Game 3 aka "STRASMAS": Nats 6 Mets 5
Dickey aka "The Butterfly" vs. Strasburg aka "F-15"
Yeah I can't take credit for these nicknames at all. Dickey thought them up and I rather like the way his mind works.
No Reyes in the lineup AGAIN and Jerry Manuel doesn't think Jose will start until Tuesday...
10th walk-off loss for the Metsies, BOO.
Do you ever wish that your memories could be erased like Jim Carrey's in that spectacular movie "Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind?" Well lately I've felt I would like my brain purged of all these Metsies walk off losses! Nothing is more painful than watching your starting pitcher do a phenomenal job and then have it all go to waste! Dickey was outstanding this afternoon and really who even remembers after this horrible no good very bad bottom of the 9th that Dickey and Stras even pitched today. Both men got no-decisions and really although that pitcher's duel was great who cares now!??! It doesn't matter one iota. Honestly when Dan Warthen came out to the mound to visit KRod in the bottom of the 9th I wanted him to bitch slap Frankie, really beat him up good. Maybe that would have made him get the job done but nope that didn't happen and KRod gave up 3 runs in the ninth and the Mets lost. But let's forget that we lost this one for a second and let's be content with how great Dickey stacked up against Strasburg. Yeah I know that's tough to do but the first 5 innings of this game were dynamite! Oh and Joe Buck and Kevin Millar did their best Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez impersonations and they were pretty funny in the booth!
So in this recap I'll try to stress some of the positives from this game. We can definitely walk away from this one knowing that our freaky phenom was better than their freaky phenom.
The R.A. Butterfly Effect:
7IP 2R 0ER 6H 4K 2BB
The Strasmas Effect:
5IP 2R 2ER 4H 5K 3BB
Here we go!
Metsies starting Lineup:
Pagan
Cora
Wright
Davis
Bay
Thole
Frenchy
Tejada
Dickey
Strasburg's first pitch in the top of the 1st was a ball to Pagan, YAY! Unfortunately Pagan then popped up but Stras then walked CORA. So with 1 out and 1 on Wright came up to face Stephen for the first time and he well struck out. That was Dave's 93rd time striking out this season, ugh ugh ugh. Isaac Benjamin Davis was now up and with a 2-2 pitch count to Ike, Cora stole second, Rodriguez's throw to second was terrible and Cora advanced to third on Pudge's error. Then Stras walked Davis, yay! What was going on right? Before today's game Strasburg had only walked 7 batters and now he had just walked 2 out of the first 4 Metsies he faced! This was awesome. And what was even more awesome was Jason Bay. Now there were 2 outs, Cora was on 3rd and Davis was on 1st and Jay Bay rbi doubled, Cora scored, Ike advanced to 3rd and the Mets took a 1-0 lead over the F-15 and the Nats! Josh Thole was up next and Thole is an unsung hero of today's game. You can have an unsung hero even when you lose right? Well I say you can. During this at bat Thole battled Stras like no other. He kept fouling balls left and right and eventually on the 32nd pitch of the inning Stras walked Thole! Now the bases were loaded for Frenchy with 2 outs and Frenchy was almost beaned by Stras! But then he flew out and the inning was over. Stras' pitch count after this inning was 37 pitches, whoa.
In the bottom of the second Dickey only needed to deliver 14 pitches to get the Nats out in order. Adios Morgan, Harris and Zimmerman! So needless to say if this was a boxing match round 1 went to Dickey.
In the top of the 2nd Stras regained his pitching mojo and he struck out Tejada and Dickey and got Pagan to pop up to Zimm and the side was retired in order.
In the bottom of the 2nd Dickey too struck out the first 2 batters he faced (Dunn and Willingham) but he gave up a 2 out double to Pudge. Kennedy then grounded out to end the inning. Because of that Ivan The Terrible double I have to sadly say Stras won round 2.
In the top of the third Cora grounded out for out #1. Then Davey hit a 1 out single. Ike Davis then grounded a ball to Zimmerman, Ryan saved it from being an extra base hit but Ike was safe at 1st with an infield hit. So with 1st and 2nd and 1 out Bay could not repeat his first inning heroics and he struck out, boo. But Josh Thole like I said is an unsung hero today and I'm singing his praises like crazy! He got a 2 out rbi single, Wright scored and the Metsies were now up 2-0 over the flame-throwing fastball-er and the Nats! Frenchy then popped up to end the inning. But during his at bat Kevin Millar called Jeff a "great guy who tells guys when to shave." Later on Joe Buck actually asked Jonathon Niese if Jeff does control when the Metsies shave. I'll get to that soon enough. It's a great interview. Btw after this inning Stras' pitch count was up to 74 pitches, yikes.
