For all the issues the NYC Subway system has it remains one of the most convenient and affordable travel options throughout four of the five boroughs. It’s been my primary mode of transportation to Mets games since I was a high school sophomore. Taking the subway has led to some late nights coming back from Queens. There is nothing quite like arriving at home around 2 am after a Mets playoff game when your alarm clock set for 7 am so you can jump back on the subway to work. With these late nights and the age of my travel companion in mind I decided to drive Griffin to the second game of the Mets Rockies post All Star break series.
Griffin has mentioned he likes the Rockies, especially Nolan Arenado, for a few years now and with it being fireworks night I ventured the 19.5 miles to Citi Field from my parent’s house in Brooklyn. Now where I live in Pennsylvania driving 19.5 miles on the highway would take maybe 20 minutes; in New York on a Saturday night in July it took over 90. Construction was the primary culprit but it’s an experience I don’t plan on repeating. Thank goodness for iPads and Griffin not asking to use the bathroom we were able to make it to Citi Field 45 minutes before Seth Lugo took the mound for first pitch.
Unlike our commute to Citi Field the game was over early. Jay Bruce’s three-run home run in the 1st inning gave the Mets a 79% win probability per Baseball Reference. Rockies starter Tyler Chatwood retired one batter, leaving the game after walking T.J. Rivera. Chatwood was added to the disabled list after the game with a calf injury; his inability to finish pitches showed with three walks and the Bruce homer. Mets starter Seth Lugo fared much better in his 6.2 inning of work. Lugo, known for the spin rate on his curve ball, added his first career home run in the 3rd inning gave the Mets a 8-0 lead, Mets win probability 98%. It was the second time Griffin and I were in attendance for a Mets pitcher’s home run adding to the list Matt Harvey started two years earlier. As Lugo rounded the bases his teammates left the dugout only to return after Lugo was congratulated by the Mets coaches. It’s a long season folks and the players do what they can to lighten it up one in a while.
The Rockies mustered three runs against Lugo to pull within 8-3, but a Jose Reyes home run in the 8th put the finishing touches on the Mets 9 to 3 win. Every Met in the starting lineup scored a run or had a RBI. It was the Mets second consecutive win against the National League Wild Card leading Rockies but with a 13-4 loss on Sunday the two game winning streak went by the waste side like much of the Mets 2017 season. The Mets roster has been overhauled since they’ve fell out of the Wild Card race trading veterans Lucas Duda, Jay Bruce, Neil Walker, Addison Reed, Curtis Granderson and releasing Rene Rivera. That’s over 20% of the roster that faced the Rockies.
The postgame fireworks were great however I learned my lesson that night. The next time Griffin and I head out to Citi Field it will be for an afternoon game and we’ll be taking the 7 Line with thousands of other Mets fans as the NYC MTA intended.
Nine with the Nerd: Joe Sheehan