Frayed Knot

Runners on 2nd & 3rd / one out in the 1st = 1 run -- 1st & 2nd / none out in the 6th = 0 runs -- 1st & 2nd / two outs in the 7th = 0 runs -- 2nd & 3rd / no outs in the 8th = 1 run -- 1st & 2nd / none out in the 9th = 0 runs

KIMBREL!! https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/scrubs/images/e/e9/3x8_The_Fugitive.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20161001223017>

This game -- barring a comeback -- will be the fourth time in this five-game losing streak where we've out-hit the opposition. It'll also be just the second time that we've scored more than two runs, but each time we've had our worst pitching outings on those days (5-9 in the middle game vs Braves) But the tying run is now at the plate ... so who knows.

NOW Diaz is dominant?!?

Amed has trimmed his beard. a) it's about fuckin' time judging by his game tonight, maybe he needs to grow it back oe: OTOH, there goes his second straight hit, so maybe not

Two ABs could have potentially opened up this game. Ramos's 1-out 1st inning AB where he barely beat out the DP - a run scored by the big inning was killed and JD's AB w/1st & 2nd and no outs in the 6th where he was nipped on the DP relay by about seven strides. Conforto then followed with a ground out. Either or both of those gets stuffed into a gap somewhere and it's a whole 'nother ball game (and if the Queen had balls ... )

This game could honestly turn on the results of this 1st inning Wilson Ramos AB: If Ramos GiDP's then this game is toast, a hit and maybe we're in business. oe: just barely safe.

Alright ... NOW they have a hard hit ball.

Geeeez! 4-zippo, top 1st, still just one out, and the next ball the Cubs hit hard will be their first!!!! Throw in the fact that we'll need AT LEAST five runs to win this and have scored just eight over the last 5-1/2 games combined ... and things are not looking good for the home team.

In what scene does Ringo appear?

It would totally suck if he were to wind up losing the all-time rookie race to Judge by that currently projected 52 to 51.99 margin.

A thoroughly dispiriting game. Perhaps not scoring after the Conforto triple should have been a sign.

* 13-14 Mets: 17-11 Cards: 18-9 Cubs: 16-12 Brewers: 12-14 DBacks: 16-11 SFG: 11-16

This series, though not as hyped or maybe as personal, really has a lot more 'Bigness' to it than the recent ones against Atlanta. Beating the Braves would have been good because it would have brought the whole division closer, and it would have kept alive the slim hope of winning the East. But to even have a hope of that we really needed to take four, or more likely five, of the recent six games. Obviously the 1-5 record squashed any thought of that. So the attention turns solely towards the WC and the Cubs are thick in the middle of it. They're currently holding onto slot #2, four games behind the Nats for the top slot but only 1.0 ahead of Philly, 2.0 up on us, 2.5 clear of the Brewers, with ARZ & SFG sitting 4.0 & 4.5 back. They're also now 3.0 full games in back of StL. They're also not playing real well. Just got swept by the Nats by a combined score of 23-10. They're essentially a .500 team (36-35) since June 1 and their manager who took them to their first WS in 458 years is without a contract beyond this year and no one seems in a hurry to do anything about that. Oh yeah, and their bullpen stinks. Injured (or otherwise not available): Anthony Rizzo - not IL'd but a back issue definitely has him out of tonight's match. After that, he, like the rest of us, is day-to-day. Wilson Contreras - Hammy. Victor Caratini-top and Jonathan Lucroy (cut by LAA then signed by sCrUBS 3 weeks ago) have been donning the tools in his absence Derek Holland - the reliever just picked up at the deadline has since been picked up and put on a shelf Brandon Morrow - singed to be the closer in winter '17-'18, hasn't pitched since July of '18 Ben Zobrist - left the team in the first week of May to deal with a divorce from his cheating whore (or so it has been hinted) of a Christian singer wife. New rumors suggest that he may actually be back with the team by next week. No word on what (or who) she'll be doing next week. We should see Kyle Hendricks (their best, even if not their best known/paid, pitcher) vs Syndergaard on Wednesday and then Jon Lester (four clunkers in his last five starts) vs deGrom on Thursday. Both games scheduled for 1910 EDT

Vic Sage wrote: the only difference between the Mets during their winning streak and the last 4 games is that, instead of getting key hits at key moments, we didn't. So much of baseball is random chance and people are loathe to acknowledge that. They've recently perfected the art of spreading their hits out to one or two per inning, but then excelled at bunching the hits given up to the opposition -- hence the part about out-hitting the Braves by nearly 30% (69 to 54) across six games and yet winning just one of them. P.S. there's a chance that getting out-HR'd 12-4 is a factor as well.

In the recent six NYM/ATL games, the Mets lost 5 of 6 and got out-scored 32-24 despite out-hitting the Braves 69-54 overall.

Seven runs scored in 33 innings for the series against what is essentially a league-average pitching staff. And, of course, the one day you bunch five of those seven runs (three of them on one swing) is also the only one where you allow more than two. Not gonna win games that way.

Even when they're not hitting into GiDPs, they're certainly trying real hard

I predict that if this game were to go another 17 or 18 innings we could probably get the two runs we need.

Frayed Knot wrote: Well we didn't hit any come-backers or into any GiDPs that inning ... so, y'know, there's that. Annnnnnd now we're back on track.

Back-up catcher prototype: Low BA, Good defensively, At least one pitcher on the staff prefers him, Squat body, Can't run for shit, Lotsa Ks, Occasional Power Some factory somewhere is churning one of those models out at the rate of a couple per year.

Well we didn't hit any come-backers or into any GiDPs that inning ... so, y'know, there's that.

Brach almost got out of the inning McNeil almost caught that liner the ump almost rung up Billy Hamilton out on a pitch clearly in the zone and Davis almost participated in a play where the ball was hit to him

The problem is that just enough of these 'eyelash' plays get overturned (despite promises that only the obvious ones would) that managers get a 'what the hell, it might work' attitude, particularly late in games. The Yanx got a force play overturned today in the 9th (it loaded the bases w/1 out in a tie game ... they lost anyway) that I saw from at least six angles and STILL couldn't tell but apparently the umps could. If I were in the 'NY bunker' I wouldn't overturn anything that wasn't super obvious which would revery the replay challenge to how it was originally intended to be used.

Yeah, let's have an inning where the pitcher gets off with a goose egg despite retiring just a single batter!!!