I’m running out of words to describe Mets losses, and we’re only 10 days into the season. Last night the Mets fell behind early because Rick Porcello is just not happening in 2020. However, he settled down and New York rallied to score 10 runs in the fourth through sixth innings. That included a six-run fifth in which the Mets got two RBI a piece from Robinson Cano and Yoenis Cespedes.
Of course this all happened while I was on the train, but I was happy just knowing that the bats were staying nice and toasty. Everything was going according to plan as the Mets entered the eighth inning with a 10-6 lead, but we should have known better. Dellin Betances, a former Yankees reliever who is known for intimidating opponents with velocity, has no chance of working out for the Mets. Yankees trash never turns into Mets treasure. Remember Karim Garcia? Just kidding; no one remembers Karim Garcia.
Anyway, Betances is destined to fail as a Met, and fail he did on Friday night, allowing two Braves to score and two more to reach base before Seth Lugo came in to put out the fire. Even ole reliable is faltering lately, though. Just two days after allowing a game-tying home run against Boston, Lugo faced former Met and current Met killer Travis d’Arnaud and let up a screaming line drive to the right-center field gap that cleared the bases and gave Atlanta an 11-10 lead. The Braves, of course, would win 11-10.
I’ve still got nothing but love for Travis, who was one of my favorite players with the Mets and who should not have been released by the Mets last year. He’s struggled with injuries in a big way over his career, but d’Arnaud is an expert at framing pitches who also hits a little bit when he’s healthy. It’s no wonder why all the smartest teams in baseball rushed to the waiver wire to claim him when the Mets let him go.
In 365 plate appearances with Tampa Bay last season, d’Arnaud hit .263/.323/.459, which is great for a catcher these days. He’ll probably murder the Mets for the rest of his playing days.
Relief appeared to be right around the corner for Mets fans, though. Friday night after the game, Keith Olbermann of ESPN reported that MLB was asking its television partners to prepare backup programming in case baseball had to be suspended.
However, as of Saturday afternoon, commissioner Rob Manfred is as determined as ever to continue the season.
This happened shortly after another Cardinals vs. Brewers game was postponed due to positive COVID-19 tests for St. Louis. Still, postponements like this one and for the Yankees and Phillies appear to be out of an abundance of caution, everyone’s favorite phrase these days. No team besides Miami has had a flare of positive tests worth panicking over.
Does Manfred’s statement mean a whole lot in the long run? Not really. Who knows what perils await as teams continue to travel around the country and touch each other as much as possible. In the immediate future, though, it means that baseball is not being canceled, and that’s good. It would be great if the Mets could hold a lead, but we’ll settle for good right now.
MLB announced today that the Phillies and Yankees will be back in action on Monday with the Marlins and Orioles suiting up on Tuesday. Soon enough, we could return to having all 30 teams play each other. That might feel normal if not for a bunch of seven-inning doubleheaders and weird computer-generated fans.
Inside Yolk 