My brother John bought us tickets to the Mets game as a Christmas
present for July 31, 2015, so he, Scott and I made the trek to Citi Field in
Queens on a Friday night. It was typical Mets, as the pitching was great
(Matt Harvey pitched 7 2/3 innings of 1-run ball) but the bats were dormant for
most of the night. The Mets completed a trade earlier in the day for a
big bat, Yoenis Cespedes, from the Tigers, we went to the park very hopeful
that things could change (and they have, as of this writing. The Mets are
starting to win a lot).
I kept a running commentary on things through the night, via text
to Mandy and included here below, starting around 7 pm. My texts are on
the left, Mandy's answers to the right:
-Waiting in line for a beef
brisket sandwich.
-In our seats.
-Wait g for the Dark Knight to
throw the first pitch
-*waiting
-The sun is directly in our eyes.
Good thing we all have shades
-Irish "rock" band
playing pre game show, complete with violin and accordion.
-Mets taking the field
-$10.50 for this??? (there's
supposed to be a photo of my measly beef brisket sandwich, but I couldn't
figure out how to get it from my phone to the blog.)
-2 outs in the top of the first,
Scott is on his second meal already
-Wilmer Flores with a diving stop
at second base and the crowd practically gives him a standing ovation
-3 up, 3 down and the Mets are
coming to bat
-Base hit to center by
Granderson!
-Scott is yelling at Bryce
Harper, since we're on the right field side. We hope he makes an error so we
can make fun of him
-Strike 'em out (Tejada) throw
'em out double play, 2 out and nobody on. Typical Mets
-Murphy strikes out looking.
Sheesh
-A guy just made the observation
that the Meta have 4 guys whose best position is third base playing the infield.
Plus the left fielder, who is also a third baseman and David Wight in the
dugout.
-2 more strikeouts for Harvey, 3
up, 3 down, with the Mets coming up in the home second.
-The stadium is about 70% full
tonight.
-Juan Uribe at bat for the Mets,
Scott observes that he looks like he's eaten a few too many tomatillos. Plus
his face looks like he's about 50.
-Uribe walks on 4 pitches
-d'Arnaud up for the first time
in what feels like forever.
-And he flies out to left.
-Flores grounds out to third. Uribe
to second
-Juan Lagares comes to the plate
tonthe girliest music I've ever heard, and he flies out to left. Top of he
third and no score.
-*the third
-The sun is finally setting and
John removes his hand from shading his eyes for the first time tonight.
-One more observation on Uribe.
He waddles like a duck.
-Lady in the stands almost gets
hit in the head by a foul ball. But she successfully protects her beer.
-Uribe jumps 3 inches in the air
to snag a line drive at third.
-Harvey has 4 strikeouts in third
inning, but he's throwing a lot of pitches.
-Another strikeout, and another
1,2,3 inning for Harvey. Mets coming up on the third
-Sounds like you're having a good
time.
-Ya think?
-Cool music for Campbell coming
to bat, too bad he's only hitting .181
-Maybe he needs uncool music
-I'm going to suggest that to the
Mets front office.
-The Shake Shack line still
hasn't moved since we got here. There's nothing that tastes that good that is
worth waiting that long in a line.
-They say the average wait in the
like at Shake Shack is over 30 minutes. I'd rather go to five guys.
-John declares the chipotle
butter for his corn bread unacceptable.
-Five guys have the best hamburgers. I just wish they sold shakes
too.
-To complete an unhealthy
meal.
-Go all the way with a
shake.
-Everything in moderation
-I moderate my shake intake just
fine.
-Granderson flies out to the
deepest part of the ballpark. Still no score in the top of the fourth.
Harvey with 39 pitches going in
to the fourth.
-John just mentioned out loud
that Harvey is pitching a no-hitter. He just jinxed him.
-We just remembered that the Mets
scored 15 runs in Harvey's last game. That means they won't score any more runs
for him the rest of the season.
-Granderson with a sliding catch,
another 1,2,3 inning for Harvey.
-Ballpark about 80% full now
-Uribe walks. That counts as a
Mets rally.
-d'Arnaud walks.
-Ball 4 to Lagares and the bases
are loaded for Campbell, who is now a .180 hitter.
-Now here's some excitement
-But we have a snoozer for a
hitter up at bat
-Naturally
-The Mets only have
snoozers
-2-2 to Campbell
-The pitch
-Low, ball 3
-I may have to turn on the
fan.
-3-2, 2 outs, the runners are in
motion...
-The suspense...
-And he strikes out looking
-Sheesh
-Didn't you know it!!
-Heart rending
-But expected.
-But at least now there's the
kiss cam
-Scott is ready for his next
meal, but after he boos Bryce Harper some more.
-Another K for Harvey
-9 pitch inning for Harvey, 15 up
and 15 down, Mets coming up in the bottom of the fifth
-Harvey has 57 pitches through 5
innings
-A couple in our row just got to
the game. It's the bottom of the fifth, why even bother?
-Maybe they were eating in one of
the restaurants
-Single by Tejada, double by
Murphy, second and third with 2 outs and grandpa Uribe coming up
-And the Nats make a pitching
change
-Ground out to second and the
Mets do not score
-Scott comes back with soft serve
in a helmet and a pretzel
-And the t shirt rocket lady just
shot one over our heads. I didn't think they had that much fire power
-Bottom of the order coming up
for the Nats
-0-2 on the fist batter
-7th K for Harvey, 16 up, 16 down
-1-2 to the next batter
-Now 2-2
-Base hit by somebody batting
.209 and the bid for the no-no is done for the night.
