Jacob DeGrom gave the Mets a strong six-inning win in Saturday’s 7-3 win over the Padres, sending the wild card streak into a decisive Game 3 at City Field. (AP) Associated Press
NEW YORK. From the first day of spring training, when his pitchers and receivers arrived at work, one manager began to ask himself: a) did his team have enough talent to handle October, b) did they have an appetite to win, or — script returning home. One does not always mean the other. History tells us that skill does not guarantee a backbone.
Metropolis is only a few hours away from this boiler. They’ll soon find out if those 101 regular season victories are cosmetic or the cornerstone of a championship. Saturday’s 7-3 ambush by the Padres forced a Game 3 wild-card series decider at Citi Field. We can say for sure: it will be a fool.
Buck Showalter fired all the bullets to save the Mets in Game 2, especially risked closer Edwin Diaz in the seventh inning with a one-point lead, then put his right hand on the rebound after a four-pointer. back eighth inning.
With five up, Showalter can kick the throttle and save Diaz for tonight’s final. But there is no chance. Showalter knew he needed Diaz’s 28 pitches to be critical to securing Game 2 and keeping profits from a good turning summer in Flushing.
Buck is no fool, he knows that if the Padres sweep away the Mets, they will face a serious counterattack. Two outs will open the door to Flushing’s ancient accusation: the same old Mets.
The problem is that it isn’t. This is the most qualified and cohesive Mets team since 2006. The only thing missing is success in the next few weeks. Passing the wild card round is mandatory.
Diaz is free tonight – there’s no way he can do that – but the fact that Showalter called him six times earlier than usual shows how little trust the manager has in other relief teams.
Of course, Buck was diplomatic, saying, “(Trent) Grisham is hurting us.” Sure, the Padres linebacker has hit home runs from Max Scherzer and Jacob de Grom on consecutive nights. This is important.
If Grisham can do that against the Mets’ top two starting players, imagine the damage he could do to anyone other than Diaz late in the game. So Showalter didn’t risk it. He learned his lesson against Orioles in 2016 by defending him from close quarters. More on this later.
How is the game’s best pitcher? Interest Ask. First define what gross power means to deGrom. His line against the Padres was respectable – six innings, two runs, eight strikeouts – although it was a notch below overall superiority.
In fact, DeGrom stopped throwing the fastball after Grisham took it deep in the third inning. On the orders of the Padres, the four-seater hit 101 and 102 mph for the first time, but as manager Bob Melvin later remarked, “Jack seems to have changed the way he attacked us in the midrange.”
Whether it’s the fear of overextending his shoulder, popping blisters again last week, or the embarrassment that someone else can catch up to his triple-figure pace, deGrom fights his way through the next three possibilities.
Thanks to the slider, it mostly succeeded, but something was missing. “I’ve never flown Jack (2022) before,” Showalter said, so he never saw multiple versions of his ace Cy Young. However, what Buck gets from deGrom, even if it’s 80 percent, is better than an alternative that doesn’t have him at all.
Melvin was hoping for better results from starter Blake Snell, champion Cy Young himself, who went six innings in just 3.1 innings. It was the most innings by the Padres in playoff history. They’re lucky the Mets didn’t break the game sooner.
But Melvin has two weapons that Showalter doesn’t have: a fully rested pen, including the closer Josh Hader, who has yet to appear in this series, and an inning toss in Game 1 but not Game 2 by Roberto Suarez, not used in game. the game.
San Diego is a firm believer in starter Joe Musgrove, who leads the team with a 2.93 ERA — also lower than any Mets starter.
The priests are also supported by the fact that they are still behind the Scherzer de Grom blizzard. They loved the chance to play against Mets No. 3 Chris Bassit.
Buck hates to bind the narrative, but today’s knockout cannot be discussed without thinking about his own legacy.
Showalter is second on the list of non-World Series manager wins in history. The leader was Gene Moh, who won 1902 games in 28 seasons (1960-87). Barker standing in 1652. He wants titles as much as everyone else at the club.
It’s not like the drought directly affected his decisions in the game, but Showalter learned a hard lesson about staying close in the playoffs.
When he ran the 2016 Orioles in a wildcard shootout, Showalter never approached Zach Britton, who was left-handed in the game at the time. With the score tied and the Orioles as guests, Showalter instead allowed Ubaldo Jiménez to hit a home run to Edwin Encarnacion in the 11th inning.
The Blue Jays ended the season in Baltimore with one hit. Showalter faced harsh criticism for putting Britton on standby in case he needed to. The Orioles never recovered – they had problems for the next two seasons, and by 2018, Showalter was out of a job.
Hurt by this afterthought, Buck bitterly asked many years later, “If you knew how things were going to turn out in your life, would you have acted differently?” – he said. “Of course you will, that’s my answer. It’s a results-oriented society.”
Well, let’s get real. certainly. Buck has a chance to play this month, this series, today’s game. He wasn’t about to let it slip away.
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Post time: Oct-26-2022