NFT: New York Mets vs. Walgreens Nationals - Game 3 - Avoid Sweep

But he is now OFFICIALLY a firefly. Fun team to follow now ;)

LOL.. can't even get out of the first inning.

This was so easy to see coming.

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nonsense. The Mets need to make a statement here. If the Nat's sweep us they still own us. Don't discount the psychology here. We have been their bi_ch for a long time now. We need to make a statement tonight. I thought we were past this with the sweep down in D.C. but I guess not. Last year it was Dusty Baker running up the score with 20 runs in one game and keeping his starters in to hit lasers against Plawecki. What did Collins do....nothing. No knock down pitches...nothing. We need to man up against this team and show some backbone.

need to move Matz to the bullpen when Vargas comes back and keep Wheeler in the rotation. He is just so disappointing every start

Get Lugo warm because Matz might not even get out of this inning.

Harvey or Matz have to be the ones Vargas replaces. I think Wheeler is a better option than both right now.

gutless!!!!!! Teams that care about winning (Red Sox/Yankees) don't take this sitting down. You would see a brawl started by the team getting pushed around. Not our Metsies. No knock down pitches no fisticuffs no life...we just roll over and take it.

In comment 13919484 arcarsenal said:

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Harvey or Matz have to be the ones Vargas replaces. I think Wheeler is a better option than both right now.

I think it has to be Matz. He still has options, right? He's got to get the homers under control.

In comment 13919491 Chris L. said:

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gutless!!!!!! Teams that care about winning (Red Sox/Yankees) don't take this sitting down. You would see a brawl started by the team getting pushed around. Not our Metsies. No knock down pitches no fisticuffs no life...we just roll over and take it.

Get this garbage out of the thread.

In comment 13919492 Eric on Li said:

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In comment 13919484 arcarsenal said: Quote: Harvey or Matz have to be the ones Vargas replaces. I think Wheeler is a better option than both right now. I think it has to be Matz. He still has options, right? He's got to get the homers under control.

I think so. Neither guy can throw a pitch past the 5th inning, so one has to be removed because we can't have these guys pitching back to back and putting this type of strain on the pen with or without our nice little shuttle service.

Anyway, this is the team I expected this year. Feeble, shitty AB's. Still getting owned by the fucking Nats in our own park. Teams running wild on us. All that fun stuff.

Ugh.

that we only had two starters that we could count on to be good. Harvey and Matz don’t look a lot better than last year over a short sample. Maybe Wheeler and Gsellmen might be better options.

In comment 13919498 arcarsenal said:

I think so. Neither guy can throw a pitch past the 5th inning, so one has to be removed because we can't have these guys pitching back to back and putting this type of strain on the pen with or without our nice little shuttle service.

Anyway, this is the team I expected this year. Feeble, shitty AB's. Still getting owned by the fucking Nats in our own park. Teams running wild on us. All that fun stuff.

Ugh. [/quote]

It's not as bad as they've looked the last 2 nights and it's not as good as they looked the first 12.5 games. Cespedes and Coforto are the only guys who can qualify as "studs", and the reality is top lineups have more than that. So Frazier/Bruce being cold, Rosario slumping, the catchers, etc.

Much better inning for Matz here - but the bats have to get going. It's fucking Tanner Roark.

Absolutely no excuses to get swept when Rendon, Murphy, and Eaton are all out of the lineup AND we miss Max + Stras. Not acceptable.

So he’ll have a whole knew team to listen to all his excuses for his crappy output. Matz is a lefty so that automatically gives him more rope. But I don’t like his makeup either. Lugo and Gsellman are planting the seeds for their runs in the rotation.

I definitely didn't expect the Mets to keep on the pace they were on - I said several times during the stretch that we were going to hit a rough patch sooner than later.

It's just really grinding at me that we had such a golden opportunity going into this series to put a huge gap between us and WSH while they were ailing a bit and not at 100% and instead, we let them right back into the race.

