Stephanie was in an optimistic mood after last night’s game, believe it or not, and it wasn’t due to the post-game Nas concert… This is her first full-length piece that isn’t a Player of the Week, enjoy her collection of thoughts after the game and play nice in the comments… (Satish R.)
Jeremy Hefner has never fared well against the Phillies. It’s just one of those weird baseball things, but the stats actually back it up, too. But bare me with here and do a little speculating. There’s no arguing that Hefner just didn’t have his best stuff last night, and that happens to even the best of pitchers. But say that after he came out of the game, Burke doesn’t give up the Michael Young homer. Let’s say he was able to retire him, and the next two batters as he did, and the score would be 8-0. Maybe that somehow compels Terry not to replace him with Edgin, and the Chase Utley homer never happens — so the score stays at 8-0. I know I sound completely irrational, but hang with me for a little bit. Now, that all being said, perhaps the Mets offense was able to do exactly what it did tonight. The David Wright ninth inning home run would have capped off a brilliant comeback, and all of a sudden people are chirping about how much fight this team has.
But since those home runs did happen, and the score was 13-8 in all actuality after 9 instead of 8-8, the Mets were instead tabbed as teases and the losers who always put together late efforts that amounted to too little, too late. Instead of tweeting “LOLMets” and letting my mood drop, I sat back and thought about this. The fact that our Mets, who struggle so badly scoring at home, were able to pull together 8 runs, is a very good sign — especially when we take note of the guys who were getting hits. Ike Davis went 2-for-4, John Buck went 2-for-5 and Juan Lagares went 2-3 after coming in as a pinch hitter. Small sample size? Obviously, but these are the guys that we need to see start hitting, and it needs to start somewhere.
The amazing thing, and somewhat disappointing simultaneously, is that eight runs might have been enough to take a win during any other Hefner start — or rather, any other start recently for that matter. Harvey can only dream of his team pulling together run support like that! If the Mets want to get to .500, offense is crucial. They’ve already gotten everything they could have asked for out of their starting pitching. Mix what you saw tonight from the offense plus what you’ve been seeing from the starting pitching and you see a team very capable of fighting their way back to .500 — maybe even beyond. I know that the Mets aren’t going to start averaging eight runs a game or something outlandish like that, but they have the potential to start producing. Don’t let one bad start by Hefner — which, for all intents and purposes, he was probably due for — change your perception of what he’s given to the team the eight or so starts before last night. He’ll most definitely pull himself together and give you the kind of effort he has been for the past month in his next outing, which is all you could possibly ask from him.
My point, though? Last night’s game was actually a POSITIVE sign. Not trying to beat a dead horse here, but the fight in this team IS real, and it is so important! Being in an 11-0 hole and coming back to score eight runs shows incredible determination. They were well aware of their position, but not one player hung their head and said “Why bother? It’s over.” They racked up hits, got on base and were one Josh Satin swing away from being right back in the game.
That’s the kind of play that the Mets could give you this second half — and that’s what could allow them to hit .500 again. The ol’ Yogi Berra “It ain’t over till it’s over” line is what the Mets need to live by, and they need to stop at nothing to let people know that. Last year, it seemed like they had all given up by August, but not this year. By August, you could see a team busting its butt every game to climb back to .500. Call me crazy, call me unreasonable, call me delusional. All I’m saying is that the Mets have been playing very good ball as of late, and take away one bad starting pitching performance from a guy who has NEVER faired out well against the Phillies and you’ve got something here.
I never like to throw in the towel. Ya gotta believe!
