Gwreck

Nice strikeout of Molina. One would think a one-run deficit would be manageable...but...

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I have to say, I wouldn't be too upset if the Mets traded Harvey for a kickass power-hitting outfielder who's 26 years old and three or four years away from free agency. If you know of one, please let us know!

Hacking Scandal The FBI is still investigating the [crossout]Cheaty McCheatersons[/crossout] Cardinals for their undoubtedly criminal conduct in breaching the Houston Astros' proprietary database. Scouting director/scapegoat Chris Correa was fired but Major League Baseball is apparently waiting for the FBI to finish their investigation before meeting out the punishment the Cardinals so richly deserve. Cardinals' First Half Cardinals have a 56-33 record (best baseball). They've done this with outstanding pitching; Cardinals have a 2.71 ERA (also the best in MLB). For comparison's sake, the Mets are #3 at 3.23. Unlike the Mets, they manage to hit a little as well. No one's having an MVP year but they're getting production out of most spots in the lineup. They've also done well beating up on crappy teams: they were 16-6 against Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Philadelphia in the first half. The Cardinals did just drop 3 of 4 to Pittsburgh going into the All-Star break. This could also be partly due to the fact that Pittsburgh is also a very good team (second-best record in baseball). The Mets and Cardinals split a four game series in New York in May. The two losses came in blowouts where Niese and Colon got shelled. The winning pitchers in those games were Michael Wacha and Carlos Martinez, who won't pitch in this series. The two Mets wins were in well-pitched games by Harvey and deGrom, who also won't pitch in this series. The Cardinals have a .738 home winning percentage. Pitching Matchups: Friday (8:15 EDT): Lance Lynn ® v. Syndergaard 2.90 ERA and 1.29 WHIP in 16 starts this year; a solid 9.5 K/9 innings. Had been on the DL earlier this year with a forearm injury. Lynn lost twice to the Mets last year, giving up big hits to unlikely candidates (ie. Chris Young, Eric Young, Jr., and Bartolo Colon). Saturday (7:15 EDT): John Lackey ® v. Colon 2.99 ERA and 1.22 WHIP in 18 starts this year. A free agent after this year at age 36, he's making a good push for one more contract. Lackey pitched well against the Mets in May in a pitcher's duel with Harvey (Mets won in 14 innings). Sunday (2:15 PM EDT): TBD v. Jon Niese Not announced yet but it will probably be Tim Cooney (L); it appears the Cardinals will give the extra rest to top starters Carlos Martinez and Michael Wacha. Cooney was a third-round pick of the Cardinals in 2012. It will be his fifth major league start. Lineup: C - Yadier Molina ® The defense remains strong, but the offense isn't there for Yadier the way it once was. .284 batting average is fine but few walks (.323 OBP) and not much power (.358). The neck tattoo remains. 1B - Mark Reynolds ® Took over the job after Matt Adams' injury. .681 OPS. Strikes out a full one-third of all plate appearances. 2B - Kolten Wong (L) Solid defense plus a decent bat (.343 OBP, 9 homers and 18 doubles). 3B - Matt Carpenter (L) Has put up a .801 OPS (9 homers) but a far cry from his 6.4 WAR season of 2013. He has been slumping badly. SS - Jhonny Peralta ® Started in the All-Star game and is the Cardinals WAR leader. I was struck by Joe Buck calling Peralta a "legtimate MVP candidate" during the all-star game. Perhaps Joe forgot that Harper and Goldschmit play in the National League. Suspended for PED use while with the Tigers. .828 OPS and 13 homers. LF - Randal Grichuk ® Former first-round pick of the Angels who came to the Cardinals in the David Freese trade (along with Bourjos). Having a nice breakout season (.853 OPS) at age 23. 29 of his 53 hits for extra bases. Leads the NL wth 6 triples. CF - Peter Bourjos (L) Playing every day with Matt Holliday and Jon Jay out. The weak spot in the lineup (a negative 0.3 WAR). 27-year-old rookie Tommy Pham ® has been getting some starts recently but hasn't hit either. RF - Jason Heyward (L) Having a solid but unspectacular season: .273/.327/.416. Free agent at the end of the year. Bench: Nobody of note. Backup infielder Pete Kozma ® and backup catcher Tony Cruz ® don't hit. Bullpen: All-star closer Trevor Rosenthal ® didn't pitch in the ASG because of arm soreness. Has been very good this year (1.49 ERA and 26 saves) but has had a very heavy workload ( Kevin Siegrist (L) has been just as good: 1.55 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 11.5 Ks/9 IP. We also don't want to face Carlos Villaneuva ®; 1.72 ERA and 1.11 WHIP. Miguel Socolovich ® is also bad news: 1.50 ERA, 1.11 WHIP. Randy Choate (L) is the situational reliever (18 innings in 44 appearances). A 4.00 ERA but only a 1.00 WHIP. Injuries: Matt Holliday: quad strain, 15-day DL. Jon Jay: wrist injury, 15-day DL. Jaime Garcia: groin injury, 15-day DL Jordan Walden: biceps injury, hasn't pitched since April. Matt Adams: torn quad, out for the year Adam Wainwright: torn achillies, out for the year. No ex-Mets or ex-Cardinals on either team.

