'Penned Up Anger

Happy Free Thursday, I guess. Consider a paid subscription so you get The Mets Newsletter in your inbox every single morning, including after actual victories! quick talking voice Victories not guaranteed.

The Mets bullpen faltered once again and the offense mostly took a rare day off as the Tigers beat the Mets 6-2. 

Clay Holmes was actually not too bad! Like his previous start, his final line wasn’t really fair so to speak. With two outs and nobody on, Zach McKinstry singled to left. Then Javier Báez reached base on catcher’s interference, moving McKinstry into scoring position. He scored when the #9 hitter Jake Rogers singled to right. 

The Mets got the run right back in the top of the third against Casey Mize. Francisco Lindor laced a one-out double. After Juan Soto popped up to second, Pete Alonso doubled to the gap in right center field to bring in Lindor and tie the game. The Polar Bear got some help from Lindor. It looked like whenever the catcher Rogers initially set up outside, Lindor moved his arms. Here’s the first pitch:

Lindor did it again for the next pitch, which once again was outside:

Before the third pitch, Lindor didn’t do anything with his arms, enabling Alonso to only look middle or inside. He ended up muscling a ball that came in on him a little bit.

I noticed that Lindor did not do this when he was on second and Juan Soto was batting, so maybe some batters like to know location and others either don’t want to know or are too concerned that the signs will be wrong. 

Anyway, Holmes survived the dreaded fourth inning, but he didn’t make it out of the bottom of the fifth. After catching Rogers looking at strike three, Holmes walked Colt Keith. Keith advanced to second on a Gleyber Torres ground out to Mark Vientos - Gary Cohen thought that Vientos should have charged the ball to possibly turn a double play, while Keith Hernandez pointed out that it’s the team philosophy to play back. It would have been tough to turn two, I thought, but yeah, if they pulled it off, the inning would be over. Instead, Kerry Carpenter walked, and Carlos Mendoza brought in Gregory Soto. Soto uncorked a wild pitch, moving the runners to second and third. Riley Greene hit a hot shot that ate up Lindor and went into the outfield to score two runs and give the Tigers the 3-1 lead. The earned runs were charged to Holmes. 

The Mets refused to let the Tigers have a shutdown inning in the sixth. Against the lefty Tyler Holton, Soto walked, then Alonso reached on an infield hit. Brandon Nimmo was robbed of a double by the center fielder, old chum Javier Báez, but Soto advanced to third on the play. Vientos then hit an RBI single against the change-up king Tommy Kahnle to put the Mets within one. Jeff McNeil walked to load the bases. Unfortunately, Starling Marte grounded into a 5-4-3 rally-killing inning-ending double play. 

Mendoza opted to bring in Ryan Helsley in a one-run game. I don’t think he’ll be doing that again. Keith got a bloop hit to left. Torres walked. With the count 2-0 to Kerry Carpenter, Helsley, whose sliders were not landing for strikes and not being swung at, threw a fastball. Carpenter figured or downright knew that was coming, and he hit a line drive three-run homer. Seemingly as punishment, Mendoza left Helsley in to clean up his own mess, and to his credit he struck out two batters in between a Spencer Torkelson single and wild pitch. Finally, after he threw 27 pitches, Mendoza brought in Justin Hagenman to finish the game. 

Down 6-2 in the eighth, the Mets made it somewhat interesting against Tigers closer Will Vest. Nimmo hit a one-out single, and McNeil walked with two down. Then, dammit, Marte grounded into a fielder’s choice. New York didn’t score in the ninth either against old chum Rafael Montero. 

Look - sweeping the Tigers in Detroit would have been amazin(g), but hey, winning two out of three is nothing to sneeze at. And if this game marked the point where the Mets finally give up on Helsley and only allow him to pitch in the lowest of low leverage situations, all the better.

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The aforementioned Alonso double was Pete’s 69th extra base hit of the season. Neat.

