...And Those Baserunners are Stranded Still...

After digging themselves a 0-3 hole in the top of the 1st inning, the Mets could never get any rally going, stranding 7 runners throughout the course of the evening. The final score was 1-4, setting up a must-win Father's Day match-up to salvage the series.

This game was really lost in the 1st inning, when the first 2 batters reached on Jon Niese before we had even reached our seats. We stood in the standing room section of the 1st base field level looking forward to the Mets getting out of the jam. He struck out Joey Votto and got Brandon Phillips to fly out to center, and looked prime to extinguish the fire. He did not, however, have any command of his curveball and hung one to Jay Bruce, who crushed it to right field. We made our way to a sunny section in the upper deck, and it looked like the Mets might get right back in the game by stringing together some hits in the bottom half. Unfortunately, after David Wright's run-scoring double, the storyline of the entire night was written when David was stranded on 2nd. That run scored was the lone run of the night, as the Mets went 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position and left runners in scoring position in 4 different innings. Every time they seemed to get something started with a couple hits or so to begin an inning, the next batters would have unproductive outs and the opportunities would be lost. Niese settled down and only gave up one more run all night, but it was too little too late. The Reds came into the weekend hot, and we have done little to cool them off.

It's time for Jon Niese to step it up. We've got him signed for another 5 years, and he has been mostly inconsistent: a great start here, a wobbly start there. It is time for him to string together a few starts where his body language looks as if he believes in himself. What a 3rd starter he will be when he finally shows some consistency. Whether it is the infamous gameplan or just better command, he has got to step it up. Come on, Jonathon.

Chris Young will head to the mound aiming to stop the Reds in their tracks and get another good streak started for the Mets. Johnny Cueto will head to the mound for the Reds. I am upstate for Father's Day and am sending a recon team out to Citi Field to collect a Keith bobblehead for me. I had planned to go to every bobblehead game but committed to going upstate before knowing the Keith Bobblehead was on Father's day. Oh well. The people heading out there for me are not Met fans so the last thing they'll want to do is keep a Mex bobblehead. 

After getting back on track with a sweep of the Rays, we must not let the Reds sweep us. We've got the Orioles on their way in, and just like us, everybody has kept waiting for the shoe to drop and it has not. They are a formidable opponent. Then, the Yanks (who are helping us out this weekend by beating the Nats twice) head into Citi Field as hot as they've been all year. This is an important week for the 2012 New York Mets. Keep those wheels on the vehicle.

LET'S. GO. METS.

 

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