Just Mets

The Mets lost to the Padres by the score of 8-7 at Citi Field on Thursday afternoon. Here are my takeaways from the loss…

A laugher that became not funny.

The Mets were coasting in this game, rolling into the seventh inning with a six run lead and looking well on their way to winning this series.

But then, Terry Collins inserted Bobby Parnell, who has really been struggling over the last week. He allowed a leadoff double to Yonder Alonso, then a one-out walk to Brett Wallace, then a single to Melvin Upton, Jr. 

Collins them turned to Hansel Robles, who proceeded to allow a grand slam to Derek Norris. Suddenly, we had a ballgame on a hot and humid day in Flushing.

After a 44 minute rain delay and after recording two outs in the ninth, Jeurys Familia allowed two straight singles and then a three-run home run to Justin Upton, erasing a 7-1 lead and putting the Mets in a stunning hole.

For whatever reason, Familia was allowed to pitch after the delay, and he clearly should not have been out there. Of course, hindsight is 20/20 and it’s easy to draw that conclusion. In a pennant race, there is no reason to take a chance like that, and have the closer go out there and try and resume his outing after such a break.

On the other hand, he just didn’t execute and couldn’t get the one out the Mets needed to secure a series victory over the Padres.

The Grandy Man can, and continues to produce.

Boy, wouldn’t it be nice if the Mets had acquired Carlos Gomez? That way, Granderson could bump down in the lineup and behind Lucas Duda, and there would be more home runs with men on base, like he had today in the fifth inning which gave the Mets three important runs.

Overall, Granderson has had a very solid season. He has his share of streaks, but he hasn’t really fallen into a deep rut for an extended period of time in 2015. He still can’t hit lefties, but he has been among the most productive hitters against righties in 2015, and he would’ve been a big part of a win today with his lead off double in the first and the aforementioned three-run home run in the fifth, if not for the ninth inning blow up by Familia.

He capped his splendid day with a beautiful diving catch in right field to end the eighth inning and save a run from scoring.

A good bounce back from Jon Niese.

It was somewhat of a relief to see Niese bounce back after his last start, although I am still attributing that start against the Dodgers to distraction thanks to his new baby being born. But he was crisp, efficient, pitched to his defense to get out of some trouble, threw strike son the corner with his two-seamer, and gave the Mets six solid innings.

He had a real rough patch back in May, but for the most part he has had a really good season for New York. He allows a lot of base runners, but he manages to escape the jams he gets into thanks to his ability to keep the ball on the ground and induce double plays when he needs to.

Overall, there’s nothing really to complain about with Niese’s body of work in 2015. He has pitched to expectation, which is to the level of a mid-rotation starter. And, he’s done a good job.

A very, very bad loss.

What happened today is just not acceptable. They blew a six-run lead late and allowed a bad team to beat them in their own ballpark and take a series they just had to get. The stink of it is they needed one out, AND nobody was on. It was a horribly remarkable way to lose a game, but given the way the last 24 hours have gone for this club, it really doesn’t seem that surprising in all honesty. Its been a disastrous and embarrassing circus for the club capped by (another) poor decision by the manager in the bullpen, worse execution by the pitcher, and a stunning loss.

What’s worse, they cost themselves a game in the standings with this mess of a game in the process.

And suddenly, the Mets are having serious problems with their late inning relief too, which is seriously alarming.

Other notes from Thursday:

Granderson’s three run home run in the fifth was only the fourth he’s hit with runners on-base this season. He has 16 home runs in 2015.

Niese has a 2.94 ERA in his last ten starts.

The Mets are now 37-6 when they score four or more runs in a game.

Jeurys Familia blew his third save since the All-Star break on Thursday.

The Mets lost for the first time when Familia blows a save – they’re 4-1 in those games.