The Mets (63-77) lost to the Indians (76-65) by a score of 9-4 on Saturday Night at Jacobs Field (I won’t call anything about that Cleveland team “Progressive” until they change their logo.)
Jon Niese took the ball for the Mets and was dreadful early, giving up six runs — five were earned, and the unearned run was a result of his own error — in the first two innings. Niese was leaving everything over the plate and was getting hammered.
The Mets got a run in the 2nd on an RBI hit from Matt den Dekker, and after that, Niese settled in a bit, firing four scoreless innings. The Mets made it a ballgame in the 6th, as Justin Turner followed up last night’s homer with a rocket two-bagger to score two, then scoring on Juan Lagares‘ single to make it a two-run game.
The Indians promptly answered and put the game away with an Asdrubal Cabrera 3-run homer in the 7th inning. The Mets failed to put up a fight after that, and feebly went down once again, putting another loss in the books.
The offense wasn’t great tonight, but it showed life in the middle innings after Corey Kluber kept them quiet early. Justin Turner has been hitting the ball very well lately, and Juan Lagares is hot too (in fact, his 12-game hitting streak is the longest for a Mets rookie since José Reyes).
One guy who has NOT he stringbeen hitting the ball well? Travis d’Arnaud, and it’s pretty disappointing. Sure, he’s only been in the Majors for a month, but it’s not as if his problems stem from nerves… he has a big flaw in his swing and this has to be addressed. He hasn’t thrown the ball too well, either. Of course, Travis should get to play in at least 16 of the final 22 games, because the results don’t really matter at this point. Hopefully he can end his year on a positive note, before gearing up for his first full season in 2014.
Speaking of results, at this point, it might help the Mets to lose. “The Plan” is all about flexibility, and it would be frustrating to see the front office handcuffed by an unprotected draft pick once again, especially if it is a matter of one or two wins here and there. Of course, it won’t be surprising if we come up with ANOTHER excuse not to make major moves (Cano is “old”, Ellsbury “isn’t worth it”, and CarGo can’t be acquired due to injuries to what had been a deep stable of pitchers in the organization). But hey, if we’re going to sit on our hands, let’s try to have a different reason for doing so every year, right?
Now for some less pessimistic, cynical analysis… it was really nice to see Niese settle down despite getting off to a start that had Mets fans waiting for Anthony Recker to toe the rubber. Obviously, today was a poor start overall for Jon, but he showed his tough makeup after his rocky start and continues to show that he can be a solid piece of the rotation going forward.
Den Dekker was also very solid, getting 2 hits and an RBI while flashing good speed and making plays look easy in Center. This team isn’t playing for much, but it’s fun to catch a glimpse of players who might be a big piece of the future going forward.
The Mets will try to salvage the final game of their series with the Indians tomorrow. Daisuke Matsuzaka (0-3, 10.95 ERA) will try to finally put together a competent outing against Danny Salazar (1-2, 3.00 ERA) at 1:05 PM.
