It was all out there for the New York Mets, clinging to a one-run lead (3-2) in the bottom of the eighth in Milwaukee. The Brewers had their top of the order coming up.
On the verge of advancing, manager Carlos Mendoza had a number of viable options:
- Stick with reliever Ryan Stanek, who had thrown just 11 pitches in a spotless seventh inning.
- Go to closer Edwin Diaz to face the 1-2-3 hitters before giving way to another reliever (Phil Maton?) in the bottom of the ninth.
- Go to Diaz for a six-out save (not likely considering the fireballer's recent workload).
- Go to Maton as a setup guy in the eighth inning.
Mendoza chose the final route. Maton (pitching in his fourth game in five days) imploded, giving up four hits, three runs, and two homers in a brutal inning that cost New York a trip to the next round and forced an all-or-nothing third game today.
To me, the move was always to stick with Stanek, considering how well he has thrown recently and how quickly he got through the seventh. To compound matters, it was apparent right away that Maton didn't have it, giving up a homer to the leadoff hitter, then a single, then a fortunate double play off a very hard-hit ball.
However, Mendoza ignored those signs, leaving in Maton to give up another hit and the eventual game-winning long ball.
It's been a magical season for the Mets and their rookie manager, but this felt like an avoidable mistake and one that could end the campaign.
Let's hope Mendoza and the team have enough left in the tank to regain their mojo tonight.
Let's go Metsies.
No comments:
Post a Comment