I can deal with losing to Gio.. we can never hit him.

But losing a deGrom start when Journeyman Jeremy is on the mound for the Nats and all those key guys are out of the lineup really turned the tide here.

Things aren't going to get any easier when we go to ATL. This team started 12-2 and might not even be in first place anymore within a week. That sucks.

Batting Average was like .238. The Mets fit right in that mold. It’s a long season and we were never running away with it. Would’ve have been nice to have some of these hitters maintain healthy production to start the season but that wasn’t meant to be.

This only sucks more because it’s the Nationals and they’ve owned the division with relative ease the last five years or so (minus 2005). But their is a reason they can’t get out of the first round of the playoffs. Easy to boost up the sexy wins number when you get to beat up on a shitty division each year.

We swept them the first series and they didn’t have their excuse of being without Rendon and Eaton then. The Mets can hang with the Nats. All is good. Just ride out this bump and Mickey can’t let Harvey and Matz pitch us out of games.

but as they say, it's not just who you play, but when you play them. Just so happens it's the F'ing Nats in town playing a team with ice cold bats. Obviously the Matz isn't helping matters and to be honest I'll never have any degree of confidence in him ever putting it all together.

Wheeler and Matz look like 3 and 4 starters to me. Matz seems to have settled in much like Wheeler last night. The lineup is ice fucking cold.

Just gave up a run in the 4th inning:

4 4 1 1 2 2
55P 36K
8GO 2FO

Whoa! A hit with RISP! I almost forgot what that looked like.

LOL. Zimmerman is a fucking mess trying to throw a baseball.

Jeez, yanking Matz already? I would have let him hit here.

Matz looked like he was in a groove. Not sure I would have pulled him. This bullpen hasn’t looked good this week

Wtf. Hope this pays off.

Roark having an absolute meltdown

Unbelievable. A fucking DP. Of course.

Let him right off the hook and now PHing for Matz is all for naught.

Panic managing tonight. Jeesh this isn’t the playoffs dude

Roark really should have been tossed by now. Cmon man. The guy has been barking at this umpire non stop.

Now everything going wrong. Rosario, the fastest Mets, hits a gidp with bases loaded. Unbelievable

5 4 1 1 2 3k
65P 44K
9 GO 2 FO

with Matz, look at the splits below and tell me what inning stands out.

I'd hope guys with the pedigree of Callway and Eiland can figure this out. For a pitcher whose barely seen the 7th inning (or beyond) the 1st shouldn't be so hard.

His 3rd innings aren't great either, though.

He looked like he was really settled in - so I would have let him keep going to see how much further he could have gone but had him on a short leash.

That said, Sewald looks fantastic - so, it's not hurting us at all thus far.

the Mets this game besides the anemic offense (2 f-ing hits through 5 against Tanner Roark?) is Matz regular 1st inning bullshit.

Excellent debut by Peterson tonight. Through lots of strikes, not helped by his defense, but did s great job pitching through it. Stiff wind out to right didn’t matter because all they could do was pound it into the ground. Nice job young man.

So far, after the terrible loss, they have shown zero. Still three innings left. Let’s go Mets!!

Bruce is such a shitty fielder. Ugh.

You cannot let that fucking ball get by you.

Another out wasted in Reyes. He looks absolutely LOST.

easy outs in this lineup right now. Just brutal to watch!

4 2 3 2 3B SB (Home)

Matz completely melted down. It was an infield hit, a walk to Harper, and one mistake pitch to Zimmerman.

Just an unfortunate sequence than it was bad pitching.

Might be cooking here.

Bases loaded... 0 out.

Here come the shitty AB's now.

Fucking FINALLY.

Fraze!

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Let’s go!!!

Have to have to have to take the lead here.

Cannot leave this inning tied when we have the bases juiced with one out.

