Lefty Specialist

Yeah, they need to find a lefty somewhere. Anywhere. This one better not get away.

Rockin' Doc wrote: Here's hoping even O'Flaherty can't screw up this game. Well, he's certainly giving it the old college try.

Ha. 7 shutout innings. Who'da thunk it. And he strikes out the side. Hilarious.

Yes, super-short leash, please. But nice strikeout to start things off.

Hm. Hope they didn't let this guy off the hook, because I don't trust Bartolo.

Okay, that's a good start. Would have liked to pile on, but you can't have everything.

Rashida Jones needs to find better friends even more than she needs faster wi-fi.

Toyota Jan faces her own Terminator- Rise of the Machines moment on the showroom floor.

Rookie they've never seen before. Danger, Will Robinson. A fly ball pitcher like Bartolo could be problematic the way balls are flying out of CBP this week.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Edgy MD wrote: Notable is that Cespedes is one lazy-assed baserunner � including last night � and one of these days, I suspect, that trait of his will munch on the Mets' behinds. I got problems with several of our new guys - Cespedes tries so hard to hit home runs he barely does anything right beyond that (aside from the inevitable doubles, and don't think I'm devaluing dingers cuz I'm not). Clippard is impossible to watch -- excruciatingly slow working. If I were the Phillies I'd be on him for 'slow-pitching' them. O'Flaherty sucks. Clippard is hard to watch, but he generally gets out of his messes, and I'd rather have him pitching the 8th than anybody else. Cespedes, yes, you can see the flaws in his game, and he can be too casual in his approach. I'm kind of glad they won't be committing to him long-term, because I could see his act getting tiring after a while. But damn, he's talented. O'Flaherty- trap door. Uribe- Every time he gets up Keith says 'he doesn't get cheated' after his takes a powerful swing and a miss. Far better defensively than I expected, though, and he runs into one occasionally. Kelly Johnson- a bit of a disappointment, but he's a pro, and I'd rather have him coming off my bench than Eric Campbell. Conforto- 2016 came early. The average is starting to come up, and he doesn't seem fazed by the heat of a pennant race. What these guys have provided is the flexibility Terry was missing. When you're putting up Danny Muno to pinch hit, you might as well leave the pitcher in. And now you can play matchups all over the infield and outfield. It's what real teams do and it had been lacking. Now you can rest Granderson against lefties. You can have a Cuddyer pinch-hit in a crucial situation instead of Darrell Ceciliani. You can bring in a Juan Lagares for late-inning defense. So many more good choices than just a month ago.

Edgy MD wrote: A little fair credit here. The guy won a stolen base title. He may never play, but his skills match places where the Mets are poor. There's no real downside. Exactly this. It's good to have a great base stealer in your toolbox down the stretch. I don't care if he gets a single AB, but if he steals a single crucial base or scores from first on a double it's worth it.

31. Rose goes in the front, big guy.

I didn't have a problem with Murphy not taking third on that. You don't want to show up a team you already have a 7-run lead on in the 8th inning. Larry Bowa was trying to get the Phils riled up with the quick-pitch hoo-hah last night, and who knows, they may take it out on Bartolo tonight. I prefer to let sleeping dogs lie. That's why I hate bat-flips and stolen bases when you're up big late in a game.

Time to pull the ripcord on Erin O'Flaherty, Sandy.

CowDuffy!!!!

Now, THAT'S what I'm talking about.

OK, you got into their bullpen, Mets. Now do something with the opportunity.

Not topping last night, so far.

Edgy MD wrote: Seeing as how they did what they did last night without their two best 2015 hitters � Granderson and Duda � I'm starting to think that really have turned a corner and have a really good lineup and that last night, leaving aside the last-place-opponent factor, was real. Irrational? A month ago I would have said yes. But things seem to be clicking now.

Don't know how much longer they can put up these cartoonish numbers, but it sure is fun, innit?

Frayed Knot wrote: I know. I think the odds are in the Mets favor, but a bad week can change that dramatically. Tonight's game isn't technically a "must win" but it feels like one, and that definitely counts for something. Well, looks like they nailed it, despite an abysmal deGrom. It was a nice, demoralizing shot across the bow. Let's hope they (the Phillies, that is) lay down a bit now. You know who this has to be demoralizing for? -- Nats fans. You can imagine a guy checking out the scores, seeing the early 7-2 score with deGrom unable to last the 3rd inning and figuring that his boys grabbed a half-game while kicking back on an off day. Then you can imagine the same guy checking in on things a bit later .... "Oh Shit!" Fortunately for my Nats-rooting cousins, I'm too nice a guy to taunt them right now. Plus there's that karma shit which may decide to come back and bite me if I did. Come. Smell the schadenfreude as the 'Haha, Mets are melting down!' comments turn into 'holy shit!' comments. http://www.wnff.net/index.php?topic=32537.1275

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I know. I think the odds are in the Mets favor, but a bad week can change that dramatically. Tonight's game isn't technically a "must win" but it feels like one, and that definitely counts for something. Well, looks like they nailed it, despite an abysmal deGrom. It was a nice, demoralizing shot across the bow. Let's hope they (the Phillies, that is) lay down a bit now.

Where do you go from up? I think we learned last night that getting into the Phillies bullpen is a really good idea.

Fman99 wrote: I am giddy. I've been giddy for 4 days. My co-workers are concerned.

lol at Gary. "The Mets kick the extra point"