Nymr83 wrote: So I'm not sure where this legend of "poor sportsmanship" comes from. he was walked much less than other prominent homerun hitters in either country including during the season in question. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/03/sports/baseball-american-still-seeks-pitch-to-hit.html

I thought Braun was an injury replacement. I just don't get it. Bochy should understand at this point that home field advantage means something. Why not manage to win? I don't mean throwing DeGrom 6 innings; but the mass substitutions are terrible.

Right now, wouldn't it be nice to have Adrian Gonzalez as a pinch hitter? Screw you, Bruce Bochy. Manage to win, you nincompoop.

Forget Carl Hubbell. Let me introduce you to Jacob deGrom.

Greatest living pitcher is Koufax? And not Seaver, Carlton...or even Maddux?

Nice job by the Cincinnati fans giving it to neck-tattoo-douche.

Spoiler alert: MLB network reporting that deGrom is scheduled for the 6th AND 7th innings.

seawolf17 wrote: And Tuffy Rhodes was never heard from again. He hit about 500 home runs in Japan while also breaking the single-season home run record. I recall there were some incidents of very poor sportsmanship (or worse) when he got close to the record and was intentionally walked repeatedly.

The only thing that matters to ESPN is ratings and money. If Berman is costing them viewers, he'll go away. Best bet is to turn off your TV. This was the first home run derby I've missed in quite some time; I just can't take his buffoonery anymore.

Has any Met ever hit three homers in a home game?

Edgy MD wrote: I read that. It's not particularly fair. I read, at a minimum, two good, not-at-all-unfair points: 1. Good teams overcome injuries; 2. The Mets have done a poor job in securing depth for their team.

The Mets' Misfortune? It's Not All About Bad Luck. http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-mets-misfortune-its-not-all-about-bad-luck-1436553430

MFS62 wrote: Megdal will tell us that if it weren't for the Bernie Madoff scam, the Wilpons would have had enough money to afford the diagnostic equipment that could have spotted this before it became serious. Tough to complain about Megdal having an agenda if posts here are going to have a preemptive agenda against him. There's so much to discuss regarding the Mets' injury problems that don't involve proper nouns beginning with "M." (Aside from "Matz")

Given the Mets' history with these things and absent proof of life, I presume we never see Matz walk this earth again.

Going to need a triple play here. Thanks Murph.

Wow. Brian Stokes finally dethroned.

Ceetar wrote: The Johan Santana game was game 161 of 2008. Until the no-hitter happened. At that point, there was no longer one "Johan Santana Game." Hence he wouldn't be eligible for the list.

The ground rules (above) limited this to games named after Mets, not opposing players or Hall-of-Fame Rock acts. Bringing us back on topic: The Steve Henderson game.

Well, I think I answered that question. It was not a balk; the ball was live; if Granderson advanced he was in jeopardy of being tagged out; if he was tagged out, Terry might have argued; and if the umpires followed the rules, they would not have reviewed the call of whether the throw to first was a balk or not. Same thing would happen in the alternate scenario if the ball went into the stands and the umpires awarded Granderson third. Bochy would not be able to argue that it was instead a balk and the ball was dead.

Frayed Knot wrote: was the throw itself a balk based on there being no fielder at the bag giving Granderson a free pass to 2nd base? No. if so did the umps miss it, or is it something they only would have called if/when Grandy was either tagged out at 2nd or failed to even try to advance? If Granderson was tagged out at second base or failed to advance, too bad for the Mets. Balks (called properly or not) are not reviewable plays.

The Omir Santos game.

Frayed Knot wrote: So that implies that it WOULD have been a balk had Heston NOT thrown it after stepping that way and realizing where Belt was. Yes, exactly. He would have been better off holding the ball and taking the balk rather than risking the ball going into the stands.