Awful

In comment 13919657 Rflairr said:

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Awful

Yup. Zero discipline. Went up there hacking away like a chicken with his head cut off and gave Madson an easy out.

Terrible.

YES YES

JLA!!!

Familla

You can tell they've all been just as frustrated as us. Those clutch hits felt good.

Gotta finish this one out the right way.

In comment 13919663 Rflairr said:

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Familla

Nats broadcast team. They never stop chirping but had no comment for the turning point of the game.

In comment 13919668 Shecky said:

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In comment 13919663 Rflairr said: Quote: Familla

LOL. This is good.

Let's go, Scooter! Bust it open.

Great AB, Mikey.

This isn't quite as bad as our 8th inning in Game 1 - but it's good enough payback for me if we can hang on and take this one.

FP never stops talking but was completely silent for Juan's game-changing double. Total amateur

In comment 13919683 Pete in MD said:

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FP never stops talking but was completely silent for Juan's game-changing double. Total amateur

I honestly feel bad that you have to listen to them - I had to do it a couple times and they're absolutely brutal.

CES!!!!

Grand fucking Slam.

Looks like we woke up.

With authority

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good on many levels. So cathartic and really needed this one before heading out on the road.

Erased

Forget the Mets... I needed that as a fan.

We definitely one upped their 8th inning from Monday.

I think we're safe here with a 7 run lead.. knock on wood. Let's close the door.

And hit the fucker!!

just showing what he can do. Don’t give him something to hit.

his addition was the one that brought some optimism to the offseason and not to put too much on him, but his ability to take big at bats (in addition to Conforto and Cespedes) and deliver will go a long to getting this team over the tipping point of 80 win team --> 90 win team.

...

In comment 13919686 arcarsenal said:

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In comment 13919683 Pete in MD said: Quote: FP never stops talking but was completely silent for Juan's game-changing double. Total amateur I honestly feel bad that you have to listen to them - I had to do it a couple times and they're absolutely brutal.

The two assholes were really excited by Zimmerman’s meaningless HR in the 9th. It makes me really appreciate the Mets crew who know baseball and aren’t just embarrassing cheerleaders.

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What happened?

Needed to see that fight and resolve at some point in this series.

Sorry I've been such a fucking negative nancy on these threads - I just hate missed opportunities and the first two games + 7 innings of this game were massively frustrating.

Not even mad that WSH took 2 of 3 - just really did not want to get swept and have the team leave this homestand feeling like they erased a lot of the great baseball they played before it.

ATL is going to be a major pain in the ass methinks - so we're going to have our hands full down there.

that was a very close play at the plate and he not only got an awesome jump at 2nd but cut the corner and got his hand in there. His jump at 2nd started with the pitch and if he was even half a step behind he was out.

This team has talent!

and had the bases loaded? And then realized that we had a tie game and the only pinch hitter left was Nido.

*raises hand*

Nice win.

In comment 13919732 PhiPsi125 said:

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and had the bases loaded? And then realized that we had a tie game and the only pinch hitter left was Nido. *raises hand*

After the Wilmer AB I definitely didn't think we were going to score again.

That’s a break for this series

Sort of random - but I thought the pre/post shows were going to suffer when Bobby O didn't get his contract renewed - but Figgy is fantastic.

For the Rangers fans here - he reminds me of Valiquette just as far as the insight and points he makes. He's really great in this spot. I enjoy hearing his takes.

this win showed me a lot. Battled back. 13-4!

Ugh Swarzak shut down. Still having pain/discomfort.

Not in dire need of him right now but was looking forward to getting him back. Seems like this is going to be one of those things that lingers for a while.

Turning down Kipnis for Sewald actually looks kind of smart right now given how good Sewald has been in the early going and Kipnis is off to a pretty rough start while Cabrera has been tearing the cover off the ball.

