The Mets scored a million runs for Jacob deGrom again, so let’s get this playoff train rolling

Posted on September 12, 2020 by Aaron Yorke

For the second straight time with Jacob deGrom on the mound, the Mets scored an embarrassing amount of runs and brutishly buried their opponent. Last weekend the victim was the Philadelphia Phillies, and last night it was the Toronto Blue Jays, who many have claimed to be the best team in New York due to them playing their home games in Buffalo and having a stronger record than the Mets or Yankees.

They didn’t look it last night. The Blue Jays struck early in the bottom of the first when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a long RBI single off of deGrom, but the Mets closed the game with 18 unanswered runs, 10 of which came in a very fun fourth inning. Almost everyone had a good game at the plate, but it was especially encouraging to see Wilson Ramos get on track. He batted ninth and went 3-for-5 with two doubles, and home run, and four RBI.

https://twitter.com/jgroc/status/1304575757373538304?s=20

When Ramos is locked in, he’s hitting line drives all over the field, and he was going the other way with AUTHORITY on Friday night. The Mets are now two games behind Miami and San Francisco for the final National League wild card spot. If they string a few wins together, October is a real possibility, but winning consistently is an issue when the rotation is so inconsistent. Success will come down to the Mets locking down wins with deGrom and Seth Lugo on the mound and getting enough from their elite lineup when everyone else is starting.

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General Smitty hires mercenary, sabotages White Sox Dave in the Common Man Cup

Posted on September 11, 2020 by Aaron Yorke

Just when I thought that all the drama with the HooliganZ would calm down due to Glenny Balls being on special assignment in Tempe, the ultimate betrayal took place. General Smitty, a pillar to the honor and passion that so many virtual soldiers lack these days, sent a hired gun after his oftentimes teammate, White Sox Dave.

It all went down on Wednesday night in the Common Man Cup, where WSD was competing among some of the best Call of Duty players in the business. It was going to take all Dave had to bring home ultimate glory. Dave’s team would have to catch every break and Dave would need to play the game of his life. So what did the General do when WSD’s squad got off to a hot start? He sabotaged him at every turn.

That’s right, the man legions of Twitch followers look to as an example of how to battle the right way had sent a mercenary after his former brother in arms. What could make Smitty do such a thing? Jealousy? Power? An irresistible urge to create mischief? The answers will have to wait as the Philadelphia native hasn’t been seen on the internet airwaves since the CMC wrapped up on Wednesday night with a team led by TouchPapa bringing home the title.

At least WSD was able to finally put his tormentor in a body bag. If Skullface was still stalking the HooliganZ’s loyal puppy, I don’t know if I’d be able to sleep at night.

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The most exciting game of the NBA Playoffs happened, but the Mets are still alive so I don’t care

Posted on September 10, 2020 by Aaron Yorke

Apparently I missed a pretty good basketball game last night. The Raptors and Celtics battled into double overtime with their Eastern Conference second round series on the line. Trailing the series 3-2, Toronto led for much of the second half, but two straight buckets by Daniel Theis tied the score at 98-98 with two minutes left. No one would score for the rest of regulation time despite Kemba Walker appearing to get hammered on a layup attempt in the closing seconds.

That would be Boston’s best chance to win the game, as Norm Powell of all people came through with some incredible clutch play for the Raptors in the overtime periods. In the first overtime, he hit a three-point shot to tie the score at 104-104 with two minutes left and then hit two free throws to give Toronto the lead.

In double overtime, there was an insane sequence in which seven straight field goals were made with each one tying the game or changing the lead. Powell was in the thick of the action, hitting another three to tie the score before coming up with a steal that led to a breakaway layup plus the foul. The old-fashioned three-point play put Toronto ahead by four with just 38 seconds left. Jayson Tatum drew the Celtics within a bucket, but Kyle Lowry scored the last of his game-leading 33 points on a fade-away jumper to finally put the game away.

It’s crazy to think that we were half a second away from Boston taking a 3-0 lead in this series. Now we’re set up for what should be a dramatic Game 7 on Friday. I think the Celtics are better, so I’m picking them to win, but Toronto moving on to the Conference Finals with a chance to win the East again after losing Kawhi Leonard would be a hell of a story.

Boy, it must have been exciting to watch that game live, but I was watching the stupid Mets. To be fair, if the Mets had been REALLY stupid, I would have flipped to the basketball game in time for the conclusion, but the baseball was surprisingly good.

