Two in a row!

Am I too excited about a 2 - 0 start to the season?  You bet!  Do I expect the Mets to win two games in a row at any point in the remainder of the season?  Fuck no!  Was it a lazy Saturday afternoon that was a little too windy to sit outside and get drunk with no pants on?  You bet!  Did I keep a running diary of the game while sucking down delicious Lost Sailor IPA?  Natch.

1:11 – One batter into the game and we have our first Jason Bay fuckup of the day as a catchable ball gets over his head in left field for a double.

1:14 – And one out later a passed ball from presumptive staff ace RA Dickey turns into an out at home plate.  Next pitch sees the inning end as Bay catches a pop up.  We will forgive  you this time Mr. Bay!

1:15 – Ooo, Blackhawks versus Red Wings and Chicago has a power play!

1:17 – Detroit kills off a 4 minute penalty.  Fuck them.  Go Mets!  Ruben Tejada leading off because Torres went to the DL.

1:20 – Danny Murphy strides to the plate to the dulcet sounds of the Dropkick Murphys.  I understand the symbolism but do we really want to ship him up to Boston?

1:24 – Murphy flies out to left.  Too bad that was not Bay out there, it would have been over his head.

1:25 – Wright visits the new shorter fences in right center field for his first home run of the year!  Gary Cohen will tell you that the new dimensions did not factor into the ball clearing the fences, but I disagree.  Obviously Wright would have struck out on that ball if the field had not changed.  I do not care that the count was 2 and 1.

1:27 – Ike Davis pops out to left field.  Too bad Bay was not out there, it would have fallen in for a bloop single.

1:40 – Dickey works around a 2 out walk to escape the second inning.  I am currently regretting my pre-game scotch as it is probably not a good idea to double up with a  beer.  Oh hey, the Blackhawks are winning!  Fuck the Red Wings!  1-0 Blackhawks after the first period.

1:44 – Bay leads off with a fly out to center after taking strike 3.  The ump called it a ball.  Considering the Mets have a knuckle baller on the mound tonight, they are going to want those borderline pitches called strikes.  It is not like Bay can hit anyway.

1:46 – Duda takes strike 3 on the same pitch Bay took for a ball.  At least the umpire is maddeningly inconsistent!

1:47 – Thole doubles off of the left field wall.  Great replay of Michael Bourn flinching from the wall in super slow motion.  “Holy shit when did that get here?”

1:49 – Kirk Niewenhius strikes out on 3 pitches.  Welcome to the big leagues!

1:50 – Dammit, the hockey game is at intermission.  Ooo…Die Hard!  Ah!  Commercial! Fuck it, I’m getting a beer.

1:55 – 2 quick outs before Michael Bourn dumps a fly ball in front of Bay.  I know I seem hard on Bay but it is because he is terrible.

1:56 – Dickey gets the strike out to get out of the third.  As long as they keep Bay from getting involved, things are going well!

1:59 – Big dramatic moment between Bruce Willis and Justin Long.  The writer might have overstepped his actors’ abilities on that one.

2:02 – Michael Bourn is allegedly a good fielding center fielder but having spent most of his career in Houston with a retractable roof he is apparently unfamiliar with the sun.  No miscues yet but he seems destined to doink one off his noggin.

2:05 – Wright rips a single to left field following a Murphy walk.  It is fun to watch a locked in David take rips at the ball.

2:07 – Ooo, the first Eric Davis reference of the season.  I am now in baseball mode.  Er, until I flip back to the hockey game.

2:08 – Oops!  Ike watches one float over the heart of the plate for a called strike 3.  I would be mad at him but he knows.  He knows.

2:09 – Commercials on all three stations!  Take a drink.

2:11 – Chicago is playing the rare full strength penalty kill defense.  Hey guys, pick up a man, will you?  Ooo, Murphy snares a soft liner playing shallow right field in the shift.

2:12 – Uggla immediately pops out to Bay in left eliciting a groan from Keith Hernandez.  He was seemingly upset that Uggla missed a fat fastball and not that there was a 50/50 chance for a hit when the ball goes in Bay’s direction.

