At least Mr. Met didn’t give anyone the finger tonight.
Other than that, nothing seemed to go right for the New York Mets tonight, particularly with starter Zack Wheeler, who just didn’t have it tonight.
Wheeler, who warms up to Led Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks,” found out there was no place to go with from this Cubs lineup, only worked 1.2 innings for eight earned runs in the eventual 14-3 Cubs win at Citi Field.
“I told (Wheeler), ‘He was absolutely saving us the way he has been pitching lately,’” said manager Terry Collins. “He didn’t have much and he didn’t have much command…It was just one of those nights.”
Said Wheeler: “I just didn’t feel right today. I know you are supposed to find it out there, but I just didn’t feel right and couldn’t make an adjustment.”
This game was over in the second inning when it was 8-1 Cubs. With that type of lead Jon Lester was able to just throw strikes and stay in a grove. The Mets had no chance.
But that’s baseball. Because of the hole the Mets have dug for themselves, it’s easy to get down on the team after this one-off. We tend to follow baseball like football, where every win or loss is magnified, but this was just one of 162 and against the World Champions, who were due to break out.
“This guy pitched how many good ones in a row and he was due to have a bad one,” Collins said. “This was it.”
Let’s look at the bright side here. No one came out of this game hurt and even though Yoenis Cespedes was lifted early, it was just for precautionary measures in a blowout of a game.
Hopefully, Michael Conforto will be back tomorrow from his back stiffness, while the Mets keep all these pitchers fresh with the six-man rotation.
More importantly, the Mets need to win tomorrow’s game with Matt Harvey on the mound and then at least split but they need to take three of four from the Nationals. That’s where we are now in the season and there’s no crying on the one bad outing for Zach Wheeler.
Remember, though, it’s still Jun. 13 with plenty of baseball left in the season. The Mets still have their chance and look much better with three big guns coming back over the weekend.
Now it’s time for the club to produce. Tonight, was one of those losses, which would have happened no matter what.
There are no excuses and tonight they can’t hide behind Mr. Met giving the fans the finger or any other antics, which tend to happen to this club.
Just go out and win tomorrow.
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