The Mets (41-49) beat the Braves (49-41) by a score of 8-3 on Tuesday night at Citi Field.
Jacob deGrom got the start for the Mets and was fantastic. By the way, if nobody has coined the term “deGromination” yet, I’m totally going to do that. The rookie went 7 scoreless innings, giving up 7 hits, walking none, and fanning 11.
The Mets rocked Julio Teheran early and often. Curtis Granderson got things started by leading off the bottom of the 1st with his 14th home run of the season. New York struck again in the bottom of the 2nd, when singles by deGrom (who does it all) and Grandy set the table for Daniel Murphy, who doubled home both runners. Murphy came in to score on David Wright‘s RBI single, and it was 4-0 Mets after 2. The Mets got to Teheran one more time in the bottom of the 3rd, when Travis d’Arnaud singled and later scored on a base hit by Eric Young.
The Mets tacked on some insurance against David Hale in the bottom of the 6th. Murphy doubled for a 2nd time, and Duda doubled on a ball which was misplayed by BJ Upton, who is basically the Braves’ slightly less terrible, but much more expensive version of Chris Young. Murphy came in to score and put the Mets up 6-0.
The Mets got yet another run in the next inning against David Carpenter. After d’Arnaud and Ruben Tejada singled to start the inning, Kirk Nieuwenhuis smacked a pinch-hit double to right to chase home Travis and make it 7-0 Mets.
Buddy Carlyle came in to replace deGrom in the top of the 8th and struck out 2 batters while giving up a walk and a single. Terry Collins decided to pull Buddy so he could bring in the lefty to face Jason Heyward with a 7 run lead (?!?!?!??!), and Dana Eveland trotted in from the bullpen. Heyward singled up the middle and Andrelton Simmons put the brakes on at third, but when Juan Lagares got lazy in center, Simmons changed his mind and charged home to score the Braves’ first run.
The Mets got that run back in the 8th, when Duda doubled past the shift and Lagares poked a double of his own down the line to chase Lucas home.
Eveland ran into some trouble in the top of the 9th and was pulled up 8-1 with the bases loaded and 1 out. Terry brought in Jeurys Familia, who gave up a 2-run single to Freddie Freeman but eventually wrapped up an 8-3 victory for New York.
The win was the 4,000th in Mets history.
deGrom was great tonight. He’s been great since we called him up. He throws strikes and he doesn’t seem to lose his head in big spots. I like this guy. And he can also hit…
Ahhh, hitting. Isn’t baseball much more fun to watch when your team scores runs? The Mets’ bats have come alive lately, and they’re starting to hit for some power, too. Duda is hitting, Grandy is hitting, Wright is hitting, Murphy is hitting, even Tejada is hitting.
And Travis d’Arnaud has been hitting, ever since he was back up from the minors. As I’ve said all along, you can’t declare somebody a bust and a bum after 4 months in the Majors. He was a top prospect, and he was traded for 2 Cy Young winners, for a reason. He’s starting to show why. He has potential, and he’s starting to produce. His throwing hasn’t been great lately, but I’d rather have a Mike Piazza than a Jose Molina.
Terry, please stop trying to use every reliever in every game. Tonight’s game was a blowout. If tomorrow’s is close, you’ll regret having let the relievers play hot potato with the baseball in this one.
I’m not sure whether I have a strong opinion on the pitcher batting 8th. It seems like it helps our offense, but it might just be a coincidence. I’ll have to look into that a bit more…
The Mets are 8 games out now, and with 2 more games against the Braves, they can make up some more ground if they keep playing well. I’ll be going to Citi Field to catch the game for the first time in awhile, so I’ll be checking if our newfound offensive prowess was simply a figment of my television’s imagination…
Nice win. Let’s keep it up.
Up Next: The Mets will continue their series with the Braves on Wednesday night at Citi Field. Dillon Gee (3-1, 2.73 ERA) will make his return from the Disabled List, and he will face Ervin Santana (7-5, 3.93 ERA). Game time is 7:10 PM.