2:13 – Dickey throws a 1-2 fastball down the heart of the plate for ball 2.  Nice job ump.  Infield hit on the next pitch.  So far the home plate ump is calling this game like Jason Bay plays left field.

2:15 – Thole’s second passed ball of the game and first that does not result in an out.  Tough call on the catcher as that ball moved about a foot to the inside.  Dickey walks Heyward to put runners on first and second.

2:17 – Line drive to center right at Nieuwenhius who plays it like a pro.  Toughest ball for an outfielder is the one hit right at him.  Bay would have played it into a triple.

2:18 – And the hockey game goes to commercial with a penalty upcoming to Chicago for delay of game.  Duncan Keith skated straight into the net to knock it off its moorings then complained about the call.  “Hey stripes do you know how much pizza I ate at intermission?  You try stopping or changing direction with an extra 3 pounds of mozzarella in your stomach!”  Note, that might not be what he said.

2:20 – Bay pops out to the catcher and the crowd boos.  Come on guys, that might be his best at bat of the year!

2:21 – BOOM! Lucas Duda (DOOOOOOOOD!) lines one over the new right-center field wall.  That would have been a one-hop double last year.

2:22 – You get free Axe anarchy body spray from any Duane Reade location whenever the Mets hit 2 home runs in a game.  I think the only word I understood in that phrase was “Axe” which I am assuming they will not use to cut down a tree.

2:24 – Nieuwenhius gets an infield single for his first major league hit, burying the secondary lead of Nieuwenhius taking the first ball of his career.  Dickey follows up with a dribbler past the shortstop to put runners on first and second with two outs.  Yes, he still hit it much harder than his center fielder.

2:28 – Turns out Nieuwenhius was out at first base in a bang/bang play.  Thank goodness Bud Selig does not believe in replay or the Braves might be in the dugout already.

2:30 – Tejada works a walk to load the bases for Danny Murphy.  Murph goes with Linkin Park this time as his at bat music.  I guess we are not sending him to Boston yet!

2:32 – Murph loops one into shallow left field to end the inning.  Too bad it was not Bay…ah fuck it.

2:32 – Second period ends with the Blackhawks up 2-0.  Ooo..Die Hard!

2:37 – Missed an out to watch John McLane look stoically pissed.  I have no regrets.

2:38 – Fuck the Red Wings! Almost forgot.  Two outs.

2:42 – Braves tie the game with a  2 out walk and a 2 run homer to left.  I am trying to figure out a way to blame that one on Bay.

2:55 – Stepped out to make a salad.  Health first people!  Jason Bay singled following an Ike Davis walk to chase the Braves’ starter.  There is no truth to the rumor that he was pulled with the line “You let THAT fucking guy get a hit?”

2:59 – Josh Thole singles to right with two outs to drive in the go ahead run!

3:01 – Kirk Nieuwenhius ties a career high by seeing one whole ball called before grounding into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.  Solid future ahead for this kid.

3:03 – Johan Franzen takes a bad angle wrister to beat the Chicago goalie to bring the Red Wings  within one.  Fuck the Red Wings.

3:05 – Dickey follows a lead off walk with a  1-6-3 double play.

3:08 – Thole needs a timeout after strike one.  Ron Darling speculates he might have swallowed his chew.  YUM!  Jason Heyward triples to left field past a diving Jason Bay on the next pitch.  Bay probably should have played that on a hop to keep Heyward to a double.  You cannot fault the effort, unless it is Jason Bay.  Fuck that guy.

3:09 – Dickey gets Francisco to line out to Ike Davis at first base to end the inning.  Still 2-1 Black Hawks.

3:12 – Mike Baxter pinch hits for RA Dickey ending the day for the presumptive staff ace.  Personally I would have left Dickey in to bat for himself since he is probably a better hitter than Mike Baxter who pops out to the short stop.

3:14 – Ruben Tejada lines out to the pitcher who makes a nice play to snag it down near his knees.  Despite the out you like to see the young short stop hitting line drives up the middle.

3:15 – Murphy lines a laser off the base of the new right field wall for a single.  Murph showed some maturity on that one as in years past he would have tried to stretch that into a double and get thrown out by 30 feet.

