Mets and Mickey Callaway’s real test will be coming soon enough
The scores turned late and often this week at Citi Field, and if you really want to know the greater state of the National League East, here’s the true final tally for these past four wacky contests:
The Mets are at DEFCON 3, the Nationals DEFCON 1.
Did we just see the Mets turn around their season for (or at least to) Mickey Callaway’s benefit? Or did the dreadful Nats, easily the most disappointing team in all of baseball, provide a soothing funhouse mirror that they’ll take with them back to Washington?
We’ll find out very shortly. For now, you tip your cap to Callaway without revoking his double-secret probation status.
Carlos Gomez’s three-run, eighth-inning homer powered the Mets to a come-from-behind, 6-4 victory over the Nationals on Thursday afternoon, securing a four-game sweep of their rivals in the wake of Callaway receiving a milquetoast, “for the foreseeable future” vote of confidence Monday from his rookie boss Brodie Van Wagenen — which, in turn, followed a five-game losing streak capped by a three-game sweep at the hands of the awful Marlins. That they swept while placing Robinson Cano, Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo on the injured list enhances the accomplishment — while also boding poorly regarding future outcomes.
“I felt energy the whole time,” a hoarse Callaway insisted, speaking of the roller-coaster week-plus. “Now we’re winning ballgames. There’s definitely a different air because of that, but these guys have not quit one time. They’re tremendous. That was an unbelievable comeback right there.”
What’s most unbelievable is the awfulness of the Nats’ bullpen, which gave up 15 runs over 9 ²/₃ innings during this series and blew leads in the final three games. For the season, the Washington relievers’ ERA stands at a ghastly 6.93, easily the industry’s worst. Manager Dave Martinez, whose tenuous job status makes Callaway look as stable as Queen Elizabeth II, blew a gasket in the eighth inning, getting ejected after a third-strike call on the also-ejected Howie Kendrick, and saw his players respond with a three-run rally to go up, 4-3 … then saw Wander Suero respond by giving back that support and then some.
“We just hang in there,” said Mets southpaw Steven Matz, who contributed a gritty start. “The guys, they don’t give in. They don’t quit.”
Do they not quit, or did the Nats’ horrendous bullpen leave them no choice but to keep battling? We need more data from them as well as Callaway, who prepared to wear the goats’ horns when — one day after announcing he gained clearance to use closer Edwin Diaz for four outs — he let Robert Gsellman face Gerardo Parra with two outs in the eighth and Nats on second and third. Parra ripped a two-run, go-ahead single as Diaz sat in the bullpen.
“That was easy today,” Callaway said. “It wasn’t even an option because Diaz pitched [Monday and Tuesday] and then got up [Wednesday] night. When he’s rested, we’ll be able to do that. But we can’t push him to more outs when he’s taxed pretty good the last three days.”
Diaz, noting he also pitched Saturday, agreed (through an interpreter) that a four-out save represented a bridge too far.
Fair enough. Never shall a team be knocked for protecting its pitchers. Would a more advanced team, though, planned to use Diaz to get that one out in the eighth then figured out the ninth? Perhaps. However, asking the Mets to operate at that level would be like asking a pig to recite Shakespeare. Let’s be realistic here.
The reeling Tigers, losers of nine straight including their own sweep by the Marlins, arrive in Queens on Friday night, so maybe the Mets can push this era of good feelings through the holiday weekend. Then, however, comes a seven-game road swing to see the Dodgers for four and the Diamondbacks for three.
Reality’s bite, the bona fide challenge, awaits. It’ll take more than stomping on a Capitol corpse for Callaway to prevail long term.
