IGT 6/18/17 - It's Father's Day and Everybody's Wounded

[Chad ochoseis]

Leonard Cohen was from Montreal, but you know that if he followed baseball, he would have been a dark, brooding Mets fan.

JdG vs Joe "The Weakest Link" Ross. First, we take Queens...

[Ceetar]

Not gonna feel bad if I spent half the game in the potty and the other half trying all the new concessions.

[Edgy MD]

Good chance you'll see at least one of our recent called up first-round draft choices get his first start of 2017.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Washington at NY Mets
When: 1:10 PM ET, Sunday, June 18, 2017
Where: Citi Field, New York City, New York
By Gracenote

The Washington Nationals attempt to complete a four-game sweep and remain unbeaten at Citi Field this season when they visit the New York Mets on Sunday for the series finale between the National League East rivals. Washington has posted 22 runs in the first three games of the set, including a 7-4 triumph Saturday with three more homers, and is 6-0 at New York in 2017.

Bryce Harper takes a 10-game hitting streak into Sunday’s game and Anthony Rendon is 6-for-12 with five RBIs in the series for the Nationals, who are 42-24 against the Mets since the beginning of the 2014 season. Washington’s Daniel Murphy has reached base in all 29 games against his former team and looks to reach 30 against New York’s ace Jacob deGrom, who split a pair of matchups with the Nationals in April. Yoenis Cespedes homered among four hits Saturday for the Mets - losers of four of their last five - to improve to 11-for-24 with six RBIs in eight games since coming off the disabled list, and will face Washington right-hander Joe Ross on Sunday. Jay Bruce is also warming up again for New York while going 8-for-16 during a four-game hitting streak and he boasts six homers to go along with 12 RBIs in his last 13 contests.

TV: 1:10 p.m. ET, MASN (Washington), WPIX (New York)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Nationals RH Joe Ross (3-2, 6.39 ERA) vs. Mets RH Jacob deGrom (5-3, 4.33)

Ross has been up and down this season with three outstanding performances around five in which he allowed at least five runs, including one against the Mets on April 30. The 24-year-old Californian struck out 12 and permitted one run over 7 1/3 innings to beat Baltimore on June 8, but yielded five in 5 2/3 frames five days later versus Atlanta. Lucas Duda is 2-for-4 with two homers versus Ross, who is 1-1 with a 5.16 ERA in four games against the Mets.

The Chicago Cubs were limited to one run on five hits and four walks by deGrom in a complete-game performance last time out - his eighth quality start in 13 outings. The 28-year-old Floridian boasts 100 strikeouts in 81 innings this season, but he has walked 10 in the last three starts and 34 overall. Harper (8-for-21, one homer) and Murphy (3-for-6) have caused trouble for deGrom, who is 3-3 with a 3.40 ERA in nine career outings versus the Nationals.

WALK-OFFS:
1. The Mets have hit 30 homers in their last 15 games and boast 99 on the season - seven behind NL leader Washington.
2. Washington RHP Shawn Kelley (neck spasms) was unavailable Saturday and his status for Sunday is uncertain.
3. New York INF Wilmer Flores is batting .341 with four homers and 17 RBIs since the beginning of May.

[Edgy MD]

No Sunday subs. Terry is grinding to get out of this series with a win.

Nonetheless. The big guy is tasting pine.

[fimg=300:y7f162mc]http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/nym/images/ticketing/index13/mets_logo_blue_orange.png[/fimg:y7f162mc]

[*:y7f162mc]Michael Conforto, cf[/*:m:y7f162mc]
[*:y7f162mc]Jose Reyes, ss[/*:m:y7f162mc]
[*:y7f162mc]Jay Bruce, rf[/*:m:y7f162mc]
[*:y7f162mc]Wilmer Flores, 2b[/*:m:y7f162mc]
[*:y7f162mc]Lucas Duda, 1b[/*:m:y7f162mc]
[*:y7f162mc]T.J. Rivera, 3b[/*:m:y7f162mc]
[*:y7f162mc]Curtis Granderson, lf[/*:m:y7f162mc]
[*:y7f162mc]Travis d'Arnaud, c[/*:m:y7f162mc]
[*:y7f162mc]Jacob deGrom, sp[/*:m:y7f162mc][/list:o:y7f162mc]

[Edgy MD]

Man, even with a running start, Duda doesn't score from first on a double.

[Edgy MD]

If deGrom has to do it by himself, so be it.

[G-Fafif]

NEW YORK -- Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred declared an end to the designated hitter rule Sunday, explaining, "Jacob deGrom homered. It was fucking great. What else do you need to know?"

[Edgy MD]

Our first lead of the series!

#HappyFathersDay

[Frayed Knot]

Edgy MD wrote: Our first lead of the series!

Yeah, but they tried really hard not to score that run.
Duda, who should have been at 2nd on his pop-up, was going to be out on a single which Taylor in CF couldn't charge and then made a weak (if accurate) throw.

Add that to the passed ball that Conforto didn't advance on earlier and of course the Wilmer error which set up the only Nats run of the day, and it all adds up to this team not playing well even on
those rare occasions when they hit and pitch well.

[Frayed Knot]

Ronnie lets on that one of the reasons for the Jefferies/McDowell fight was lingering resentment over Roger "doing things" to Gregg's (then unique) personalized bat bag.
I suspect I'm not alone in thinking that "doing things" included 'took a shit in'.

[Guest 41Forever]

DeGrom having a heck of a day!

[Frayed Knot]

Nice 6 pitch 6th inning vs 3-4-5 in the lineup.

[Edgy MD]

Hey! Not just a lead, but maybe a little visible sunshine between the Mets' score and that of the Nats.

Joshie calling this a "mistake-free game," somehow forgetting that an error opened the door for the only Nats run, and Duda running the bases like a chump.

[Edgy MD]

Two-hitter, but Rendon just reached the warning track. Should I be worried?

[Frayed Knot]

I was hoping to see Cecchini in for Reyes today -- which, considering Jose has gone: K - Foul Pop - Dribbler, might have been a good idea -- but maybe Terry is thinking about it for one (or more) of
the three LHPs we're going to see in the four game series in LA.

Edited June 18, 2017 by Guest

[Edgy MD]

Gues' not.

[Frayed Knot]

What's with all this two-out hitting? I was previously unfamiliar with the concept.

2-out hits on Saturday was not applicable since every time they got runners on with one out they'd hit into a DP

[Guest themetfairy]

41Forever wrote: DeGrom having a heck of a day!

deGrom, please!

[Frayed Knot]

Trea Turner hits the only grounder where it's possible to turn a DP on Trea Turner and we still can't turn it.
Wilmer's glove is killing us lately, no matter where you place him.

[Edgy MD]

He's errored this week at three different positions, hasn't he?

[Frayed Knot]

Edgy MD wrote: He's errored this week at three different positions, hasn't he?

The reason he's errored in three is because he hasn't played all nine.

[Edgy MD]

[Guest themetfairy]

[Edgy MD]

[fimg=600:1430lppx]https://s3.amazonaws.com/metvnetwork/D1axh-1474485370-embed-salvage1_title.png[/fimg:1430lppx]

[Guest d'Kong76]

Nat fans probably aren't clever enough to have a broom guy,
but still glad not to find out.

#calibound

[Benjamin Grimm]

Cast your vote!

[Ceetar]

The Nats fail to hammer that final nail into the coffin, but still unlikely the Mets can get the lid off.

[Fman99]

I napped through innings 1-5 and Chromecasted the PIX feed for the last few. Nice to see deGrom help them off the shnide.

[Ceetar]