IGT Nats @ Mets -- 4/30/15

[Frayed Knot]

I'm declaring this to be the first official BIG series of the season.

Nats are off to a rocky start but have scored 26 runs on 30 hits in the last two days. While after our hot start and attendant national attention, we've lost two straight series and are a Murphy bolt from losing 5 of 6. A bad series here will virtually wipe out any of the good vibes from the hot start.

At six games out the weekend can end with the Nats as little as 2 out, or at 4, or 6, or 8, or 10 behind, obviously the potential for a big swing.
They're getting healthy: Span back, Werth back, Rendon close although looking like he will NOT be activated this weekend. Wright not going to be ready on our side, or obviously d'Arnaud.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Washington at NY Mets
When: 7:10 PM ET, Thursday, April 30, 2015
Where: Citi Field, New York City, New York
SportsDirect Inc.

The New York Mets look to keep their perfect home record intact when they host the Washington Nationals in the opener of a four-game series on Thursday. New York followed a season-opening 3-3 road trip with an astounding 10-0 homestand before embarking on a six-game trek that produced disappointing results.

After dropping two of three to the crosstown Yankees, the Mets did the same in Miami to finish the trip with a 2-4 record. Washington enters the series with its offense clicking on all cylinders. The Nationals have rebounded from a six-game losing streak in impressive fashion, scoring 13 runs on back-to-back nights in victories at Atlanta. The club recorded a total of 14 runs during its skid and had reached double digits just once in its previous 20 contests.

TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, MASN (Washington), SNY (New York)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Nationals RH Stephen Strasburg (1-2, 4.88 ERA) vs. Mets RH Jacob deGrom (2-2, 2.96)

Strasburg has struggled out of the gate this season, surrendering four or more runs in three of his first four starts. The 26-year-old former first overall draft pick suffered the loss at Miami on Saturday as he was reached for four runs and eight hits over six innings. Strasburg has made seven career starts against New York, going 3-2 with a 2.55 ERA.

DeGrom looks to bounce back from a rough outing against the Yankees on Friday in which he yielded six runs and eight hits over five innings en route to a loss. The 26-year-old reigning NL Rookie of the Year had given up a total of two runs in 19 1/3 frames over his first three starts of the season. DeGrom has yet to defeat Washington in his brief career, posting an 0-1 record and 3.75 ERA in two turns.

WALK-OFFS:
1. Nationals CF Denard Span went 7-for-12 with two homers, four RBIs and six runs scored over his last two games.
2. Mets RHP Rafael Montero, who was sent to Triple-A Las Vegas after making a spot start on Tuesday, complained of a sore shoulder and was slated to undergo an MRI.
3. Washington is 2-4 on its 10-game road trip.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I'm a tiny bit worried about deGrom, too. The MFY Stadium start was just so out of shape with his other starts. Sometimes you see a guy just have one start way out of whack with his others and the next thing you know is that he'd injured something.

[batmagadanleadoff]

"So good to be back in The Big Apple. Let's Go Mets"
[fimg=666]http://cache1.asset-cache.net/gc/53283654-american-actor-and-entertainer-jackie-gleason-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=MjkDRpR5qwpbZPnS7T%2FqIeJlIqBDLsC0oDyaerZGGLVRO9LZp88K9Leppr5zrHP7HoL0rSB09Ck2mClN24YR%2Bw%3D%3D[/fimg]

[Guest d'Kong76]

Magic number 4: The Mets are 11-1 when scoring at least four runs. They�re 4-6 when they score three or less.

Score more!
Wonder what the bonehead-play-or-two differentials are.

[Lefty Specialist]

Jackie never suspected that upon his return to New York he would be encased in carbonite.

[Guest d'Kong76]

@cgrand3 RF
@juanlagares2 CF
Duda 1B
@mcuddy23 LF
Murphy 2B
Campbell 3B
Flores SS
@kplawecki26 C
@JdeGrom19 P

@kcmets #cpftoocool

[dgwphotography]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I'm a tiny bit worried about deGrom, too. The MFY Stadium start was just so out of shape with his other starts. Sometimes you see a guy just have one start way out of whack with his others and the next thing you know is that he'd injured something.