-Strike out on a bunt attempt, 8
Ks for Harvey
-Base hit to right, first and
third for the Nats with 2 outs
-0-2 pitch and...
-Foul ball
-High, ball 1
-Harvey in the wind up
-And grounder to third, force out
at second. 0 runs, 2 hits and no errors, after 6 it's the Mets 1 and the Nats 0
-Make that bottom of the 6th
-20% battery left, let's hope
they don't go to extra innings
-I don't think the Mets have had
1 hard hit ball all night.
-Side retired in the 6th, Mets
still up 1-0
-Double by the lead off man for
the Nats, Bryce Harper to the plate
-And Harper grounds out to third.
1 out
-And another Cecil the lion joke
by Scott
-About the 50th one tonight
-Long drive to right by the
Zimmerman, but reeled in by Granderson. 2 outs
-Fly ball to the wall, but
Lagares runs it down. Mets coming up in the bottom of the 7th.
-T shirt lady shoots one RIGHT TO
ME, but a.) John reaches over and gets in my way and b.) I'm texting you about
the game, so I had my phone in my hand and I DROP IT. What a knucklehead I
am.
-We're in the first row of the
upper deck, so it falls all the way down to some lucky guy at the field level.
Shucks.
-Mets out 1,2,3 in the bottom of
the 7th, during which Scott berates me for texting during game and muffing the
free t shirt.
-I'm still mad about missing
it.
-Harvey strikes out the first
batter of the 8th, he's still throwing 97 mph
-Fly ball to left, 2 outs
-Home plate umpire call HBP on
the next batter, Terry Collins challenges. The replay looks like it hit the
ground first, but the umpires call it inconclusive, so the batter stays at
first. Still 2 outs
-8% left. Harvey looks to be
getting a little tired.
-Infield hit, first and second
for the Nats
-Game is getting a little nerve
racking
-2-2 pitch on Escobar, one of the
Nats' best hitters
-Single to center, Nats score,
game is now tied at 1
-Greeeeeat
-No bueno
-If the Nats score again, we
should just leave
-2-2 on Jason Werth. With 2
outs
-10 pitch at bat for Werth.
Agonizing
-13th pitch of the at bat
-Questionable pitch for a called
strike 3, but we'll take it. Mets up in the bottom of the 8th with score still
tied at 1
-Single to center by Tejada to
start off the inning. Murphy up
-There's still a chance they
could win. Nail biter...
-Murphy grounds to short, force
out at second. 1 out
-The Mets only play nail biters
(That was the last text from my
phone, I took Scott's after that)
-My phone died, using
Scott's
-Uribe strikes out. 2 outs
-0-2 to d'Arnaud
-Strike out, Nats coming up in
the 9th
-Line at the Shake Shack is
finally gone.
-Harper leading off the 9th
-If Harper jacks one, we're
leaving
-2-2 pitch to Harper
-Are you trying to kill Scott's
phone too?
-And he pops up to left. 1 out
-He has 50%. We're good to at
least the 14th or 15th inning.
-1 out walk to Zimmerman.
-Mets pitcher is getting
wild.
-Harvey is out of the game, btw
-John just took a 75 cent swig of
water (the bottle cost $7!
-Another walk, 1st and 2nd with 1
out
-And Tyler Clippard is out,
Jeurys Familia in to pitch
-Murphy moves to third and Kelly
Johnson comes in to play first. Grandpa Uribe comes out of the game.
-Familia strikes outs some guy in
the Nats, 2 outs
-*on the Nats
-Next guy flies out to left, Mets
coming up in the bottom of the 9th with the score tied at 1
-Flores up to lead off the 9th
-And he grounds out to
short
-Girly song Lagares coming
up
-Foul pop up to first. 2 outs
-I think we're going to extra
innings
-Campbell hits a soft liner to
short. Nats coming up to bat in the 10th
-I'm putting my phone on the
armoire.
-Tired of me?
-No, Christian came and gave me his electronics. I'm following his
example. It's hard to tell him to do something, but not do it yourself.
-I'm losing steam anyway, the
Mets are making me tired.
-Bottom of the 10th, still tied
at 1
-Are you sure it's because you didn't get enough sleep last night
even though I did the driving?
-No, it's because my fingers are
tired. I feel fine.
-Yuck. I'm going to skype with my mom. I know it's
technology...but it is her birthday. Her 70th.
-Actually just my thumbs.
-Tell her happy birthday from
me.
-Yet another pop up to Werth in
left
-And the Mets go weakly in the
10th
-Most exciting play of the night.
Bryce Harper gets thrown out of the game for arguing balls and strikes. Nice..
-Hahaha!
-And Murphy comes out to the
Celtic music. Linda would be impressed.
-Bottom of the 11th btw
-Murphy hits a long fly out to
the wall in straight away center. Couldn't be a little to the left? Or right?
-Little nugget from Scott - did
you know that 6 out of 7 dwarfs are not Happy?
-Another fly out to straight away
center. To the top of the 12th
-Looks like the couple that got
here in the 5th might get to see 9 innings after all
-At least there won't be traffic
going home, right?
-Btw, The stadium is not 80% full
any more
-I figured if I'm on skype I
could keep my phone too.
-You have my permission.
-There's wifi here at the stadium
-I told Scott's joke to mom, Heather, and Brian. Great joke! Big
laugh!
-Well there's a first time for
everything.
-Bottom 12, still tied at 1
-We need to entertain ourselves
now
-Flores home run in the bottom of
the 12th! Put it in the books! Mets win!!!
-Yay! So it was worth staying..
