The Mets snatched a tie from the jaws of defeat in their preseason finale, playing the Rangers to a 4-4 draw at Globe Life Park on Saturday afternoon.
Dillon Gee got the start against the Rangers (not for them, as a certain blog seemed certain would happen) and was decent at best, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks in 4.2 innings, striking out 4.
Ross Detwiler took the hill for Texas to begin the game, and worked around a single from David Wright to put up a goose egg in his lone inning of work.
Gee got himself into a bit of two-out trouble in the home half of the first, hitting Mitch Moreland to put runners on first and second after Shin-Soo Choo had bunted to beat a shift. But the Mets’ recently confirmed #5 starter struck out Ryan Rua to escape the jam.
Nick Martinez came in for Texas to pitch the top of the second and worked a perfect inning, as did Gee in the bottom half. Chi Chi Gonzalez entered as the Rangers’ third pitcher in as many innings, but he would remain on the mound for far longer than his teammates. Gonzalez retired the side in order for the first of his five scoreless frames. Gee again got into trouble with two outs, walking Elvis Andrus and giving up a single to Choo, but retired Moreland to once again emerge unscathed.
Curtis Granderson started off the top of the fourth with a single, but the Mets failed to take advantage of the leadoff baserunner, setting the tone for the next few innings. Texas finally got to Gee (the operative word being “to”) in the bottom of the fourth when Rua hit a leadoff double and scored on a two-out single from Adam Rosales.
John Mayberry was hit by a pitch to begin the fifth, but was erased when Wilmer Flores‘ failed bunt turned into a force-out at second. Danny Muno worked a two-out walk, but Darrell Ceciliani struck out looking to strand the runners.
Gee was again rocky in the bottom of the fifth. Delino DeShields drew a leadoff walk, stole second, and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. Gee then nailed Jake Smolinski with a pitch before a hard-hit ball off the bat of Trever Adams couldn’t be handled by Muno at second, allowing DeShields to score on what was ruled an infield single. Gee bounced back and caught Nick Williams looking for the second out, but Terry Collins decided to pull the plug on the righty and call upon the newly acquired Alex Torres, who retired Nomar Mazara to close the book on Gee and keep it a 2-0 game.
Alex Castellanos led off the sixth with a base-hit, but Gonzalez got Eric Campbell to hit into a double-play and kept the Mets off the board once more.
Torres got the first Ranger out in the bottom of the sixth, but things soon took a rough turn for the lefty. After Tyler Pastornicky walked, Guilder Rodriguez reached on an error by Muno, putting runners on first and second. DeShields hit into a fielder’s choice to put runners at the corners with two away. A wild pitch and a walk brought the third Texas run home and put runners on first and second. Sean Gilmartin came into the game to face Smolinski, who hit a slow grounder which Muno was inexplicably unable to reach, capping off a rough day in the field for Daniel. Garia scored to make it 4-0 Texas, before Gilmartin induced a groundout from Adams to end the inning.
Johnny Monell began the seventh with a single, but the Mets could not bring him home, wasting a leadoff baserunner for the fourth consecutive inning. Gilmartin pitched a scoreless bottom half, with some help from Anthony Recker, who caught Nick Williams stealing.
Andrew Faulkner came on to pitch the eighth for Texas and retired the side in order. Zach Thornton took care of the hosts in the bottom of the inning, and the Mets came up to the plate for their final chance in the top of the ninth.
Faulkner got the first two Mets out to put Texas on the cusp of victory, but then the wheels fell off. Monell worked a walk, Maryberry singled, and Matt Reynolds drew a free pass to load the bases and bring Recker to the plate as the tying run. Jesus Pirela was called upon to get the final out and failed miserably. Recker grabbed ahold of a fat pitch and sent it over the wall in center for a grand slam, evening the game at 4. Muno and Ceciliani then walked to put the go-ahead run in scoring position, but Castellanos’ deep fly to left died at the warning track, and the game moved to the home half of the ninth.
Thornton got two quick outs in the ninth before allowing a single to Drew Robinson (Muno made a great diving play to keep the ball in the infield and redeem himself to a small extent). But there would be no more two-out magic in this one, as Williams struck out to end the inning, at which point the game was ruled a tie.
The final game of Spring Training ended in a tie, which is a great way to underscore the fact that, from a results standpoint, Spring Training really doesn’t matter. It’s not real.
But confidence is real. And the fun is real. And the lone tear that probably rolled down the cheek of Monell as Recker trotted around the bases was real. The Mets had a fantastic spring, going 19-12, and they did better with the bats than anybody could have hoped for.
The Mets had a frustrating day offensively, but Recker eased their woes with his clutch blast in the ninth (he seems to have a knack for timely homers, doesn’t he?). The pitchers weren’t particularly convincing, but allowing 4 runs isn’t all that bad, and the Rangers got some cheap hits and runs along the way.
To be honest, I’m not convinced that the Mets’ pitching is going to be amazing. Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom are studs, Jon Niese should be a solid #3 if healthy (a big if), and Bartolo Colon and Gee are solid #4 guys who could each be a #3 on a few teams. We have some young (but unknown) depth in the wings with Rafael Montero, Noah Syndergaard, and Steven Matz. Our pitching is good. But without Wheeler, it doesn’t have that 3-ace upside (unless Niese finally has that real breakout year), and our bullpen looks shaky, so it’s really not going to get us into the playoffs if the team isn’t hitting.
But that’s why it’s so great that the team is hitting. Granderson, Wright, Lagares, Duda, Cuddyer… the guys that we need to hit are hitting. Flores looked pretty good. Mayberry was awesome. Recker and Monell each showed pop. Tejada looked competent. Murphy is expected to be back for Opening Day, and we all know what a pro he is at the dish. Travis d’Arnaud still needs to get it going, but that’s nothing that five seconds with Kevin Long won’t fix, apparently.
The Mets were fun to watch this past month. They were one of the best teams in the league. Now it’s time for the real games. Let’s see if they can carry over all these positives, stay healthy, have some luck, and make it a year to remember.
Up Next: The Mets will open up their 2015 campaign on Monday against the Nationals in Washington D.C. Matt Harvey Bartolo Colon will face Max Scherzer at 4:05 PM.
I’ll see you all then. LGM!
