I made my public statement about Matt Harvey's injury earlier in public here. I stand by that real and authentic sentiment. I am not piling on here by pointing out that the Phillies just gave them a sympathy...win. Harvey is a real-life Sidd Finch, and an awesome player. But thank god he was not a Phillie. This was not your day, Phillies fan, but at least it was not the day of a Mets fan.
I also had a co-worker who called off today because she wrecked her bike and landed awkwardly on the support between the saddle and the handlebars, receiving a blunt-force injury that apparently required stitches. She did not appreciate my proffered sympathetic comment that, "If it taint one thing, it's t'other!" In any case, her day was not your day, either. Aren't you living a blessed life?
No, you are in the netherworld of being able to enjoy a win and, if there is no win, enjoying the increased likelihood of a protected draft pick. You are the house at a casino. Relish it.
Tonight, I was able to accept Kyle Kendrick's voyage over the last couple of months back to the tail end of the rotation, rather than the middle, where he was social-climbing until maybe June. The bases-clearing double to Jonathon Niese that put the Mets up 5 - 0 did not offend me or upset me as it otherwise would have.
I enjoyed watching the tree of a winning streak flourish by sucking nourishment from the decomposing remains of an aging core as the Phillies beat up the Diamondbacks and the Rockies. I cheered heartily. But I could not be too upset tonight when I saw the Phillies gack gack gack themselves into a fairly appalling loss to a fabulously crappy Mets team. Draft pick!
Did I get upset when Kevin Frandsen flung a ball from first past the glove of an outstretched Jimmy Rollins into left field? No! It was kind of cute, since it reminded me of Ryan Howard. Good times! Nostalgia! Entertainment! Economic efficiency! Why pay $25,000,000.00 to fling balls into left field when you can pay close to the league minimum? See! The Phillies *are* getting smarter!
I can picture Ruben Amaro sitting in his office, rubbing his hands together, and saying to David Montgomery, "We're getting Howard's production at fraction of the cost, boss! Whaddaya think of that!"
"That's capital, young man! I knew it was in you from the first day you were a bat boy!"
So when Niese threw the complete game shutout, and the last out settled into the glove of the Mets' left fielder, a sudden calm and warm rush overwhelmed me. I felt like I was living the final scene of The Junky's Christmas. A protected draft pick was slightly closer. Maybe it was just the cabernet, though.
Niese went 9 innings, gave up 0 runs, struck out 5, walked 1, and suffocated the Phillies. His bases-clearing double was just icing on the cake, since the run the Mets scored in the third inning was all they would need.
Kyle Kendrick pitched like a teenage boy has sex -- he started out with great enthusiasm and promise, but was done far too soon. The four run sixth inning torpedoed what promised to be a rare good outing by Kendrick in what has been a difficult second half of 2013 for him. His line was 6 innings, 1 earned run, 3 strikeouts, 4 walks (including intentional ones), and 5 hits. The brutal part of this was the double surrendered to Niese after an intentional walk was issued (with 2 outs) to bring Niese to the plate. While Kendrick only gave up 1 earned run, the failure to get Niese was a huge derp moment in this game.
I would mention good things done by other Phillies had any Phillies done good things. This was not an oversight.
Still, I'm not mad, bro. Fangraph of being hedged like a well-run bank:
Source: FanGraphs