

[Fman99]

My SHaMs prediction looking remarkably accurate right now.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Hah hah, E2