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The Mets got crushed by the Orioles and now the postseason seems like a longshot

Posted on September 9, 2020 by Aaron Yorke

Boooooooo. Boooooooo. Booooooooo.

That’s what you would have heard from the Citi Field faithful if there had been fans in the seats last night. The Mets lost to the Phillies on Labor Day, but at least they showed a lot of fight by overcoming a 6-0 deficit. Tuesday was a different story with Baltimore in town. Michael Wacha allowed five runs in the first four innings, and then Robert Gsellman did what he does best and poured gasoline on the fire to ensure that the Mets had no chance at a comeback. The Orioles cruised to an 11-2 win and New York is now three games out of the final National League wild card spot.

At least Mets fans can’t say their team lost to the terrible Orioles, because the Orioles are decent this season. Guys like Anthony Santander, Pedro Severino, and Ryan Mountcastle are breaking out at the plate. If John Means can string together a few more starts like last night’s, Baltimore might develop enough pitching to compete with the top of the American League. At 20-21, they are now tied in the loss column with the Yankees and a half game away from qualifying for the postseason.

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Nintendo surprises all its fans with a Zelda prequel announcement

Posted on September 8, 2020 by Aaron Yorke

When Nintendo announced that Super Mario 3D All-Stars was coming out in September and not around Thanksgiving, I knew there was the possibility of a holiday release for a game that wasn’t on the radar. That intuition turned out to be correct as Nintendo unleashed a surprise announcement on Tuesday morning for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, a Zelda game that would tell the story of the Great Calamity that happened 100 years before the events of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

The cinematic scenes look epic, and this game might be worth playing for Zelda fans like myself just for the story alone. However, I’ve never been impressed by the gameplay in the original Hyrule Warriors. The game, which was first released for Wii U in 2014 and later ported to 3DS and Switch, is based on the hack-and-slash Dynasty Warriors series, but it features characters, items, and lore from The Legend of Zelda series.

Instead of adventuring, exploring dungeons, and solving puzzles like one would do in a Legend of Zelda game, Hyrule Warriors has the player mauling through thousands of enemies using brute force. It’s a Dynasty Warriors game with a Zelda coat of paint.

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Mets tease fans with incredible comeback only to lose to Phillies in extra innings

Posted on September 8, 2020 by Aaron Yorke

I still can’t believe that the Mets lost yesterday. That’s not something I thought I would type after watching them fall behind the Phillies 6-0 on Monday afternoon. David Peterson clearly didn’t have his best stuff, as he constantly misfired on his pitches, resulting in four walks and a hit batter in just two innings. Falling behind in the count leads to big hits as well, and the Phillies produced those with a bases-clearing double by Jean Segura in the first and a two-run home run by Rhys Hoskins in the second. It was looking like a long afternoon for the Mets.

And a long afternoon it was, just in a different way from what I imagined. Erasmo Ramirez took the mound in the third inning for New York and was surprisingly effective at slowing down the Philadelphia offense. Ramirez needed lots of good defense and line drives hit at his fielders, but by hook or by crook he got through five innings while only allowing one run.

After J.T. Realmuto hit a solo shot in the top of the fifth, the Mets began their comeback effort. They scored three runs on consecutive doubles by Michael Conforto, J.D. Davis, and Dominic Smith in the bottom of the inning. Two frames later, the horrible Phillies bullpen took over and New York caught a break when Didi Gregorius threw away the back leg of what could have been an inning-ending double play. Not only did that allow a run to score, but two batters later, Jeff McNeil smashed a go-ahead, three-run home run into the upper deck in right field.

This is the stuff we are used to see happen to the Mets and not for the Mets. The Flying Squirrel and the entire offense are heating up and ready to make a September run. The team is finally going to put some wins together and cross the .500 barrier. Everything is falling into place.

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Look what happens when the Mets get Jacob deGrom some run support

Posted on September 7, 2020 by Aaron Yorke

It finally happened! We finally were blessed by a day in Mets Land where nothing went wrong. Jacob deGrom pitched brilliantly and is once again a major contender for the Cy Young Award. Plus, the Mets scored plenty of runs in support, pounding out 14 runs, half of which came in their last turn at bat for some reason. Pete Alonso belted two home runs, Dominic Smith had four hits with three RBI, and Michael Conforto had three hits himself to raise his batting average to .342, good for fourth in the majors.