3:17 – Wright follows up with a single of his own continuing his hot start to the season.  Livan Hernandez starts Ike Davis out with a slow curve that lulled catcher Brian McCann to sleep before it reached home plate.  The ensuing passed ball moved the runners up to second and third.

3:21 – Ike Davis strikes out looking and whines about the call.  I hope he was screaming at himself because that ball sure looked like it was right over the outside corner, certainly too close to take with two strikes.

3:23 – The Red Wings score with 46.4 seconds to go in the third period and their goalie pulled to tie the game at 2.  If this game goes to overtime it drops the Black Hawks from the 5 seed to the 6 seed in the playoffs.  On the other hand, it might be easier playing the 95 point Phoenix Coyotes in round one of the playoffs than the 102 point Nashville Predators.  The Coyotes would get the 3 seed on the strength of winning the weaker Pacific division.

3:29 – Bobby Parnell retires the Braves in order in his first appearance of the season.  An effective Parnell coming out of the bullpen would be a boon for the team this season.

3:34 – Overtime ends with the score tied at 2 and we all know no one leaves for a shootout.  Except for me.  I flip back to the Mets game just in time to see Duda’s second home run of the day.  4-2 Mets.  DOOOOOOOOD!!!!

3:35 – Thole grounds out weakly to second base but manages to not swallow his chew so we will call that a wash.

3:36 – Nieuwenhius’s second career single is a sharply hit line drive to right that will probably be less memorable than his dribbler to short a few innings earlier.

3:38 – Justin Turner’s first hit of the season comes on a sharply hit ground ball deep in the hole behind third base that Juan Francisco could not make a play on.

3:39 – Ruben Tejada pops out to the short stop to end the inning.  That was actually reminiscent of the Mets' former star short stop who also liked to pretend he was a home run hitter.

3:47 – Jon Rauch works an uneventful 8^th inning, retiring the Braves’ 2, 3, and 4 hitters in succession for the second time in three days.

3:50 – Danny Murphy grounds out to second for the first out of the 8^th inning.  Even when it is routine for Uggla at second base it is an adventure.

3:51 – Wright lines out to third base for the second out.  Francisco makes a lunging grab on that one to save a double.  Nice day at the plate for McDreamy.

3:52 – Davis flies out to right field then whines to the umpire that it should have been called a ball.

3:55 – Frank Francisco gives up his first hit of the season, a well-struck single to right by Freddie Freeman.  Giddyup!

3:58 – Francisco follows it up by striking out Heyward to bring up Juan Francisco with a runner on first.  I wonder how many Francisco versus Francisco at bats there have been before this one?

4:00 – Francisco wins that battle by getting Francisco to pop out to Wright in foul territory who makes a nice play on the ball in the swirling wind.

4:01 – Eric HInske singles to left on the first pitch he sees.  Bay competently plays the ball back in to keep runners at first and second.

4:03 – Keith Hernandez grunts every time there’s a fastball down the heart of the plate.  I think he wishes he was still playing when he sees those meatballs.  Matt Diaz popped that ball into foul territory for strike one.

4:05 – He struck him out!  It was not the clean inning from Thursday afternoon but it got the job done and ended the game.  2-0 baby!

 In rereading the diary it seems like the beer started mixing nicely with the scotch sometime around 3 PM.  Offensively the team looked much more comfortable at the plate than two days ago, but it should go without saying that the offense will click whenever Wright and Duda (DOOOOOOD!!!) are smashing line drives all over the park.

Player of the game: Lucas Duda (DOOOOOD!!!!) whose two solo homers provided the difference in the game.

Key moment: Thole tracking down his first passed ball with one out and a runner on third in the top of first inning to gun down Michael Bourn at the plate.  It kept the game scoreless and allowed presumptive staff ace RA Dickey to settle into the game.

Silver lining: The two game winning streak may well be the high point of the year.

Inevitable downside: Jason Bay looks terrible in the field and at the plate.

Next up: The final game of the opening series will be tomorrow afternoon at Citi Field and I can even watch on SNY while DirecTV and Fox snipe at each other and block the games out.