Inside Yolk

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.

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.

I knew it. I freaking knew it. I knew that as soon as I started to doubt that the Mets would make the playoffs, they would do something to make me believe again. On Thursday night at Citi Field, the Mets had the type of win that either springboards a team to great heights or ends up as a blip on the radar in an otherwise forgettable season. The trick is that we never talk about all the times that it’s a blip on the radar. For now, we’ll assume that the 9-7 victory over the Yankees will propel the Mets to greatness, even though there’s no scientific evidence that will happen.

Besides, this is America. Since when do we let scientific evidence or lack thereof get in the way of a good point?

Before Alonso crushed that tater to lead off the bottom of the 10th, I told myself that if the Mets didn’t put the game away, I was going to finally write them off. What a different a few seconds make, right? But you have to understand my perspective. The Mets had already erased deficits of 4-0 and 7-4 in a must-win game. Edwin Diaz of all people kept the Yankees from scoring in the top of the 10th despite them starting with a runner on second base. The Mets had a golden opportunity to put the game away, and Alonso, who has struggled all season and was 0-for-4 in this one, didn’t waste any time.

The Polar Bear’s dramatic walk-off home run came on the heels of a baserunning blunder by Billy Hamilton that could have cost the Mets the game in the ninth inning. Hamilton was inserted as a pinch runner by Luis Rojas after Jeff McNeil drew a lead-off walk. With the Mets trailing 7-6, Hamilton did a great job getting Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman to balk to quickly reach second base. That wasn’t enough for Hamilton. Even though the Mets’ chances at tying the game were already great, he decided he needed more. Third base looked very tantalizing…

WHAT ARE YOU DOING, BILLY?! You already did your job. You reached scoring position with no outs. You are more than fast enough to score on any hit to the outfield. Your one job is to run fast and make smart decisions on the base paths. What in your mind makes you think it’s worth trying to steal third in that spot?