Just Mets

The Mets defeated the Dodgers by the score of 3-2 in ten innings on Sunday at Citi Field. Here are my takeaways from the win…

The Mets broke Greinke.

When the club is facing the daunting task of beating Zack Greinke, they must take advantage of opportunities, manufacture runs, and scratch what they can across to win.

The Mets did that on two occasions on Sunday, and executed to near perfection to scratch across the runs they need. In the third inning, Kirk Nieuwenhuis was hit by a pitch to start things off, then got to third base on a Kevin Plawecki single and an error by Joc Pederson. He would score on an RBI groundout by Jacob deGrom to break Greinke’s streak of 45 consecutive scoreless innings, cracking him for his first run allowed since June 13.

Then in the sixth inning, the Metes squeaked across another run when Curtis Granderson singled against Greinke to lead off the inning. Then Ruben Tejada got a bunt down to move Granderson to third after Granderson stole second. While Granderson would be thrown out at the plate on a fielders choice, Lucas Duda scored the second run when Michael Conforto was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

All of this included great execution, getting bunts down, mobility on the bases, and making necessary and proper contact to take advantage of whatever cracks they were able to find against Greinke, which weren’t very many. Greinke wasn’t at his best by any means, but he was awfully good none the less.

deGrominant yet again.

Of course, none of this is possible today without Jacob deGrom’s lights out performance. It was a game the Mets absolutely needed so they could come out of this series with a split and a 4-6 run against the class of the National League, and he delivered in dominant fashion once again for his club.

He was on top of his game, burying the ball around the knees and precisely on the corners, not allowing the Dodgers to square up on a single pitch.

DeGrom did what aces do – he came out, dominated and got his club a big win. Games are starting to come off the schedule and the Mets have an uphill battle to climb. They must execute precisely and maximize the strength of their team, as they have no margin for error if that doesn’t happen.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a win to show for his effort, which was just brilliant.

Only the Mets.

They become the team to break Greinke’s long scoreless streak, and still nearly lost this game. Like on Wednesday in Washington, they had this one in the bag, and this time Terry Collins played it the right way by putting Jeurys Familia into the game for a four out save. But he couldn’t get his sinker over, kept falling behind, and allowed two doubles and a single in the ninth inning to allow the Dodgers to tie it up.

Fortunately, the new guy did it for the Mets, Juan Uribe. He came up with the big one-out double in the tenth inning to give the Mets the much-needed split of this series, and a big one at that.

The Mets had to win this game. Period. And they found a way to pickup their closer who suddenly finds himself struggling to open the second half. They didn’t hang their heads, and despite some misfiring and an inability to execute late in this game, they found a way to get it done. A huge win for the club.

Other notes from Sunday:

The Mets won their season series over the Dodgers 4-3.

Jeurys Familia blew his second save since the All-Star break after attempting to record a four-out save.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis singled and scored one of the Mets runs – he is 13-for-35 since returning to the Mets.

Uribe’s game winning double marked his fourth game winning RBI of the season.