Ryan Helsley has allowed 14 ER in 11 innings as a Met, for a 11.45 ERA. He allowed 12 ER in 36 innings as a Cardinal (3.00 ERA). That’s why I think at least part of his problem is psychological. If it was 100 percent because he’s tipping, why wasn’t it a problem in the Midwest? 

During the pregame show on SNY,  Todd Zeile pointed out that Soto and his Met teammates tend to start running when the pitch clock clicks down to 4-5 seconds. Apparently Detroit watched - the Tigers picked Soto off in the first inning yesterday.

An SNY graphic claimed that since August 1st, the Mets have the best batting average with RISP in the major leagues. What a time to be alive.

Mike Puma reported that the Mets will know by Friday whether or not Kodai Senga will accept a demotion to the minor leagues. As mentioned in yesterday’s newsletter, it’s in his contract that Senga needs to give permission to send him down on the farm. Instead of Senga, the Mets currently have “TBA” penciled in to start Sunday (David Peterson will go on Friday, Jonah Tong on Saturday). Tylor Megill had a meh rehab outing on Tuesday in Syracuse - he could theoretically start that Sunday game against the Reds. Obviously, we all prefer it to be either Nolan McLean on normal rest or Brandon Sproat the GOAT. 

Mark Vientos chatted with Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman.

Brett Baty is chasing less and hitting more balls hard this season compared to last. 

The Mariners claimed LHP José Castillo off waivers from the Mets. He was DFA’d a few days ago. In 16 appearances with the Mets, Castillo posted a 2.35 ERA. 

Catcher Kevin Parada was promoted from Double-A Binghamton to Triple-A Syracuse.

The Mets had a Mario Kart World competition. And it was filmed! For Instagram.

The Phillies lost to the Brewers, and the Reds lost to the Blue Jays, but the Drew Gilbert, Wilmer Flores, and Dominic Smith-led Giants won yet again, so now they’re the team closest to the Mets. Fortunately, the Giants don’t play the Rockies every day, and the Mets have the tiebreaker over them.

The Triple-A Syracuse Mets (68-66) dominated the Buffalo Bisons (Blue Jays affiliate), defeating them by a score of 10-2. Francisco Alvarez (fractured pinkie, UCL thumb sprain) hit a grand slam and caught all nine innings for the second day in a row. He i an absurd human being. Jose Siri (broken leg) went 1 for 4 with a run scored and two RBI and played seven innings in center. RHP Luis Moreno got the dub in a bullpen game started by Dicky Lovelady.

The Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies (84-42) handled the Akron RubberDucks (Guardians) 9-5. 1B JT Schwartz went 3 for 5 with a double and three RBI. RF D’Andre Smith and CF Nick Morabito both went 2 for 5 with a double. Starter RHP Jack Wenninger didn’t have it, but he still managed to only give up two earned runs in four innings while walking four and striking out seven. RHP Joshua Cornielly got the win by tossing three shutout innings, allowing just one hit while walking one and fanning two.

The High-A Brooklyn Cyclones (71-57) were walked off by the Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies), losing 5-4. The Cyclones were limited to just three hits - DH Matt Rudick tripled for the only extra base knock. The newly promoted RHP Channing Austin started the game. He permitted two earned runs on just one hit in three innings of work, walking two and striking out three.

The Low-A St. Lucie Mets (76-51) were also walked off, in this case by the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (Twins), losing 3-2. 2B Mitch Voit went 2 for 5 with two stolen bases. DH AJ Salgado went 2 for 4 with a double, a run scored, and a stolen base. Starting RHP Jose Chirinos lasted for four innings. He permitted one earned run on three hits while walking four and punching out three.

14 years ago today, the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode with Bill Buckner and Mookie Wilson first aired. I recommend watching it if you haven’t seen it. 

Today is a long-awaited day off for the Mets before they start their big series with the Reds in Skyline Chili Town. It’s pretty much just Phillies-Brewers and a handful of American League games on the baseball schedule. SNY is showing last season’s Game 161 this evening. NBC has that sport where they throw a pigskin around.