Just Mets

The Mets salvaged the final game of their three-game series with the Cardinals on Sunday, defeating St. Louis by the score of 3-1 at Busch Stadium. Here are my takeaways…

What a day for Jon Niese.

Niese needed to be essentially perfect, and he was, yet it was still not enough to get a win.

Niese did absolutely everything he could go to try and deliver a win for the Mets today. He was brilliant for seven innings with a dazzling two-seamer down and away and a cutter which just ate up the St. Louis hitters, especially to the right-handed hitters who did very little against him all day long. He allowed only one runner to reach third base the entire day which, against the Cardinals, is extremely impressive.

He was lifted after plunking Randall Grichuk on his 101st pitch with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, a good call with Jhonny Perlata on deck. But Bobby Parnell – who has been splendid himself since returning – picked Niese up by striking out Peralta on a wicked knuckle-curve.

Niese has really turned his season around since the beginning of June, and doesn’t have much to show for it except for personal satisfaction, which probably amounts to a hill of beans for him since the Mets have scored 17 runs for him in eight of his starts since he turned himself around.

Same old, same old with the offense, until the 18th.

At some point, one would think Terry Collins would try and manufacture some runs, rather than contuing to hope these hitters will make productive outs or hit with men in scoring position. But alas, the club went 0-for-15 with runners in scoring position, extended their drough to 2-for-51 with runners in scoring position until Kevin Plawecki finally broke the ice with an RBI single to plate Curtis Granderson in the 13th inning, who doubled to lead off the frame.

Hat tip to Granderson, by the way, for coming off the bench in the eighth inning and notched two hits and two walks, one of which was a hustle double which resulted in a run in the 13th inning. He had a hell of a game.

Of course, the effort was for naught, and their inability to drive the subsequent runners in after Plawecki’s single came back to bite the Mets in the bottom half of the inning.

But more on the overall offense for just a bit here.

It’s unfathomable why Terry Collins did not bunt with Wilmer Flores with two on and none out in the 16th. It’s a no-brainier to bunt the two guys over, let St. Louis walk Granderson, and take the chance with Plawecki up with the bases loaded and 1 out. I don’t know what he expects with this group of players, especially after the abhorrence which was on display today, and the entire weekend for that matter.

Fortunately, he had Plawecki bunt in the same situation two innings later, and the Mets took advantage of a bonehead error by Carlos Martinez to setup the two runs for the Mets.

It’s unbelievable. Not so much because they can’t hit, but that their offense actually gets worse. Each month, the offense continues to decline, which seems almost impossible. But, as I always say, it’s not going to change unless the people change.

Can’t catch a break.

Just when it looked like the game was finally in-hand for the Mets, the second pitch thrown by Jeurys Familia resulted in a game- tying home run for Kolten Wong in the bottom of the 13th. After a painstaking 13th in which the Mets forced the issue to score a run, it resulted in Familia’s third blown save of the season.

It seemed like a matter of time for the Mets at that point, but they escaped, luckily.

A win is a win.

This was ugly and rather stupid at times. They did not deserve to win this game, but they got outstanding pitching and huge efforts from Sean Gilmartin, Carlos Torres and the rest of the bullpen to give the Mets as many chances to score and win this game.

The Mets will be tired and likely short in the bullpen tomorrow in Washington, but they will be flying east on a happy note tonight, and hopefully with some positive momentum ahead of a critical series against the Nationals.

Other notes from Sunday:

Niese has a 2.28 ERA in his last eight starts.

Juan Lagares went 2-for-10 on Sunday – he is 13-for-his-last-79 and hasn’t walked since June 17.

Wilmer Flores broke an 0-for-12 skid with two hits on Sunday. He’s gone 118 at-bats without a home run.

Lucas Duda went 0-for-6, and is 23-for-his-last-144 at the plate.

Ruben Tejada extended his hitting streak to seven games with his three hits on Sunday – he’s 11-for-30 during the streak.

Granderson entered the game in the eighth inning, reached base three times, stole two bases and scored a run.

The Mets went 1-for-26 with runners in scoring position on Sunday, and are 3-for-their-last-61 with runners in scoring position. They left 25 runners on-base on Sunday, tying a franchise record.