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Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Unhappy Recap: Royals 7 Mets 1
Maybe there is something to this thing about the long layoff. The curse of sweeping the LCS, or just too many days off, but this is not the same Mets team that swept the Cubs.
It has a lot to do with the Royals of course. deGrom just couldn't strike those fuckin guys out. And even though he sailed through four innings (mostly, barring a couple bad/unlucky defensive plays) once they got hits, they came in bunches and put the game away.
And the Mets hitting has just been atrocious. Cespdes, Wright and d'Arnaud all of them, awful. Conforto seems to have a huge hole in his swing. He's got a big loop and is popping everything up. If he even makes contact, and doesn't just swing at bad pitches. The Royals have an entire lineup of guys hitting singles. The Mets have half a lineup of automatic outs.
There were no dramatics, no subtleties, just one big inning and a team that just cannot hit.
This series is starting to remind me of the 2000 World Series where the Mets had a lead going into the 9th and their closer blew it. They lost in extra innings, lost in Game 2 and were basically not a threat for the rest of the Series.
Immediately after the Mets lost game 1, I told Big Kev that this was exactly like Game 1 of the subway series. Frustrating, deflating loss in a pivotal game that could've set the tone for the series and put tons of pressure on the Royals. It set the tone alright, but not in the way I was hoping.
ReplyDeleteI am grateful for his efforts in August and September, but I wouldn't give Cespedes a new contract. He's streaky, prone to mental lapses, and strikes out way too much for my liking. I know that some team is going to give him a ridiculous 7 year deal, and I sincerely hope it's not the Mets. I do not want to re-sign Murphy, either. And I love David Wright, but he's been awful so far.
I'm trying to stay a little positive and focus on game 3, which should be a good opportunity to start winning again. But in all honesty, I sort of expect this to end up with the Royals winning in 5, exactly like the Yankees did 15 years ago. Hope I'm dead wrong.
As always, Damino and I are fairly well-aligned in our perspectives. I don't necessarily believe in emotion and momentum, but confidence does factor in. And certainly strategy does, even in a 7-game series played by robots winning Game 1 would be a huge advantage.
ReplyDeleteBefore the series I thought the Mets had a 55% chance of winning. After Game 1, I moved it down to about 40%. Right now, their hopes are on life support, 10%. Miracles do happen. If Syndergaard pitches great and the bats wake up, the Mets could tie the series and have Harvey and deGrom again.
Right after the World Series I will write two separate posts, one looking back at the year, the second looking ahead to the offseason. I'll save talk about re-signing Murph and Cespedes until then.