In comment 13919793 arcarsenal said:

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Ugh Swarzak shut down. Still having pain/discomfort. Not in dire need of him right now but was looking forward to getting him back. Seems like this is going to be one of those things that lingers for a while. Turning down Kipnis for Sewald actually looks kind of smart right now given how good Sewald has been in the early going and Kipnis is off to a pretty rough start while Cabrera has been tearing the cover off the ball.

Yeah with the way Cabrera has been turning double plays, I'm good with the way things worked out vs. 3 years of Kipinis. I like Kipinis and he would have been a better fit hitting leadoff, but coming off the injury and adjusting to NY might have been tough.

good.

Todd Frazier comes up big again. What a terrific signing.

Lagares drives in the go ahead runs. Great start to the season for him.

Conforto off to a bit of a rough start but good ABs at crucial times. That walk was key.

Cespedes: 17 RBIs in 17 games. Nuff said.

about the sweep, now let's see if this team has the stuff to go back to winning ways.

They are horrendous! They went through that 8th inning talking about Madson like he was giving some sort of heroic effort and doing a great job. Couldn't stop talking about how you can't question the decision to bring him in there.

The guy just came into the 8th inning with a 2 run lead and gave up 6 runs. But bringing him in was the right call, and he pitched really well.

I had to remind myself the Nats aren't owned by Daniel Snyder, and he was probably not standing behind them with a knife to their throats while they called the game.

but a 12-1 start should have bought a little more confidence than to have people start freaking out after two bad games against a team they will be battling for the division. And I was as upset as anyone after that horrible inning.

In comment 13920032 Mike from Ohio said:

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They are horrendous! They went through that 8th inning talking about Madson like he was giving some sort of heroic effort and doing a great job. Couldn't stop talking about how you can't question the decision to bring him in there. The guy just came into the 8th inning with a 2 run lead and gave up 6 runs. But bringing him in was the right call, and he pitched really well. I had to remind myself the Nats aren't owned by Daniel Snyder, and he was probably not standing behind them with a knife to their throats while they called the game.

I could go on about this forever. Then the post-game show comes on and has "The Voice of the Maryland Terrapins" Johnny Holliday and 1986 Mets' hero Ray Knight both pretending that the Nats getting blown out in the game was actually a good thing in the long run. You could tell they didn't even believe what they were being told to say. It just comes off as minor league stuff. Maybe we're spoiled by the Mets having some of the best broadcast crews in the business, going back to their inception.

an April win as you can get. Getting swept at home by the Nationals while missing Scherzer and Strasburg and with the Nationals missing huge parts of their lineup would've undone a lot of goodwill from the hot start. Now, we have a 4 game lead. The NL East is going to be tough this year. Philly and Atlanta both look like young teams that are going to be at or above .500.

Matz really settled down too after the first inning. It's really going to be interesting to follow how these guys fight for rotation spots.

In comment 13920061 Ten Ton Hammer said:

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but a 12-1 start should have bought a little more confidence than to have people start freaking out after two bad games against a team they will be battling for the division. And I was as upset as anyone after that horrible inning.

A 12-1 start doesn’t erase decades of disappointment. I agree with you but also completely understand the lack of confidence some (most?) mets fans have.

got off the train to drive home from the train station Mets losing, look listless, get home to see they've won.

I don't get as emotional with every win and loss as I did when I was younger, but I did get a good night's sleep.

starts 12-1 doesn't mean that fans are going to stop getting upset at losses. Especially to the division title favorite. We've had a great start to the season and that's going to hopefully go a long way to keeping us in the mix all year, but it doesn't mean I'm not going to get excited at wins like last night and go a little crazy over games like Monday. That's part of being a fan IMO.

You can tell they really wanted this one bad. Frazier is getting on base like never before. i'm beginning to think he should lead off if Nimmo isnt.

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Chipper Jr hurt Rflairr : 4/18/2018 10:26 pm : link : reply That’s a break for this series

I hate baseball.

