It’s go time

If you had told me on April 6th when the Mets opened In Washington against the Nationals, that on October 13th they would be playing a playoff game against the Dodgers that could propel them to the NLCS, I would have laughed in your face. But here they are, poised for success in this most improbable season that turned on a dime with the July 31st acquisition of Yoenis Cespedes.

Matt Harvey was mediocre last night versus the feckless Dodgers, but when you’re facing third-rate starters such as Brett Anderson and your lineup possesses gamers like Curtis Granderson and the aforementioned Cespedes, it doesn’t much matter. The Dodgers [probably wisely] sat Chase Utley, but at this stage of his career he is not an impact player unless you count chippy slides.

As for Harvey, I don’t blame him for not being sharp, what with nearly a two week layoff.  In this era of pitch counts and coddling it is unrealistic to expect your ‘ace’ starter to have any kind of rhythm in his biggest start of the year. I wonder what Juan Marichal and Bob Gibson think of today’s crop of tin-men. Hopefully, if the Mets move on, Harvey will be stronger in the NLCS.  They will need him against a frothing-at-the-mouth, too young to be scared Cubs lineup. (yes I have written the Cardinals off)

In the meantime the Mets have a game to win.  Rookie Steven Matz and his sore back will face Clayton Kershaw, who will be starting on three days of rest. The realist in me wants to believe that the pressure of pitching in a closeout game in hostile Citi Field will be too much for Kershaw, who thus far in his storied career has been a playoff washout.  The fatalist in me, however, hears a voice buried deep inside of my head saying, ‘He’s due.  He’s due.’

This is it, Mets.  FINISH THEM.

The slide

LIsten, the Mets did not lose Saturday night’s NLDS game against the Dodgers because of Chase Utley’s chippy slide. They lost it because they couldn’t score more than two runs against Zack Greinke.  As much as I hate to admit it Utley did nothing wrong.  He went into second base hard, as he was trained to do; as ballplayers have doing for over a century.  I’m more upset that the umps did not rule him out since he came nowhere near to touching second base.  Once again replay fails us. What’s the point of having it if not to decide plays like these?

And memo to Terry Collins:  Throw the sabermetrics away.  You had no business taking Bartolo Colon out of the game after a botched double play.  This may be a stretch, but big Bartolo has pitched a few years — I think he can get a lefty out. Leave your broken down chess pieces in the bullpen until you get into real trouble.

That being said, this series is the Mets to lose.  They got what they wanted out of their trip to Los Angeles — they stole a game from Clayton Kershaw.  Now it’s time for Matt Harvey to back up his cocky demeanor.  Harvey against Brett Anderson is a mismatch.  If the Mets bats are quiet we need to see Harvey go deep into this game and silence an anemic, underachieving Dodgers lineup. That means pitch count be damned. Is Harvey a ballplayer or a corporate interest?  A gamer or a faceless drone? A hero or a bum?