Missed Opportunities Telling Mets' Story
The Mets had their chances against Los Angeles, gotta seize those...
Image credit: Roberto Carlo
Losing two heartbreakers in August while in the midst of an extremely tight three-way pennant race is not ideal no matter how you slice it.
The manner in which the Mets lost to the NL Wild Card-leading Dodgers on Friday (and Saturday, to a lesser extent) in Flushing offers minor consolation, but New York’s situation in the standings hasn’t improved, so there’s not a lot to show for the uptick.
Within striking distance isn’t a terrible place to be. On the surface, one-and-a-half games back with 46 to play is more exciting than daunting. Though, where this road leads in the immediate future will tell more of that story.
New York’s seven-game west coast trip begins on Monday night in San Francisco with four in Los Angeles to follow then three more at home against the Giants beginning next Tuesday.
They haven’t been able to snag a victory away from Los Angeles this weekend, but they fought on Friday and hung in there against one of the best in the business on Saturday.
Again, not ideal. Mildly encouraging, though. You know us; we observe the negative through a positive lens.
In front of yet another raucous, packed Citi Field crowd — 38,669, in fact; nice work, everybody — Los Angeles’ 27-year-old right-handed NL Cy Young Award candidate did what everyone expected him to do; Walker Buehler freaking dazzled.
Heavy gas. Tight sliders. Wicked curves. That seldom-used but ridiculous changeup. Bonafide stud.
Michael Conforto’s solo homer with two outs in the fourth was the only tangible damage the Mets could hang on Buehler’s line. And for a while, it was all that was needed. But it arguably shouldn’t have been.
The Mets had the leadoff runners on in the fifth (Jonathan Villar single and stolen base) and the seventh innings (J.D. Davis leadoff single, Villar walk) but couldn’t cash in either ticket to ride.
With the effort their starting pitcher was putting forth, a few more converted chances could have changed the entire dynamic of the ballgame.
The bullpen usage was another issue altogether, but it’s certainly one that wouldn’t have been as crucial if the Mets had been able to pad the boxscore.
Scuffling Mets right-hander Taijuan Walker (9.86 ERA over his previous five starts; 21 IP) turned in six-and-a-third hitless innings of work before Will Smith ended the goose-egg party with a game-tying solo homer in the seventh.
Walker making necessary adjustments to rediscover the form that garnered the 29-year-old his first All-Star nod this summer is a huge development at just the right time for the Mets.
Without the services of Jacob deGrom at their disposal for an undetermined amount of time — could be mid-September, could be next April — this rotation will need the level of production they’ve received from Walker and Marcus Stroman as of late.
It’s the only way, in fact. Well, that and the offense continuing to tilt their trajectory upward.
Buehler and the Dodgers’ bullpen (Alex Vesia, Phil Bickford, and Corey Knebel) kept runs at a premium on Saturday, but there’s been a noticeable change in the tides.
Over eight games from August 1 through August 8, the Mets scored just 20 runs total. Over their previous four games heading into Saturday, the Mets had scored 22 runs.
That’s a great thing. But short-lived peaks will not suffice in getting this ballclub to where they want to be down the home stretch.
Conforto’s re-emergence has come at a most opportune time. Since the calendar turned to August, Scooter’s hitting .316/.409/.579 with four doubles, two homers, and eight strikeouts in 44 plate appearances.
Those are triple-jumps from where the Mets’ starting right-fielder was just a few weeks ago and could prove invaluable as the season is whittled down over the next six-odd weeks.
It’s gonna take a village to make this thing happen. Walker and Conforto falling back into their respective rhythms will ease that process along tremendously.
Carlos Carrasco putting the Metropolitans on his back before the boys head west on Sunday night would be pretty cool too. LFGM.
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