What a freaking shit show…
I’m sorry, but as much as I love the New York Mets, they can often bring out the unabashed worst in me, and last night as I watched them blow a six-run lead to the Washington Nationals in the bottom of the ninth, the Mets unleashed the Kraken in me.
Things were actually looking pretty good at first, but it didn’t take long to devolve after one very questionable (what else is new?) decision by Mickey Callaway…
With the Mets leading 10-4 heading into the final three outs of the game, reliever Paul Sewald started the ninth and allowed hits to four of the first five Nationals he faced.
Some, including myself, wondered why Sewald was in the game in the first place especially after an effortless 1-2-3 inning by Seth Lugo in the eighth.
At this point in the season it’s become pretty apparent that Lugo is the best reliever on the team, and being he doesn’t make consecutive appearances anyway, why not let him finish the game and seal the victory for Jacob deGrom?
Things went from bad to worse pretty quickly after Callaway turned to Luis Avilan next, and then from worse to stunningly nightmarish when Edwin Diaz was brought in to stop the bleeding.
Rather than ending the hemorrhaging, Diaz was his usual disastrous self and instead gave up a pinch-hit double to Ryan Zimmerman and then a bone-crushing, walk-off, three-run homer to Kurt Suzuki. Game over.
The scene that unfolded next shook each of us to our core as we couldn’t believe our eyes. It felt like time slowed down to a trickle as the Nationals raucously celebrated on the field as the Mets slowly trotted, heads down, one by one, to the visiting dugout.
This wasn’t just a crushing blow, God knows this team has had plenty of those. This one was different, it was more like a dagger being plunged deep into your heart and easily felt like one of the worst losses in over five years and undoubtedly the worst defeat of this season.
“We definitely let this one get away,” a dejected Jacob deGrom said after it was all over. “It felt like we had it, you know. We were up late in the game and we put together some great at-bats, this was ours to win. This one really hurts.”
Jeff McNeil, who had a two-run single and belted his 18th home run of the season, seemed inconsolable. “This might be the toughest one of the season. We had it. We had it and we blew it.”
“We are chasing the Nationals, we are chasing the Cubs, and a game like that we have got to win.”
McNeil is right of course, you can’t lose a game like that. Not now. Not ever. This loss was a disgrace. That six-run lead is now the largest ninth inning lead the Mets have ever blown in franchise history.
There’s so many questions and blame to go around, but what I really want to know is where was Justin Wilson while this apocalypse was unfolding?
If Lugo is our best reliever, certainly Wilson is our second best, why wasn’t he on call? In a must-win game? Against the Washington f’king Nationals?
What the hell was Mickey thinking? With the bases loaded and the game on the line how do you go to Edwin “The Virus” Diaz (5.65 ERA, 13 HR) instead of Justin Wilson (2.10 ERA, 3 HR)?
If Diaz wasn’t already finished as a Met, he should be now. He is arguably one of the worst Mets acquisitions in a long time and should not pitch in anymore meaningful games as long as the Mets have any hope of still earning a wild card. Diaz has become absolutely worthless. Thanks Brodie.
“It kind of feels like a bad dream,” lamented Brandon Nimmo who had a huge game and has been red hot since being activated from the injured list.
“They scored seven runs in the bottom of the 9th against guys that were throwing 99 miles per hour… I just can’t believe it. I don’t really have words for that. That’s even hard to do in a Little League game.”
Edwin Diaz is literally the difference between the Mets being a Wild Card and not. Simple as that. He has been an absolute train-wreck in every sense of the word.
What did Mickey have to say about Diaz during the postgame? The first words out of his mouth, “He was electric.”
Thanks for your two f’king cents, pitching coach.
You know, we’ve seen the Mets bounce back from some tough losses or stretches more than a few times already this season. They’ve been an incredibly resilient team.
But with 24 games to go and looking at all those demoralized faces in that clubhouse, the looks of shock, the words of dismay, and their overall body language, I’m not so sure the Mets are bouncing back from this one.
I’m not saying they can’t, but that was as stunned and depressing a club house as I’ve seen all season. They finally figured out how to wipe the smile off Brandon Nimmo‘s face.
Shot through the heart…
