We fell short of a sweep in Philly but BMF’s favorite lo-pro Met Mike Baxter put one over the wall. In these days of “meaningless games” you gotta find something to hang your hat on and Baxter’s poke qualifies.

It remains to be seen how Baxter’s Met career will unfold but no matter what happens EVERY SINGLE time I see him I get warm fuzzies for the no-hitter saving, shoulder crushing catch he made.

At least 2012 gave us that.

Last nite’s win felt like a peek into next season when we can lean on the next generation of Mets.

First Matt Harvey tossed another great game. Despite not having his best stuff he battled all the way to post a line of 2R, 6H, 2BB, 6K in 6.1 IP. 

Never mind the Phillies crappy year it’s a notch on the youngster’s belt to beat Philly and to do it when he’s not on the top of his game is yet another valuable learning experience for the rookie. 

Obtw Harvey continues to RAKE as he picked up another hit and RBI and his avg now sits at .462 which means he’s currently batting more than 3x  higher than Jason Bay.

The Second Met of 2013 is longtime BMF favorite Lucas Duda who was 2-4 with his 1st HR since being recalled and he added a SB for good measure.

I don’t know how Duda got his confidence back but he looks great right now. He was sorta middling in the minors.  Certainly didn’t find any hot streak or rediscover his stroke down there but he sure has hit the ground running looking like the dangerous Duda we all know and want to love. 

As I said it’d be nice to finish in 3rd but so long as Lucas is back on track to become a big bopper next year BMF is happy. 

Where the Hell did those 9 runs come from??? Not to mention 4 in one inning! 

I won’t say Lucas Duda was the difference but with a pair of hits and an RBI he certainly chipped in to do his part. It’d be great to finish in 3rd as opposed to last but more importantly I want to see Duda get back in his Big League groove again. 

Lucas has never been overly confident in the Bigs so I’d hate to send him into the off season in a fragile mental place. We need his bat to blossom next season. Ownership is already telling us they won’t increase payroll so there will be no big bat coming via free agency therefore it’s imperative Duda picks it up from now till game 162. 

Meanwhile Chris Young has really fallen off the cliff lately. 

There is no way in Hell Terry Collins should be fired.

The Mets came out and said TC is safe but it’s worth reminding everyone that the Mets performed way OVER THEIR HEADS in the first half. Granted the second half was a complete and utter disaster that even the most cynical fans didn’t see coming, but you can’t hold the skipper responsible for this mess.

If this was a real team we would’ve gone out and added a bat to help an offense that survived on smoke and mirrors for way too long.

***

That Dodger / Sox trade is completely insane. Word is the Dodgers are planning to become the Yankees of the West Coast and with their new ownership there’s no reason to doubt that’s what’s happening. I don’t know how smart taking on Beckett and Crawford’s mega deals are but Adrian Gonzalez is a no-brainer and I guess if they have Yankee pockets they can withstand those contracts should they both come up snake eyes.

Then again there’s no reason to think Beckett won’t benefit from a move to the NL West and Crawford can definitely bounce back after recovering from surgery.

Either way it’s bad news for the Mets. I know we’ve got to worry about the East before the NL Pennant but a Yankee-esque Dodger franchise is not good news for the low budget Mets.

How can a kid like Collin McHugh possibly come up from the minors, post a stellar game of 1 R, 2H, 1BB 9K in 7IP and STILL not get the Win??? Because he plays for the NY Mets.

First of al what a shocker to see this type of outing from this kid who came out of nowhere. Met fans are familiar with Matt Harvey but Collin McHugh??? This kid came out of nowhere and just posted a Johan/RA type outing. 

The next question is: is he for real? No shortage of pitchers who threw the game of their lives in their big league debut and never tasted that success again but you had to like what you saw from McHugh. The kid allowed a hit to the 1st batter he saw, stranded him at 3rd and surrendered just 1 more hit the rest of his 7 IP. 

The kid looked confident, and threw without fear of ML hitters which I suppose is easier to do if you’re striking out 9!

Another reason shutting down Johann was the right move. Protect your ace and give a prospect a chance to prove himself.

Last nite’s Chris Young outing was sort of a microcosm of the Met season. The first half was perfect. CY got everyone out in order and pre-All Star Break the Mets got everything breaking their way. Come from behind wins, No-han’s game, a WC chase.

But all of a sudden things fell apart. It happened slowly at first but before you knew it all was lost. CY lost his perfect game on a tough play not made by Tejada. To me that’s a hit. An argument can be made for a home scorer doing his part to keep a once in a lifetime performance intact but truth be told that was a hit all the way. 

BMF predicted the second Met no-no would  come “relatively quickly” but in Met terms that means just inside 20 years. Would’ve been great to get a perfecto from Young, but it wasn’t meant to be… Just like the 2012 Met season.