I know we’re playing with house money and I know I wrote after the NLDS that no matter what happens the rest of the way, this has been a fun, exciting and truly successful season for the Mets. And all of that is still true and still applies. But to be honest, none of that takes away the pain of Saturday night’s Game 4 loss to the Kansas City Royals. That was as gut-wrenching as you can get and the whole experience made me nauseous and sick to my stomach.
This was a much bigger punch in the gut than that loss against the San Diego Padres on July 30, when the Mets bullpen blew a 7-1 lead late in the game. Tonight’s loss was far more devastating simply because we’re in the World Series and you’re not supposed to lose games this way once you’ve made it this far. We had this fucking game in our back pocket and we gave it away.
I had already counted Game 4 as a win for us after Michael Conforto hit that second home run. The Royals looked like a beaten team and nothing was going their way. After Alex Rios forgot how many outs there were and then Ned Yost compounded it and lost that challenge, it looked like the walls were quickly closing in on the Kansas City Royals. The momentum was clearly on our side as Steven Matz was dealing and for a change we were even catching all the breaks.
But then everything changed so fast. Everything good had quickly evaporated and while there were several contributing factors to this colossal loss, none stood out more than Daniel Murphy‘s eighth inning error that allowed the Royals to come back and tie the game, and then the subsequent play that put the Royals in front for good.
There were other mitigating factors like Terry Collin’s bullpen management, the lackadaisical play by Yoenis Cespedes in center field as well as his unforgivable baserunning gaffe in the ninth that saw him get doubled off at first base to end the game and seal the Mets’ fate.
So instead of the series being tied at two games apiece, the Mets now face elimination on Sunday and they would need to sweep the final three games of the series to win it all. And while it’s not impossible, the odds are so stacked against them. Especially if they continue to give the Royals extra outs like they did tonight.
I’m so pissed off that the team is now in this precarious and critical point in the series. It could have been so different… It should’ve been so different.
After five innings we were looking like a team of destiny, and just one inning later it all fell apart. We couldn’t make any clean plays, we were making too many mental errors as well as physical ones, and our relievers couldn’t put any hitters away with two strikes on them.
It’s well known that the Royals are a relentless team, but this time they didn’t beat us, we beat ourselves, and that’s what makes this loss so painful to deal with.
Why didn’t Collins leave Bartolo Colon in the game? Why did he wait until Clippard issued a second walk to bring in Jeurys Familia? What is the deal with d’Arnaud defensively? What the fuck is Cespedes doing out there?
There are so many other head-scratchers we can pick out as well, but you know what? It still all comes down to Murphy’s error. That was the straw the broke the camel’s back. It’s such a shame too because there were so many good things that happened in this game.
“We put ourselves in a position to win a game today,” said Murphy after the game. “But I misplayed it and there’s no excuse for it. It was my fault and we lost a ball game because of it.”
So now we have our backs against the wall, but with one saving grace… Actually three… Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard. I’ll get some sleep and put this awful night behind me. But I just needed to get this off my chest tonight. Let’s Go Mets.
