Celebration and Despair; Rays Clinch, Mets to Brink after 8-5 Tampa Victory

In what was slated to be Michael Wacha‘s biggest start of the season, he was efficient, however the long ball was his worst enemy. Getting a lot of early missed barrels, and early in the count outs.

The first inning for Wacha was a breeze, featuring heavy doses of fastballs and change ups early. Tampa Bay got the scoring going in the top of the second when Joey Wendle put a homer into the right field seats.

In the bottom half of the second inning, Andres Gimenez hit a rocket off the Chic-fil-a sign on the facing of the Coca-Cola Corner to tie the game at one.

Brandon Lowe put the Rays back ahead in the top of the third inning, scoring Manuel Margot on a fielder’s choice. Dom Smith then tied the game in the top of the fourth inning with a towering home run that came two rows away from landing on the concourse in right field.

After a two run home run from Randy Arozarena in the top of the sixth inning, the Rays held a 4-2 lead. Wacha finished the sixth, with a final line of six innings pitched, four runs all of which were earned, while striking out four. Although the long ball hurt him, he seemed to have his stuff working tonight. He was able to limit damage and have a short term memory and not let the homers bug him much.

The pitch selection from guys like Robinson Cano, Pete Alonso, and Todd Frazier was abismal tonight. Swinging at pitches that were bouncing five feet before the plate.

In the top of the eighth, the flood gates opened. Chasen Shreve could not find the plate in what was his biggest relief appearance of the season, giving up a two run bomb to Brandon Lowe. Willy Adames slipped a single into left field later in the inning to extend the lead to 7-2.

Steven Matz entered the game in the top of the ninth to get some work in the last home game of the year, and after retiring the first two batters he saw, Arozarena sent one soaring into the left field seats to add to their lead.

The Mets did not go quietly in the ninth, Robinson Cano and Todd Frazier drove in runs to bring the Mets closer, however it was too little to late. The final from Citi Field was 8-5.

The winning pitcher of record was Tyler Glasnow (6IP, 2 ER, 8 K’s), Michael Wacha picked up the loss.

Offense:

Tyler Glasnow (4-1, 4.21 ERA) took the hill for the Rays, and started off Brandon Nimmo with seven straight fastballs, which led to another walk for Nimmo. Michael Conforto was called out on a crisp curveball from Glasnow. Jeff McNeil stayed hot with a opposite field single, moving Nimmo to second. Pete Alonso was sent down swinging on five pitches, leaving two runners on for Dom Smith. The left handed hitter went down swinging on strikes. Crisis avoided by Glasnow early.

Robinson Cano led off the bottom of the second inning with a hard line out to Adames at shortstop. Todd Frazier followed with a strike out, his struggles continue since coming back to Queens. Andres Gimenez was able to erase the Rays early lead, homering to right field. Wilson Ramos followed Gimenez with a grounder to the second baseman to end the inning.

The line up flipped over in the bottom half of the third, as Nimmo led off the bottom half of the third inning with a deep fly out to Manuel Margot in center field. Conforto was sat down on strikes by Glasnow for the second time in as many at bats. McNeil then grounded out to Nate Lowe at first to end the inning.

Pete Alonso led off the home half of the fourth and strikes out horribly. His pitch selection has regressed immensely throughout the year, and this at-bat was another example of it. Dom Smith tied the game in the fourth with a bomb to right field, almost clearing the Coca-Cola Corner. Cano followed Smith’s home run with a ground out to Lowe. Todd Frazier hits a shot to center, which was snagged by Margot to end the inning.

Gimenez attempted to shuffle out of the way of a Glasnow tag on a week ground ball, but to no avail. Ramos followed with a lazy fly ball to right field for two quick outs. Nimmo put a fantastic at-bat together, which ended with a scorching line drive to Hunter Renfroe in right.

Conforto worked a count full in the bottom of the sixth inning, but was set down looking for his third strike out of the night. A pitch that seemed to be a bit inside, was too close to take with two strikes. McNeil hit a rocket to Renfroe again for the second out. Alonso continued to look horrible, striking out on a pitch that landed three feet short of the plate to end the inning.

After the seventh inning stretch in an cavernous Citi Field, Smith led the inning off against reliever Pete Fairbanks with a swinging strike out on a slow, looping curveball. Cano copied Smith and struck out swinging, this time on a tightly spun slider. Todd Frazier hit a two out single off Fairbanks, which dropped into the right field gap. Gimenez grounded out to Lowe at second to put any idea of a two out rally to bed.

With the Mets trailing by seven with six outs remaining, Ramos was sent packing by left hander Ryan Sherriff for the first out of the inning. Guillermo Heredia came off the bench to hit for Nimmo, and flew out to right field, albeit solid contact. Conforto thought he got in the hit column with an infield single, but was overturned to end the eighth inning.

Right hander Oliver Drake entered the game in the bottom of the ninth, and McNeil worked a walk to lead off the inning. Pete Alonso hit a 118 MPH double off the glove of Arozarena, putting runners at first and second with nobody out. Drake struck out Smith for the first out of the inning. Cano records his first RBI of the game on a ground out, bringing McNeil home. Todd Frazier was the last hope for the Mets, and sends a ball over the left field wall, and now only trail by three. Nick Anderson entered with two outs in the ninth, and retired the only batter he faced, getting Gimenez to strike out and clinching the American League East Division for the first time since 2010.

