Yes these are important games and this time around it will be in Queens where the Mets will be looking for a little revenge on their big brothers from the Bronx who took 2 out of 3 when they 1st met back in April at the fake Yankee Stadium.
Both teams come into this series with similar records, the Yankees at 80-65 find themselves 3 and half behind the 1st place Blue Jays and currently have the 1st wildcard spot with a 4 and a half lead. The Mets come in at 83-63 in 1st place with a 8 game lead thanks to the Nationals never living up to their hype. Yes the Mets are sitting pretty today but of course they have earned it.
The Mets who lost their last 2 games have been playing at a level that Mets fans haven't seen since the 86 Mets. We all know the pitching has carried them for most of the season but now the offense is clicking as well. The team looks complete in all facets, the lineup is deep and so is the bench. it's like everyone has a purpose.
Anything can happen but at this point the NL East is wrapped up. What is left for the Mets is home field advantage and a possible 1st round meeting with the LA Dodgers in the 1st round, that's how far the Mets have come.
Right now everything seems to be going as planned, the key players are all healthy, David Wright and Travis d'Arnaud are back to playing everyday and the Mets lineup has that balance. The additions of Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe have brought veteran leadership and a lefty and righty bat off the bench and when they play they do positive things. 1st round draft pick Michael Conforto has been more then solid as the kid has not disappointed. Then there is The Cuban Defector, aka (La Potencia), Yeonis Cespedes. What a pickup! The guy is playing at another level and has become the team MVP and the differences maker in the Mets lineup.
Yes the NY Mets are Amazing again, they are the team no one wants to play in October, they have the young arms and now they have the bats to go along. The chemistry is great and they are clearly the kings of NY of 2015 and this is the perfect chance to showcase it in front of the home fans.
The NY Yankees will have their hands full this time around, for them it's an important stretch of games. They come into this series having a hard time scoring runs, they are not the same team that scored runs at will a few months ago when I called them a Softball team. That was a while ago and now they are without Mark Teixiera who is out for the season, a huge blow to their surprise offense of 2015. Rookie Greg Bird has filled in nicely but TEX was comeback player of the year.
Tonight the Yankees will also be playing at a disadvantage with Alex Rodriguez not having a position anymore, he will be used primarily as a pinch hitter unless Joe Girardi gets desperate and puts him on 1B. It is not going to be easy for the Yanks in this series who then play the Blue Jays so it will be a tough next 6 games. If the NY Yankees still have hopes on winning the AL East then this stretch right here is make or break.
If the Yankees are to win this series they will need better contributions from their struggling table setters, they cant wait around for the long ball when playing at Citifield so Brett Gardner and Jacoby Elsbury will need to be on base and hope that the 3, 4 and 5 in the lineup can come up with the key hits. Lately it hasnt' happened and it's been guys like Didi Gregorious and the rookie Greg Bird who have come up with the big hits, but now it's time for the big guys to step it up.
Things open up tonight with a matchup of Masahiro Tanaka vs Steven Matz, Tanaka has been the most consistence Yankee pitcher of late and the Yanks will look for him to set the pace. Saturday it will be Michael Pineda vs Noah Syndergaard and on Sunday it will be ESPN Sunday Night Baseball, C.C. Sabathia faces Matt Harvey who will be making his 2nd start since his innings limit controversy and where he took a beating, so I look for Harvey to give a solid 5 innings of zero's.
Its a NYC showdown and bragging rights are at stake, so get the snacks ready cause this one will be a tasty treat.
8 comments:
Damn, I had left a comment but for whatever reason it didn't go through.
Anyways, not the weekend you had planned or wished for with the Mets dropping 2 of 3 to the Yankees. I want to see where this whole Matt Harvey thing goes, was reading the NY papers today and Collins seems frustrated with the whole thing. Good thing for the Mets they have a bunch of patsies lines up in the schedule now so they'll make back the ground they lost in no time and get back on track to clinching the division.
As for the Yankees, can't really complain...went into Citi and took 2 games, they pitched well and hit well. Last night's game was good because after they took out Harvey the Yankees were able to take full advantage of the Mets pen and did not have to use Miller or Betances. On to Toronto for the Yankees, the bad thing is that they have the back end of the rotation going up against the front end of Toronto's. I'm just happy that the Yankees are that much closer to a playoff spot.
I was wondering why I haven't heard from you, well glad to here from ya, you already know how I feel about Harvey, that shit on Sunday was BS, what pisses me off is listening to talk radio and guys like Francsesa blaming the Mets for letting this happen in a way. On top of that I here people panicking because the Mets lost a few games, like they expect the Mets to win all the remaining games. Well have to deal with Harvey and Boras but I wish that at the end of the season we go hard and trade him, I'm really beginning to hate this guy wearing a Met uniform.
Yea the Yankees needed it more and they did what they had to do, like you said once Harvey said that's it I had a bad feeling, but it was the Mets fielding that let that one get away, Robles pitch well to get out of the 6 with no runs but 2 errors were the Mets downfall in that inning. Whats up with Girardi? that guys don't don't no one except Betances and Miller, talk about over managing, that guy had me screaming a few times.
Not a good start vs the Jays today, the Yanks have to win the next 2 or it's over, it the WC for them.
I can see why Mets fans would panic, the ghosts of 2007 are still lingering but this Mets team is better and the 2007 Phillies are way better than the Nationals, who once again could have made the Mets sweat a bit but instead took another loss today.
As for the Yankees, big win tonight. The kid Bird comes up big again. He seems to have a knack for coming up big in big spots, 6 of his 10 home runs have given the Yankees the lead, now that is what I call clutch.
We all know that Girardi overmanages, even with all his over managing I would take him as a manager. He's done a great job for the Yankees.
Yea I can see why these people panic but like you said it's like night and day between the Mets and Nats.
Big win! Yea that kid Bird looks like he's going to be a player, to bad Tex is signed for another year, the good thing is that TEX is always hurt. No Girardi really over-manages, I mean he took out a pitcher with 2 outs in the 9th with the Yanks winning by 5 runs, I mean that's showing no trust, wanted to smack him.
Dude, if the Nats had ONE ounce of heart or backbone this NL East would be so interesting right now.
Dude the Mets broke their backs with those back to back sweeps. It's over for the Nats , they need to clean house, their little run is over.
Yeah, the manager will be the first to go but looks like that collection of players isn't working, I know they had injuries but so did everyone else. They would have choked anyway if they had made the playoffs like they did last year. The Mets are the much more interesting team.
Another lost for the Nats, yea they don't have a good mix of guys, I don't know who the GM is but he is questionable too.
Beltran has come up with the big hits in the 2nd half, you guys finally getting bang for your buck with him. Girardi really over working Betances and lately he does not have his pitches working as well, looks to me that all you have to do is lay off the breaking stuff.
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