Wednesday’s game featured an upstairs TV!

Phillies 8, Mets 2

(1-2)

Oh, Je Mets.

I wrote yesterday that this was the type of game in which the Mets, in recent memory, have not performed well.

A flat first inning from a starter and too many men left on base by the hitters were the biggest culprits in Wednesday’s game, as the Mets lost the game and their first series of the season.

And I have to tell you - I think I’m willing to give them a one-series pass.

Listen. I know these players make a lot of money to deal with a lot of stuff…but they’re only human. I felt the momentum sucked out of me this weekend after their first three games were postponed…I have to believe it contributed to the players’ performances as well.

It’s not like a post-season where you might have a layoff before you start a series. There you’re coming off a full season of play and a few days off can serve as a welcome respite. This is a situation where you’re all geared up for the season coming out of spring training and then…….nothing.

That’s really unprecedented and there’s no guidebook for how to deal with it. It’s especially worse when everyone else - including the team you have to play after the days off - has been able to get their regular season feet under them.

So I’m not making excuses. There have been questionable managerial moves, there have been too many of the old bad habits popping up (men left on, bad bullpen, not scoring for deGrom) - too many things that don’t lead to winning seasons.

But maybe these three games aren’t the fairest way to judge how 2021 will go.

I was hoping the Mets would avoid starting the season by losing a series.

But maybe this will be the last time all year that they are below .500.

Notes: David Peterson had a bad first inning, but was really good after that, until he let the first two men on in the 5th. (They scored on a J.T. Realmuto home run on the first pitch thrown in a Mets uniform by Jacob Barnes). Peterson had a lot of men on base last year too but often pitched out of it. I like him. I think he’ll be OK this year…The thing about the Mets, even when they give up 4 runs in the first inning, is they never feel out of the game. With Brandon Nimmo leading off, it feels like he’s always going to get on base. Then Francisco Lindor, who is a great hitter comes up, then Michael Conforto, then Pete Alonso, then Dominic Smith - it’s a great lineup. They’re leaving too many men on base right now, but the runs will come. That Barnes homer put the game further out of reach, but if it stayed 4-1 you just feel like by the 9th inning they can get those runs back (like how I felt in the 9th inning on Monday night)…Conforto is swinging the bat right now like me when I’m guessing wrong in wiffle ball (apologies if you read this thought in tweet form already)….Ron Darling practically called Realmuto’s homer. Or at least he knew how not to pitch him, which the on-field contingent didn’t seem to grasp…In the 6th inning Lindor made a smooth play on a ground ball up the middle - it was the best defensive play we’ve seen by Lindor yet…Peterson is wearing number 23 this year. Count me as one who liked seeing 77 on his back last year - that’s my birthday! (7/7)

How I Watched: This game featured my first radio listening of the year. I started by watching the game on MLB.TV, and I brought the movable TV upstairs to watch a chunk of the game, as you can see in the picture above. Circumstances dictate we have an early dinner on Wednesday, so I watched while I cooked (it was chili tonight, for those of you keeping score at home) and then we had the game on as we ate. I listened in the car (a little staticy but not terrible) as I took my daughter to dance class. The comeback was not in the cards, but it was good to hear Howie and Wayne for the first time this year.

What Else I Watched: I started the day with Game 1 of the Atlanta-Washington doubleheader. They scored a bunch of runs in the first couple of innings…but it sounds like Game 2 would have been the better game to watch. I switched over to Detroit-Minnesota for the second time in three days (strangely) and watched a bit of that before the Mets started.

Notes From Around The League: During the Tigers game the broadcast booth interviewed Casey Mize, who started for the Tigers on Tuesday. Man, did I like listening to him. It was a really great conversation - he seems like a good guy to have on your team. Very media savvy - came across as a very mature 23-year-old…While they were talking to Mize, Akil Baddoo tripled. I’d never heard of that guy before this week and he’s off to a hot start…I would just like to make clear to you that I wasn’t bragging about biking while watching the game Tuesday night. After I biked I ate leftover pies from Easter, so it’s not like I’m in great shape and always doing the healthy thing over here…Obviously, I’m still figuring out what I should do with pictures or graphically on this site. I realize it’s a lot of text. I’ll figure it out eventually.