When the smoke cleared, the Mets had earned themselves a 14-1 win over Philadelphia and moved within one game of the final National League wild card spot. New York’s postseason chances, according to ESPN, stand at 52 percent.

That’s nothing compared to the Yankees’ 92-percent odds, but the Bronx Bombers and their fans aren’t in very high spirits right now. On Sunday afternoon, they lost to Baltimore for the third game in a row and fell behind Toronto into third place of the American League East. Not a great look for the team considered the major favorite for the AL pennant back in July.

A 60-game season is tough to predict, though. That’s good for up-and-coming teams like Miami and the Blue Jays, but for squads that are already winners on paper, the short campaign only has downside. The 5-13 skid that the Yankees have been on since mid-August would be easy to make up for in a normal season, but with only 20 games left, Aaron Boone’s team could see itself outside the playoff picture if it doesn’t pull out of this soon.

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Seth Lugo shows why he belongs in the rotation, leads Mets to win over Phillies

Posted on September 6, 2020 by Aaron Yorke

Something great and unexpected happened last night. The Mets got great pitching from their starter and the bullpen, which led to a 5-1 win over Philadelphia! Seth Lugo allowed a solo home run to Rhys Hoskins in the first inning, but he cruised through five innings after that. Jeurys Familia, Justin Wilson, and Miguel Castro each pitched a shutout inning before Edwin Diaz closed the game out in the ninth.

Where are all the “Lugo belongs in the bullpen” people now? I know the bullpen can use all the help it can get, but the rotation is in worse shape. The Mets started Robert Gsellman the other day for goodness’s sake. Just give me the best pitchers pitching the most innings. Lugo in the rotation allows New York’s best arms to be on the mound more often. It’s that simple.

RBI singles by Andres Gimenez and Michael Conforto gave the Mets the lead in the third inning, and they did not look back from there. The boys have a chance to build momentum with Jacob deGrom on the mound this afternoon, but Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola has been dealing lately. It’s going to be a battle.

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Mets designate Billy Hamilton for assignment, lose series opener to Phillies

Posted on September 5, 2020 by Aaron Yorke

Before the start of their crucial series against the Phillies on Friday night, the Mets designated Billy Hamilton for assignment, assuring fans that they would not have to watch him make bone-headed baserunning decisions for at least a little while. Hopefully a contending team can take Hamilton off the Mets’ hands and we can move on from a forgettable cameo.

During Hamilton’s time with the Mets, he didn’t hit a lick and made two critical errors as a runner, one of which cost the Mets a game against the Phillies. That’s not good when your one purpose is to give your team an advantage on the base paths.

Giving Hamilton the boot wasn’t going to save the Mets from mistakes, though. In their loss to Philadelphia last night, Dominic misplayed a throw from J.D. Davis that allowed the Phillies to extend their lead from 3-2 to 4-2 in the eighth inning.

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Smith made up for the error by driving home a run in the bottom of the frame, but Robinson Cano subsequently hit a line drive right into Rhys Hoskins’s glove and Pete Alonso popped up to cut the rally short. The Phillies ended up winning 5-3.

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The Bucks are down 3-0 to the Heat, and that means big questions about Giannis Antetokounmpo

Posted on September 5, 2020 by Aaron Yorke

The Milwaukee bucks and their superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo were the Eastern Conference favorites to make the NBA Finals when the playoffs started, but last night they dropped their third straight game to the Heat and are now on the brink of elimination.

Last season, the Bucks won 60 games and finish first in the East, but were taken out in the Eastern Conference Finals by Kawhi Leonard and the Toronto Raptors. After Leonard signed with the Los Angeles Clippers in the offseason, the East was Milwaukee’s for the taking.

The Bucks once again finished atop the conference in the regular season, but now they are all but certain to be sent home early. So what happened?

The Heat finished 44-29 in the regular season, but their head coach Erik Spoelstra has always made his teams better than the sum of their parts. When Miami traded for Jimmy Butler over the summer, it got the scorer and defensive stopper that it needed to seriously threaten the East’s top teams. Coupled with the rapid development of Bam Adebayo, that move has transformed the team from cute also-ran to Finals contender. It also helps that Duncan Robinson has gone from undrafted rookie to three-point sniper in just one year.

Simply put, Spoelstra and team president Pat Riley are the best coach/executive combination in the NBA, and they are proving now that they can win even when they don’t have the best player in the NBA on their side.

Must be cool to be a Heat fan.

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