I'm thinking that he just couldn't get a good feel on an unseasonably cold night.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

dgwphotography wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I'm a tiny bit worried about deGrom, too. The MFY Stadium start was just so out of shape with his other starts. Sometimes you see a guy just have one start way out of whack with his others and the next thing you know is that he'd injured something. I'm thinking that he just couldn't get a good feel on an unseasonably cold night.

It has been his first April in New York.

I'm closing my figurative eyes hard, wishing and hoping.

[Frayed Knot]

But another bad outing from deG and then it's two in a row and you start to worry.
And a series loss here would make it three series losses in a row and 7 losses (or 8!!) in 10 games
And the lead over the Nats which was 8 just two days ago and was looking like 9 when they were down 9-1 the other night could suddenly be 4 or even 2
And we only won 1 game vs them at CitiField last season (and 4 overall) so losing 3 of more here would start that spiral again
And etc.

All that (and more) is why this is officially proclaimed as 2015's first BIG series.

[TransMonk]

I'd be OK with a split, but hope for at least 3 of 4. Losing the series would be deflating for sure.

[Ceetar]

They really need to win the series to keep the pressure on. Not just from a 'Mets can be good' perspective but also from a 'Nats are a disaster' one. Even 2-2 takes time off the clock and keeps the Nats in a "what's going on with us?" mode, but it'd be iffy from a Mets standpoint.

Ultimately I want the Mets to win at least 9/15 of the remaining games against the Nats. That'd leave the Nats 9 games back and make it pretty hard for them to catch even a .500 Mets team in the other games.

[Zvon]

I really want 3 of 4 here but I'll be okay with anything as long as we don't get swept. A 4 game sweep here would undo much. So Mets, do whatever you do but DON"T GET SWEPT!

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Zvon wrote: So Mets, do whatever you do but DON"T GET SWEPT!

Uh-oh. This is the kinda thinking that gets teams swept suddenly.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Span, CF
Escobar, 3B
Werth, LF
Harper, RF
Zimmerman, 1B
Ramos, C
Desmond, SS
Espinosa, 2B
Strasburg, P

[Zvon]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: So Mets, do whatever you do but DON"T GET SWEPT! Uh-oh. This is the kinda thinking that gets teams swept suddenly.

I'm superstitious enough w/o having to read that, tyvm.

[Zvon]

Lefty Specialist wrote: Jackie never suspected that upon his return to New York he would be encased in carbonite.

He's got Family Guys face.

This is a BIG series. Winning tonight get's me off the hook, so get me off the hook Metsies.

[ashie62]

The Mets need dominate so as to keep from bring called the "Same old Mets."

[Zvon]

Ashie62 wrote: The Mets need dominate so as to keep from bring called the "Same old Mets."

Every time the 2015 team stumbles they will go there. And by rights, they get to go there. It's an easy angle.

[Zvon]

Metsies tryin' like hell to allow me to be able to sleep tonight due to lack of sweep.

2-0, 1st place Mets, on RBI hits from Granderson and Plawecki.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Oh, Flowers.

[Zvon]

Fat hands?

Whats the score on him? I think that's his 6th error. How many homers?

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

It's not six.

Werth dinks it, and the lead's halved.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

One hit, two balls out of the infield, and three runs in.

[Frayed Knot]

So that 'E' basically cost the team 3 runs and deGrom maybe 20 pitches. Oh, and it turned the game around.
Other than that it wasn't too bad.



oe: my auto-corrects "corrects" deGrom to legroom. Maybe that's not too far off

Edited April 30, 2015 by Guest

[Zvon]

Jeeze. A double play ground ball, as easy as it could possibly be. Wilmer's got some homers to hit or I'm taking out my shit-list.

And it becomes 3-2 Nat's

[Zvon]

Frayed Knot wrote: So that 'E' basically cost the team 3 runs and deGrom maybe 20 pitches. Oh, and it turned the game around. Other than that it wasn't too bad.

There's only one cure for that. A 3 run homer.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

This umpire's strike zone seems to drift a bit from inning-to-inning.

[Centerfield]

I wonder if we are nearing the end of the Wilmer Flores, SS experiment.

[Zvon]

Centerfield wrote: I wonder if we are nearing the end of the Wilmer Flores, SS experiment.

If he has more errors than homers at the all star break, it's over. Gotta give him half a season, don't you?

In the short run I'd like to see a 3 run homer a week, starting tonight.