In the bottom of the 3rd Desmond grounded a ball past Wright, Davey went to track it down and Des was trying to get a double but Wright threw him out at 2nd, haha Ian! I guess he was jealous of Roger Bernadina being picked off at 2nd yesterday. Then Stras and Morgan grounded out and the inning was over. Dickey won round 3 hands down!
In the top of the 4th Stras retired the Metsies in order. Bye bye Tejada, Dickey and Pagan, boo.
In this inning Joe and Kevin Jonas, oops that's not right, I mean Buck and Millar spoke with Jerry Manuel and he called Stras "Quite special." Then Kevin who giggles a lot, he just doesn't stop laughing (I'll admit I really enjoyed Millar in the booth and I can only imagine how fun he must have been to have on a squad) had Buck tell a Jerry Manuel/Denzel Washington story. It turns out that during the time when Manuel's ass was on the hot seat Jerry took his wife to see Denzel's play "Fences" and after the play was over they both went backstage to meet Mr. Washington. Denzel gave Jerry a big hug and told him, "I'm pulling for you." Btw Stras' pitch count was now up to 84 pitches.
In the bottom of the 4th Dickey gave up a 2 out single to Adam Dunn. He then walked Willingham, ugh. But on the first pitch to Pudge, Rodriguez grounded a ball, the force play was made at 2nd and the inning was over. Although Dickey didn't give up any runs this inning I still have to give round 4 to Strasburg. Btw Dickey's pitch count was now 61 pitches.
In the top of the 5th Stras retired the side in order. In just 12 pitches Cora, Wright and Davis were told buhhhh bye, boo. Riggleman told Stras this was the end of the line for him and Stephen was pissed. He only had a pitch count of 96 pitches. I see why he was upset, he probably could have pitched another inning but what Jim Riggelman says goes!
In the bottom of the 5th R.A. Dickey also retired the side in order. Au revoir Kennedy, Desmond and the pinch hitter J.D. Martin! Round 5 was a draw, both men were dynamite!
In the top of the 6th reliever Drew Storen came in for the Nats and he's pretty fricking good. He retired the side in order (Bay, Thole and Frenchy). But now I can finally get to Buck interviewing Niese!
Joe first asked Niese something like "How does it feel after a game like the one you pitched last night?" And Niese said, "Typical soreness." Buck did not like this answer and replied, "No I mean for a man how do you feel after pitching so great?" Niese is ever so modest and he kept it brief and was like "It feels good." Then Joe asked Jon, "Who sets the mood on the Mets?" And Niese said, "Francouer, but Dave and Jose are also good at it." Buckster then asked the question all Mets fans were dying to find out the answer to, "Does Frenchy tell the Mets when to shave?" And Jon answered "Yes." And then he said something like, "When Jeff grows that beard out it's the best beard by far on the squad." Joe then asked Jon "What's the craziest thing anyone told you to do for your hamstring woes?" And when Jon chuckled, Buck said "No don't tell me. I see that smile I know what you are going to say." Wait I don't know what he was going to say. That's just not fair Buck. Joe also asked Niese "Do you know what R.A. stands for" and Niese had no clue. Finally after Joe and Kevin continued to compliment Niese (yeah Kevin got in a few words during this interview, like 3) on his amazing pitching performances since his return from the DL he said, "I hope we haven't jinxed you because it's been fun to watch you pitch." If Niese's next start is a disaster I'm definitely blaming Joe Buck!
In the bottom of the 6th the fun all Metsies fans were having stopped, boo. With 1 out Dickey walked Harris, ugh. Then Zimmerman grounded a ball to Tejada, it should have been an inning ending double play but Ruben bobbled the ball, he got his 3rd error of the season and Willie and Ryan were safe at 1st and 2nd. And all Mets fans knew this error was going to hurt the Amazins big time and it did after R.A. struck out Dunn. So now there were 2 outs and men still on 1st and 2nd for that pain in the ass Josh Willingham. Really I think just like Dan Uggla of the Marlins Josh wears a shirt that says "My name is Josh Willingham and I crush dreams!" Willingham singled, Harris scored and the Mets lead over the Nats was now just 2-1. And then Pudge decided to be a pain in the ass too and he singled, Willingham scored and the game was now tied 2-2. Kennedy then grounded out (Ike made an incredible diving stop) and the inning was over.
In the top of the 7th that Drew Storen continued to own the Metsies behinds and he retired the side in order once again. Tejada, Dickey and Pagan were told to hit the road.
In the bottom of the 7th, the last inning Dickey would pitch he gave up a 1 out single to the pinch hitter Alberto Gonzalez but the Nats thankfully could not take advantage of this, YAY. Personally I think Dickey could have (and should have) at least pitched the 8th inning but my name is not Jerry Manuel and my opinion doesn't count.
