Don’t look now, but the Mets, who were left for dead last Thursday have won four of five games.
And the Mets, who look so disjointed in the bullpen, actually got a quality performance from a guy with an ERA over five after tonight’s 5-4 win over the Brewers in 12 innings.
Maybe the Mets are not dead yet.
Sure, many of the residents of Panic City have written the Amazin’s off, but not the rest of the baseball world.
In fact, a highly ranked National League scout told me tonight, he expects the Mets to make the playoffs, because outside of the Nationals the rest of the division isn’t that good.
So maybe there is hope for 2017 and the Mets may have something to play for as the calendar turns from May into June.
And in all honesty, the Mets themselves agree with that.
“Things happen all the time during the season,” said Jay Bruce, who’s RBI single in the 12th plated T.J. Rivera for the Mets win and picked up Azdrubal Cabrera, who had a two-run error in the seventh. “You can’t let the next play; the next pitch affect it. Too many thing happen. Good and bad. You almost have to forget about them all and be ready for the next opportunity.”
That worked in this game, making up for Cabrera’s error and it’s working this season, as well. Many teams would just get down on themselves when they lose six or seven games in a row, but this Met team is taking a page from their Single-A club, because this season is like a ride on the Cyclone. There are a lot of dips and turns with ups and downs, but ultimately, the Mets seem to rebound from the low points during the year.
With all the criticism Terry Collins took for some of his questionable bullpen moves, credit needs to be given here to the manager. He refuses to let this team get down on itself and always keeps them in the game. That’s why there’s no danger of him being dismissed by the club. The players like him and the team seems to never give up.
“Obviously, all the years I spent, when I guy makes an error you pick him up,” Collins said of his philosphy. “It’s part of the game and it’s a great win tonight.”
Even more important than the win is the way they won, because a castoff like Josh Smoker, who was sent down to the minors a few weeks ago to work on his secondary pitches really came through for Collins with three scoreless innings.
And rookie Tyler Pill gave the Mets 5.1 innings of one run ball, which is all you can ask for from a guy making his first major league start.
So maybe there is life in this dead body of the 2017 season. If all goes according to Hoyle, the Mets will have the bulk of their major players back next week with only Noah Syndergaard, Jeurys Familia and David Wright still spending time on the disabled list.
A win like this one may also propel the Mets with the next two against the Brewers, since Jacob deGrom and Zach Wheeler are scheduled to start the next two games.
With the struggling Pirates coming in this weekend, there is a chance the Mets will be at or over .500 by the time they go to Texas next week.
Who would of thunk that?
Panic City sure didn’t, but Collins and his team are proving them wrong.
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