Pitching: 

Michael Wacha takes the hill for what is his biggest start of the year. The former NLCS MVP has been hot and cold since coming off the injured list, as his 6.75 ERA is a glaring reminder.

Yoshi Tsutsugo led off the game, and strikes out on a foul tip. Wacha started the game off with four consecutive fastballs. Brandon Lowe then struck out on three consecutive change ups. Wacha seems to be starting the game off really attempting to try to get a feel of his pitches. Randy Arozarena followed Lowe, and struck out looking on a fastball. If Wacha needed something to build his confidence early, it was this first inning.

After two quick outs from Nate Lowe and Hunter Renfroe, Joey Wendle got the Rays on the board with a solo shot. Willy Adames was set down on strikes to end the inning. A nice little bounce back to get Adames swinging after giving up a home run.

Manuel Margot laid down a fantastic lead off bunt single to lead off the third inning. Slugging catcher Mike Zunino doubled, moving Margot to third. Tsutsugo popped up to Gimenez for the first out of the third inning. Lowe tacked on another run on a fielder’s choice, plating Margot. After a Arozarena fly out, Jeff McNeil throws a seed to nab Zunino at the plate to end the inning.

 

Wacha came out strong in the top half of the fourth inning, retiring Low, Renfroe, and Wendle all on four pitches. Although Wacha has given up a few runs early, his repertoire of pitches have seemed sharp tonight.

Margot reached with one out in the fifth, after a Adames fly out. Margot attempted to steal second base, however Ramos sent a dime to tallie the second out of the inning. Zunino flied out to McNeil to end the fifth inning. Something to keep an eye on is how good Wacha has looked when after facing adversity. Able to work out of jams, and keep his pitch count low.

Tsutsugo began the sixth inning with a first pitch swinging fly out to Nimmo in right field. Prior to that fly out, Wacha only had 52 pitches to that point. Lowe was caught out on his front foot, but was able to muscle one just over a leaping Cano. After I jinxed Wacha’s efficiency, Randy Arozarena hit a screaming line drive to center field over the fence to give the Rays a 4-2 lead. Todd Frazier snagged a hard line drive off the bat of Nate Lowe for the second out of the inning. Renfroe grounded out to Gimenez to limit the damage to just two runs.

Miguel Castro replaced Wacha after six innings, and was able to sit Wendle down on a fastball. Adames followed the Wendle strike out with a double down the line. Kevin Kiermaier replaced Margot as a pinch hitter. Kiermaier was sat down on strikes on a fantastic two seamer on the inside corner. Zunino grounded out on a check swing back to Castro to end the top half of the seventh inning. When Castro’s on, he is electric. After working around a double, his stuff was lights out.

Chasen Shreve replaced Castro in the top of the eighth inning, and walked Tsutsugo to start the inning, his first time reaching base in the game. Early on in the inning, Shreve looked to be opening up his glove side, forcing his stuff to miss low and outside. On a 3-1 count, Lowe hit a bomb into right field, extending their lead to 6-2. Shreve’s responsibility is to get lefties out, and the first two left handed hitters he faced reached and scored. Arozarena hit a nubber into no man’s land between third and the mound, and was able to beat out an infield single. Nate Lowe followed with a strike out for the first out of the inning. Shreve is removed in what was lined up to be his most important outing of the season, and he laid an egg.

One of the more consistent relievers this season was replaced by Jeurys Familia, who comes in with a runner on first and Renfroe at the plate. Familia took a while to even get the first pitch to Renfroe to the plate, really focusing on Arozarena at first. Renfroe was retired on a slow chopper back to Familia, who’s only play was to first since Arozarena was attempting to steal second. Wendle was then intentionally walked so Familia could face Adames who broke a team 0-22 RISP hitless streak, sneaking a single past Gimenez, bringing in Arozarena from second. Familia followed the Adames hit with a walk to Kiermaier, loading the bases for Zunino, who struck out swinging. The damage was done however, extending the lead to 7-2.

Steven Matz made his second relief appearance of the season, and struck out Tsutsugo on four pitches. Ron Darling on the SNY broadcast said it best: “It is just a lost season for Steven”. Todd Frazier made a nice play on Brandon Lowe in the second base gap, a screaming shot to his backhand. After retiring the first two batters of the inning, Arozarena launched his second home run of the game over the foul pole in left field to extend the lead to 8-2. Nate Lowe was set down on strikes to end the inning.

On Deck:

The Mets hit the road for the remainder of the season, as they head to Washington to take on the defending champion Washington Nationals. Thursday night in Washington will feature a battle of southpaws. David Peterson (5-2 3.80 ERA) and Patrick Corbin (2-6 4.76 ERA) take the hill, with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 PM. Peterson and Corbin seemingly are having opposite seasons, as Corbin has not seemed like himself. The game could be seen on SNY, and on the airwaves at 880 WCBS-AM.