Here we go. Can the Mets stave off expulsion from the Series or will they succumb to the Royals and the incessant hitting machine that is their lineup?
Royals at Mets, 5:00PM PT, TV: Fox
The pitchers from Game One are matched up again. Edinson Volquez returns from attending his father’s funeral in the Dominican Republic to face Matt Harvey, who took the loss the first time these two righthanders met last week.
If you think the Royals are the latest edition of The Comeback Kids, you’re right: “Kansas City has now won six games this postseason after trailing by multiple runs.”
Did the Dodgers cultivate rhubarb in Brooklyn? http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2015/11/02/mark_peters_bullshit_word_of_the_day_rhubarb_is_a_tart_theatrical_term_for.html
Did Daniel Murphy (and the Mets) finally get what he (they) deserved? http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2015/11/02/daniel_murphy_anti_gay_i_m_glad_the_mets_lost_the_world_series.html
Who’s to blame for the Mets? http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2015/11/harvey_murphy_and_collins_lost_the_world_series_for_the_mets.single.html
I would have pulled Harvey after he walked Cain, before he gave up the double to Hosmer.
Collins, though, said it would have been foolish to let Harvey pitch to just one hitter (though, in retrospect, it was foolisher to let him face two).
Then he should have stuck with his original plan and brought Familia in to start the inning.
Given Harvey’s various issues, that would seem to have made sense. I woulda stuck with Kershaw or perhaps even Greinke in a similar situation, but not Harvey.
These days managers seem to want to bring closers in at the start of innings, not when there is already a forest fire.
So, he waited until things got worse.
These days being the last twenty-odd years.
Yeah, after the guy gets on he is pitching from the stretch so effectiveness drops right there.
Man, the Royals are relentless. I don’t think we could have beaten them either.
I think they would have beaten us soundly.
By no means certain.
Hatcher and Jansen against that bunch of hitters, night after night?
Long outings by Kershaw and Greinke would have certainly helped.
Oh, sure, but that’s only two games out of the first four.
Look, I like our team, but I think the Royals were on the kind of roll the Rockies got on back in, ’07, was it? When they won about 13 straight until they got to the WS.
I think the Royals are very deserving, but I also think the Dodgers could have beaten them. Could, not necessarily would.
Our three and four pitchers not good enough, and offense too weak. I don’t think winning four from these guys was likely. Of course, this is baseball, so…
KC hitters feasted on Clippard and Reed. So did we in our series. Of course, they also got to the Mets starters more than we did, but looked like their yougins’ ran out of gas as the innings accumulated. deGrom pitched 216 innings versus 140 the previous season, Thor hit 198 innings versus 133 previous season and Harvey went 215, as compared to the 180 he was “supposed” to pitch.
Royals’ starters inferior to the Dodgers’ (though also to the Mets’).
Rox did great until they ran into good pitching (Beckett, Schilling, Matsuzaka and Lester). before that, the only good pitchers they faced were Hamels (Fillies) and Webb (Snakes). Nothing like good pitching to stop a roll. If you can get it to seven that’s two starts each for Clayton and Zach.
Actually, it’s at least four (and potentially five) out of the first seven.
Mets bullpen actually weaker over the season than the Dodgers pen, even with late additions of Reed and Clippard that’s why we so saw much of Colon and Neise. Both are contact pitchers, however, as is Clippard and our fireballers, Kenley and Hatch better than Familia and Reed. KC starters weak and Mets got to them in almost every game before the KC relievers put a damper on things and waited until the Royals hitters could get to the Met relievers.
Their offense and bullpen a tough combination.
We certainly couldn’t beat the Royals, but the Dodgers would have stood a good chance.
Drew Butera. World Series Champion.
Total implosion by the Metropolitans.
See comment below, re: my family. Feeling their pain.
Metsing again…
My poor brother and nephews.
It’s the middle of the seventh, and time to mute GBA.
Pitchers look on tonight. Let’s go KC. Although it would be nice for a stadium filled with Royals’ fans to be able to cheer for them to a WS win.
Another quick comment on South American baseball. In northernmost Chile, it owes its origins to the US copper mining companies that ran Chuquicamata, the world’s largest open-pit mine (though it’s now state-owned and moving to underground mining). Cities like Calama, Iquique, Tocopilla, and Arica have baseball teams, but the fields are total sandlots – no grass whatsoever.
I once played softball on Ascension Island (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascension_Island), where the field is volcanic clinker and sliding is prohibited – you run through every base. I took a spill and scraped my leg up pretty badly. The best team was from St. Helena, which also played cricket on the British side of the island.
Let’s end this tonight
Don’t really have a dog in this fight, other than being for the NL and the more baseball the better for me. You favor KC I gather
Just ready to get the hot stove league started.
and we are off and running!
Roger Angell on Game One of this Series.