The Energy & the Tantrum

Yesterday's 5-1 win over the Phillies was the first game all year I have been able to watch and it was a great game to have done so. Ironically, it will be a short post, relatively speaking, or as short as I can make it sitting down this morning to write, since I have to make my way upstate for a previously scheduled engagement.

Frank Franklin II/AP
Photo via courant.com

I was able to relax with my aunt and uncle in Rockland County, catching these innings for the first time on the network that houses our Metsies. I've been driving around so much that I have only been able to listen to the games so far this year. 

What I saw on the screen was Bryce Harper get thrown out for the 12th time by a 12th different umpire. I'm not sure if that means he understands he needs to cool it the next time he is in the box with the last ump who threw him out or what. The way I see it, however, he has a history of removing himself with his behavior prematurely from contests his team desperately needs him to continue in. I would be interested to see how many of those contests the team has either won, lost and/or what the outcome was versus where the team was at the time of the tossing.

Other than the tantrum, I saw a team come back from a lethargic road trip looking like how teams should look at home: reinvigorated by their welcoming fan base. The fans that stuck around after the rain delay were clearly the die-hards, and their voices rang loud and clear. Pete Alonso had a ridiculous hit that was such impressive baseballing, taking it the other way down the line to get us on the board. I know I keep saying, "I think this kid is for real," but I think this kid is for real, folks. Hits like that that I know I HAVE to embed 'cause it was so damn impressive make you confident that this slugger may not be a Dave Kingman type one-dimensional player.

Jeff McNeil kept Jeff McHitting, and I couldn't help but McOut with my McPuns on Twitter last night.

McNeil keeps McHitting pic.twitter.com/bJMWcpbLx0

— Sam Maxwell (@THE_SamMaxwell) April 23, 2019

Steven Matz rebounded for an impressive win. He buckled down when the Phillies started attempting a comeback and didn't let the pressure get to his head. He did a good job of relaxing and staying within himself when sometimes he has a tendency in those moments to overthink.

And in what world is Edwin Diaz NOT the closer the Mets thought they were getting? He has been absolutely nasty albeit one or two non-1-2-3 innings. A man named Andy Martino had a tweet saying more or less Diaz is still not the guy the Mets thought they were getting but um, 7 saves and a 1.04 ERA isn't what it used to be, maybe? Uh...

So many impressive moments in a game the Mets needed to show that they could shake off that disappointing road trip and get back to some sound, fun baseball once more, giving this fanbase hope that this team is truly for real. Yeah, it is one game, and maybe it was 'cause it was the first game I've witnessed on screen this year live, but I had loads of fun and reminded myself that sometimes even I need to take a breath, relax and take some baseball in. Maybe I'll actually make it to a game one of these days.

See? I told you it was gonna be a "short" one...uh...

KEEP. IT. MOVING.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Another Meaningful Loss and the Random Song of the Day

This is unprecedented. I have combined yesterday's game recap, a game that not even nature could put out of its misery, with the Random Song of the Day. Normally, the song would be telling of what I feel about the game by the end of it. But I felt nothing (and I'm not about to put that song, "Nothing" from Chorus Line up here.)

I started the game 2 hours late (Kevin?! Is that you?!) And at some point, I started fast-forwarding, since it was currently raining and I wanted to see whether they'd make it to the 5th. They did. And they shut down play in the 7th. I thought it was for sure over. I fast-forwarded through the Dodgers-Giants game to get official confirmation that Flushing had been Flushed out. By the time they were ready to start play again, I was live.

Seriously? You umps don't want to go home already?

Jeurys Familia got a little experience failing in The Show. The only redeeming quality of them finishing that game. That is certainly meaningful.

And seeing all the die-hards still there. That's awesome. Reminded me of that San Diego game back in May.

Here's the Random Song of the Day.

LET'S. GO. METS.

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And Then The Rain Came Down...

For the first 2 innings, Jeremy Hefner was sharp and efficient, needing only 17 pitches to get through those 6 outs. The Mets were aggressive on the basepaths, and the Padres threw the ball around, giving the Mets a 1-0 lead. But then it started raining. Then it started pouring. And after a 68 minute rain delay, The Padres pitcher, Eric Stolts, was sharp, shutting our offense down, and the Padres strung together a bunch of doubles to blow Jeremy Hefner's early career ERA way up. The kid ended up only lasting another inning and a third, as the Mets went down 5-11.

This was actually a fun loss to be at, if any can be. David Wright continued his dominance, going 3 for 5 including a mammoth, straight-away center field 2-run home run which at the time got us back in the game at 6-3. Then Manny Acosta happened, who was brought in the inning before.

Look. I understand Acosta is not normally more than an 1-inning guy. Terry, however, is trying to save his bullpen as much as possible, and Manny needs to step it up right after Wright led us back into this one. And he just...well...was Manny Acosta. There's no room on a roster for someone with a 2.12 WHIP and 10.80 ERA, right?

After  being told he was going to work on his troubles with the big team, Ike Davis had a fantastic pinch-hit at bat that led to a 2-run single in the 8th inning. He was a lot of fun to cheer on in that dud of a game. Keep that good feeling going, Ike.

The Mets and Padres return to action tonight at 7:10PM. The rain delay led the Mets to give all of us there a complimentary ticket to tonight's game, so maybe I'll take advantage of that. Dillon Gee will take on Anthony Bass. I know we can't sweep the Fathers anymore, but we sure can take 3 out of 4.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Converted Mets Fan is now on Twitter. Follow me @convertedmetfan. And for Rising Apple twitter updates, click here.