In the top of the 8th the new reliever for the Nats was Tyler Clippard and I love Tyler. He sucked and it was oh so fun to watch him struggle. Cora led off the inning with a triple. No men were on base and Cora got a hit, what's up with that unpredictable-ness Alex! Keep up the great surprises! Wright then rbi singled, Cora scored and the Metsies regained the lead 3-2. That was Davey's 64th rib eye steak! And he's still leading the National League in rib eye steaks! But right behind Davey is that Mets killing sunglasses at night wearing Corey Hart, boo to that! With nobody out and Wright on at first Isaac Benjamin Davis singled, YAY but Bay then popped out, ugh. But it was okay because that unsung hero dude, Josh Thole was up and he rbi doubled, Wright scored and the Metsies were now leading 4-2 over the Nats! Seriously I am in love with Thole! Holy moleeeey Thole! Frenchy was then walked to load the bases for Ruben sandwich. And Ruben rbi sac flied, Ike scored and the Metsies lead was 5-2 over the pesky pesky Nats. Clippard was taken out of the game at this point and Riggelman brought in Slaten to face the pinch hitter Tatis. Clippard was not a happy camper as he walked to the dugout.
Tatis was pinch hitting for Dickey (again I did not agree with Jerry's decision to take out R.A. at all)and Fernando grounded out and the inning was over.
In the bottom of the 8th Parnell came in for some relief work and he kind of stunk a bit. Dunn got a 1 out single and oh I began to worry that this 3 run lead of the Metsies was not enough. At this point Joe gave a recap of the game thus far and then FOX forced him to say "Lebron James is still a free agent."
Then Kevin wanted to talk about King James and he even asked Buck where he thinks Lebron will end up and Buckster was not having any of this. Joe was all "Are we really talking about this?" I am convinced Joe just didn't want to commit to giving an answer that might turn out to be wrong. For the record Joe Buck I want Lebron to go to my beloved NJ Nets but who knows what will happen. This waiting game sucks. But back to this game. So with Dunn on at 1st and 1 out Willingham was walked but then Bobby struck out Pudge, YAY! BUT Adam Kennedy finally did something and he singled and Dunn scored and the Metsies lead was cut to just 2 runs, 5-3. Parnell then struck out Desmond and the inning was over.
During the top of the 9th the camera man got a great shot of all the non-believing Nats fans who were leaving the game. You know the fans that are probably real pissed at themselves right now. Seriously did these fans not watch the game Thursday night? They had to have known there was a chance the Nats could comeback. Oh well. Chris Rose FOX's Kevin Burkhardt made a funny joke about all these fans leaving in droves. Rose said, "They have a 7:30 meeting with LEBRON. They are trying to woo him to Washington." I lol-ed at this.
In the top of the 9th Matt Capps (or as my Dad calls him "Fat Capps") the Nats closer proved he knows how to get his team out of a jam. He could teach KRod a thing or two. Oh he could. There were no outs and Cora and Pagan were on 1st and 2nd for Wright. But like I said Capps gets out of sticky situations unlike Frankie. Wright flew out, Pagan tagged up and he advanced to 3rd. So now there was 1 out and men on the corners and Capps struck out Davis. Bay then grounded a ball, the force out was made at 2nd and the side was retired.
Now it was time for Frankie to get his 20th save and he must have thought it would be cool to not do that. He also must think it's cool to not allow R.A. Dickey to get a 7th win. Joe Buck had commented that Frankie makes games rather exciting and that was just a tactful way of saying he's been a bum lately. Things immediately looked bad when he walked the leadoff batter Guzman in just 4 pitches. Joe even said, "Every Met fan watching this game said 'UH OH!'" In actuality I said, "Fuck!" Then Morgan grounded out to Wright for out #1. But then that Mets killer Willie Harris singled and it was 1st and 3rd with 1 out for Zimmerman.
Ryan was walked and the bases were loaded for Adam Dunn. Again I said, "Fuck!" Did you know Dunn has 7 career walk-off homers? Yeah he does. But instead he hit a double that looked like it could have been a homer but after a review by the umps it was called a double. Guzman and Harris scored and this game was tied at 5-5. Adios Dickey's 7th win, BOOOOOOOOO! Now KRod intentionally walked Willingham to face Pudge with the bases loaded and 1 out. And did you know Pudge has 8 career walk off homers? Well he does but he didn't get his 9th. He just got a walk-off hit that scored Zimmerman and the Metsies lost 6-5. Again I say, "FUCK!" And I also say I want my memories of this game erased! Yes I do!
Well tomorrow is a new day and hopefully the GOOD Taka will take the mound. But really even if it is the good Taka we need the bullpen to snap out of this "we like to suck funk they are in." It's hard to believe in the Amazins after this loss but let's try to have faith they'll get the victorino tomorrow!
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