In comment 13920061 Ten Ton Hammer said:

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but a 12-1 start should have bought a little more confidence than to have people start freaking out after two bad games against a team they will be battling for the division. And I was as upset as anyone after that horrible inning.

I have absolutely been way too dramatic and unhinged the last couple of days which isn't usually my MO - that loss Monday really just fucking bothered me. I'm just scarred when it comes to this team. Every time things start to look bleak, I immediately assume the worst.

I'm basically just trained to after suffering through countless years of disappointment.

The Wainwright curveball. Sitting at Shea on the final day of 2007 watching the Marlins dance on our field after capping one of the worst chokes in regular season history, then watching almost an exact repeat the very next year... in person again.

Familia quick pitching Gordon... Murphy booting the ball... Duda throwing to home and missing by 5 feet.. ugh.

Even after such a great start, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Anyway - I trust Mickey and the vet leadership on this team right now. The 2015 team eventually earned my faith and confidence (even though it took a while) - this one will too.

Cannot say enough how important Todd Frazier has been - that's the type of presence that keeps things from getting too low and we haven't had that around here much at all the last decade+.

Let's keep it rolling. Another big series with the Barves. Their rebuild is getting closer and they're starting to look like a pretty solid team again so they're going to be a pain in the ass.

In comment 13920141 Metnut said:

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starts 12-1 doesn't mean that fans are going to stop getting upset at losses. Especially to the division title favorite. We've had a great start to the season and that's going to hopefully go a long way to keeping us in the mix all year, but it doesn't mean I'm not going to get excited at wins like last night and go a little crazy over games like Monday. That's part of being a fan IMO.

Anyone can be a fan but part of being a "Educated fan" is to relax and not be so overly critical of every single call/decision in the game.

Mickey Callaway was hired for 2 reasons

1. To win a world series
2. To keep players healthy to win a world series

To complete that effort he needs to "over-manage" as what I have read here on a daily basis. I would rather lose 1 game then lose a key player for several weeks.

The Mets have a disappointing culture but to act like that culture can not be improved on and changed is not accurate. Look at the Cubs, Astros, Nationals

Eh, the way people react to things during a game doesn't say much about how "educated" they are as a fan.

I think I've watched a pretty fair amount of baseball in my life... doesn't mean I won't get caught up in the midst of an important game once in a while. Shit happens, man.

in the heat of a game should be taken differently than comments made the morning after or during an off day. I've always considered in-game comments to be more a stream of consciousness type of thing rather than an attempt at educated analysis. Yea, game threads have both, and but instant reactions to stuff that happens is part of the fun of the threads.

In comment 13920226 Rory said:

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The Mets have a disappointing culture but to act like that culture can not be improved on and changed is not accurate. Look at the Cubs, Astros, Nationals

I guess my point is, that getting the fans to buy into a changed culture takes time. It certainly isn't going to happen over a 13 game span off mostly decades of disappointment with a year or two of success sprinkled in.

Cubs and Astros both won a WS. That goes a long way to helping change the culture. And furthermore, they continue their winning ways helping to cement that culture. Not sure why the Nats are there. Their fans are just as nuts and the Nats have won squat.

The Mets reach the postseason once every ten years. And they typically suck horribly every year in between. Win the division for a couple of years in a row, maybe win a WS...sustain any type of actual success and THEN fans will buy into a culture change. Just like the Cubs.
Just like the Astros. Until then, this is what the Mets Franchise has earned.

Called up by Cards :(

In comment 13920376 Shecky said:

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Called up by Cards :(

Yeah that one looks like it may have been a miss. Drew Smith is interesting, but O'Neil is crushing the ball.

In comment 13919724 Eric on Li said:

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that was a very close play at the plate and he not only got an awesome jump at 2nd but cut the corner and got his hand in there. His jump at 2nd started with the pitch and if he was even half a step behind he was out.

Yes, agreed. I think he would have been safe even if the throw was caught cleanly, but it would have been close. Nice base running.