Sengugh

It’s Free Thursday. There’s also a Free Monday. But did you know there’s newsletters on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday too? It’s true. And only for five bucks a month! 

Kodai Senga continued to struggle after his IL stint and a rally stalled when the Nationals’ “beleaguered” bullpen got involved as the Mets lost in DC by a score of 5-4.

Senga looked sharp in the first two innings. In fact, he retired the first six batters he faced, netting two strikeouts. In the bottom of the third though, the Nationals got two runs on just one little hit. Dylan Crews walked to start. Drew Millas reached on a catcher’s interference. Robert Hassell III reached on a fielder’s choice when he beat out a potential double play ball - Crews got to third. Senga then walked James Wood to load ‘em up. Then CJ Abrams reached on an infield hit to score Crews. Josh Bell followed with a line drive sacrifice fly to center (Cedric Mullins doesn’t have much of an arm.) 

The fourth was much more clearly Senga’s fault. Certified Met Killer Paul DeJong doubled right on the left field foul line. After striking out Daylen Lile, Crews also doubled to left to score DeJong. Drew Millas then hit his first career triple to make it 4-0 Nats. All of the hits were off of hanging breaking balls. Senga served up a solo shot to Josh Bell in the fifth. He was allowed to start the sixth, but after a Lile single he was taken out. 

Meanwhile, Brad Lord was mowing down the Mets for the first four innings. With two out in the top of the fifth though, Brett Baty hit a ball really, really far - 455 feet to be exact. It was the longest dinger of Baty’s career and the second longest by a Met this season (Ronny Mauricio in Coors Field remains numero uno.) 

Up 5-1 in the sixth, the Nationals thought it was safe to bring Lord back out there. This would prove to be a mistake. He walked both Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto. After Starling Marte - in for Brandon Nimmo whose neck acted up again - baffingly looked at three strikes, Pete Alonso doubled down the right field line to score Lindor and move Soto to third. Jeff McNeil thought that looked like fun, so he doubled too, scoring Soto and Alonso. Just like that it was 5-4 Nats. Lord’s day was done, and the supposedly very human Nationals bullpen entered the picture. Cole Henry got Mark Vientos to hit a ground ball to the third baseman DeJong, but first baseman Josh Bell couldn’t scoop DeJong’s throw - McNeil moved to third on the error. Baty walked to load the bases, but Mullins flew out to shallow right, and Luis Torrens grounded out to second. 

While Tyler Rogers, Gregory Soto, and Reed Garrett easily handled the Nationals in the late innings, the Mets bats went quiet. Shinnosuke Ogasawara and Clayton Beeter threw 1-2-3 innings in the seventh and eighth respectively. In the top of the ninth against the lefty Jose Ferrer, Baty grounded out to short on the first pitch he saw. Mullins reached base when he hit a ball right at Ferrer and it bounced into no man’s land, but Torrens, swinging on a 2-0 pitch outside of the strike zone, grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the ballgame. I’m pretty sure Carlos Mendoza would have pinch hit for Torrens with Marte had he had Marte available off the bench, but instead his options were Torrens, Mauricio right-handed, Tyrone Taylor, and Hayden Senger. Mauricio is much weaker from the right side, but at least he could beat out a potential DP ball. And/or Mullins could have tried to steal second to avoid a potential double play  - he has 16 swipes on the season. But honestly, the Mets should not have been in that situation in the first place. They’re a better team than that. 

Sometimes.

 ***

Nimmo left the game with neck stiffness after one at-bat and one inning playing left field. He similarly left the May 23rd game against the Dodgers with the same problem - it’s a recurring issue he’s had since 2019. Sometimes he can play through the pain, and other times, like yesterday, he can’t. He was described as “day to day”. I’d be a little surprised if he was in today’s lineup since it’s an afternoon affair. 

Mark Vientos didn’t homer again last night, but he did hit a double and other balls hard. Brett Baty did homer again. As much as I hate to say it because it means much less playing time for my man Ronny Mauricio, Vientos and Baty deserve to play every day at this point.

Jose Siri (fractured tibia) could play in rehab games as soon as next week. He hasn’t played since April 12th. I don’t think Mullins, Taylor, and Siri can all co-exist on the active roster, but as they say, these things usually work themselves out.

Meanwhile Jesse Winker (back) is “still not doing much”, but Mendoza added that they still think he can return this season. Seems like wishful thinking at this point regarding the Wink Man.

Tylor Megill (right elbow sprain) will make another rehab start this Sunday. They’re aiming to get him up to 70 pitches. 

