Lennon: Mets stumble, but fans shouldn’t slip into old mind-set
Mets relief pitcher Robert Gsellman kicks the mound after Nationals shortstop Trea Turner scores during the eighth inning at Citi Field on Tuesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Deep breaths. Think happy thoughts. Puppies. Rainbows.
For those hyperventilating in Mets Nation, now home to the first losing streak of the 2018 season, freak out if you must. There is comfort in the familiar, and a perpetual state of anxiety fits like a pair of cozy slippers for the residents of Panic City.
So Tuesday night’s 5-2 loss to the Nationals wasn’t the bounce-back performance we were looking for from the Mets, whose season was on the brink — and probably still is — in some circles. What it means going forward, however, isn’t going to be deciphered right away.
Zack Wheeler survived plenty of traffic on the basepaths to allow only three runs over six innings, and on some nights, that might be enough. But this wasn’t one of those, and not against the Nats’ Gio Gonzalez, who didn’t make it through the sixth yet still extended his Citi Field dominance to 11-1 with a 1.82 ERA in 15 starts there.
The Mets (12-4) had their chances, but finished 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 — including a total of six over the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. In letting that 6-1 lead slip away Monday night, they were outscored, 10-0, before Asdrubal Cabrera’s sacrifice fly in the fifth inning Tuesday night cut the Nats’ lead to 3-1. Yoenis Cespedes’ RBI groundout trimmed it to 3-2, but the Mets never got any closer.
Only with the Mets can one inning change everything in the court of public opinion. Maybe that’s due to a fan base with an inferiority complex. It’s a nervous bunch, skeptical of good fortune, spooked by what’s waiting on the other side of the winning streaks.
That Mets-ian phenomenon was in full swing after Monday night’s eighth-inning meltdown, when four relievers from their supposedly dominant bullpen spit up a 6-1 lead before recording two outs. The resulting 8-6 loss to the Nats prompted everyone to begin questioning the Mets’ impressive 12-2 start, from social media to the talk-radio airwaves.
Suddenly, Mickey Callaway was suspect, the bullpen was overused, the Mets’ perch atop the NL East sitting on a house of cards. One inning to detonate nearly three weeks of unimpeded optimism. We doubt Callaway spent much of Tuesday listening to the radio, but he was asked about the dismal tide turning before that night’s game against the Nationals.
“That’s just how it is, the reality of the situation,” Callaway said. “It’s because fans here in New York City are passionate about their sports. That’s what makes this the best sports city in the world. If we have to deal with that to be in the best place in the world, we will. It makes it fun, actually.”
Hmm. Fun? Callaway is still too new at this to fully grasp how un-fun the pressures of his position can be when sitting in the bullseye of this rabid fan base. Just ask Terry Collins, who experienced both the crazy highs and depressing lows of the position, sometimes within a matter of hours. The Mets got caught up in that vortex on the failures of four relief pitchers — during the third week of April.
For whatever reason, nobody in the Mets’ bullpen could throw the ball over the plate Monday night, and Callaway’s crew was undone by three walks and a hit by a pitch. It would be different if the Nats earned that six-run rally. Mostly, the Mets gifted it to them.
“If you have good players, you’re going to be good, and that’s what we’ve seen,” Callaway said. “We have a great bullpen that’s been tremendous and things just didn’t work out (Monday) night. They’ll work out in the future. They have in the past.”
Up until that eighth inning, the Mets appeared bulletproof. A few bumps here and there, but they had built the best record in the National League with contributions from nearly everyone on the roster. Even Callaway’s rookie mistakes were overlooked by winning five straight series to start the season for the first time in franchise history.
That’s not going to happen as much anymore. If the Mets truly are sliding back to the pack — reverting to the mean, in the data-driven vernacular — then the magic could be fading to some degree. Now it’s going to take some work to change that.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