Yesterday, Anthony DiComo mentioned in his article about Francisco Alvarez that Dustin Pedroia played most of the 2013 season with a torn UCL in his thumb and still made the All-Star team and won the World Series. But Mark W. Sanchez at the New York Post tracked Pedroia down, and the former second baseman’s comments on playing through the pain don’t paint a rosy picture for Alvy.

“It’s doable,” reported Dustin Pedroia, who would know. “The pain — it is what it is. It’s going to suck.”

“Put it this way,” Pedroia said over the phone Wednesday from his home in Arizona, “I’m 42 now, and it still hurts.”

“It’s going to zap your power,” he said.

“Was it a smart decision?” Pedroia said of playing an astounding 176 games with a torn UCL in his thumb. “Probably not.”

At least Alvarez would only have to play something like six weeks tops playing through his injury, but damn, power is a big part of his game. 

Luisangel Acuña was taken out of last night’s game in Triple-A Syracuse after colliding with the opposing team’s first baseman. No word yet on the severity of the injury. 

Laura Albanese at Newsday wrote about Jeff McNeil’s hitting transformation.

The Mets were quizzed on trivia about themselves. We learned that Juan Soto didn’t know that the longest homer of his career was at Citi Field…against the Mets.

The Mariners broadcast revealed yesterday that the Mets hold the single-day team record for most Philly cheesesteaks consumed in a Citizens Bank Park clubhouse with 103. Some commenters on Twitter (never X) said that longtime bullpen catcher Dave Racaniello had a lot to do with it.

ESPN dropped their in-season Top 100 prospect list. SS/CF Jet!(t) Williams (No. 18), RHP’s Nolan McLean (No. 19), and Jonah Tong (No. 21), outfielders Carson Benge (No. 27) and A.J. Ewing (No. 74), and RHP Brandon Sproat (No. 83) made the cut.

In yesterday’s game notes, the Mets dropped this hard-to-believe nugget: 

In 16 games in August, the Mets are batting .352 (44-125) with eight doubles, seven home runs, 61 RBI, 21 walks, a .429 OBP, and a .584 SLG with RISP...Their .352 average is second in the majors and tops in the National League in August.  

They went 5-11 in those 16 games.

RA Dickey these days looks like he can star on Francisco Lindor’s favorite show, Duck Dynasty.

Mariners President of Baseball Operations and former Met reliever Jerry DiPoto revealed to The Athletic that Tug McGraw called him the morning after he had a bad outing to berate him for disrespecting his uniform number (both DiPoto and McGraw wore #45.) 

The Phillies won. The division is slowly but surely slipping away. But the Reds lost, so the Mets still have a one game lead for the final wild card spot. Both Philly and Cincy are off today. The Phillies play the Nationals at home this weekend. The Reds travel to Arizona. 

The Triple-A Syracuse Mets (62-60) continued their losing streak, this time getting shut out by Indianapolis (Pirates affiliate) 6-0. ‘Cuse only managed three hits. Brandon Waddell got rocked again, this time allowing five earned runs on four hits (two were home runs) in three and two thirds innings. He walked three and fanned four.

The Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies (76-38) defeated the Portland Sea Dogs (Red Sox) 4-1. R.J. Gordon pitched a gem - he threw seven shutout frames, allowing just two hits. He walked two and struck out seven. A.J. Ewing went 2 for 5 with two doubles. Jacob Reimer went yard.

The High-A Brooklyn Cyclones (67-48) were edged by the Aberdeen IronBirds (Orioles) 7-6. Diego Mosquera went 2 for 4 with a double, a run scored, two RBI, and a strikeout. Trace Willhoite went downtown. The lefty starter Franklin Gomez permitted just one earned run in five innings of work, allowing four hits, walking one and punching out seven. 

The Low-A St. Lucie Mets (68-47) gave up four runs in the bottom of the ninth and lost to the Palm Beach Cardinals in 10 innings by a score of 11-9. The undrafted free agent John Bay went 4 for 4 with a home run, a run scored, and five RBI. Yonatan Henriquez went 2 for 5 with a dinger, three runs scored, an RBI. and two strikeouts. Christian Rodriguez was charged with the four runs Palm Beach scored to tie the game.

Late this afternoon the Mets and Nationals will play the rubber game of the series. Sean Manaea (1-1, 4.78 ERA) will get the start for New York (NL). The Nationals will counter with their own lefty, MacKenzie Gore (5-12, 4.04 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 4:05 pm eastern. The game will air on SNY.