Life in general and baseball in particular offer no sure bets. But Mets lefty specialist Jerry Blevins has come pretty close. That’s why his surrendering hits to two left-handed batters Friday was so surprising.
Blevins was summoned to start the ninth and keep the deficit at 2-1. Granted, he faced two terrific lefties — Daniel Murphy and Bryce Harper — but he had nine straight scoreless outings. And lefties were hitting .239 (21-of-88) against him.
Throw out the nine straight. Lefties are now hitting .256. Murphy singled and Harper doubled and both eventually scored in the Nationals’ 4-1 win.
“Murph hit a good pitch, a pitcher’s pitch and hit it right in the six hole. And then Harp hit a bad pitch: up, middle, a 3-2 pitch,” Blevins said. “I didn’t want to walk there. So fastball up and a fastball down and away. It sucks, but the best thing about my job is I get to go face them again tomorrow.”
Manager Terry Collins admitted the outcome was a surprise.
“[Blevins has] done great, he really has. He’s had a tremendous year. That’s the spot for him,” Collins said. “But it also goes to show you how good those two guys are. When you get them out consistently, you’re pretty good, but I for sure thought Jerry was going to get one of them.”
Steven Matz, battling left shoulder stiffness, is on schedule to start throwing Monday in Port St. Lucie, Fl. — hurricanes permitting of course — according to Collins.
“He has not picked up a ball yet. He is doing all therapy, all exercises. He is going to head to the rehab center after this weekend and I think start throwing on Monday,” Collins said.
No one man is a team. But teams can struggle big time without one particular man and Collins stressed the Mets’ need to have Yoenis Cespedes, who went 0-for-4 Friday, in the lineup. And it is that very need that fuels Collins’ handling and resting of the outfielder down the stretch.
“We cannot possibly lose Yoenis Cespedes for two weeks. Can’t do it,” Collins said. “So we’ll pick and choose a day here and a day there and we’ll do the same with Cabby [Asdrubal Cabrera]. … We’ve got to have our lineup intact the rest of the way to be able to compete.”
When the Mets signed Jose Reyes in June, some things Collins said he favorably anticipated were Reyes’ energy — and his smile. Smiles are contagious, smiles make you feel good. Yeah, Reyes’ attitude has caught on with the team.
“We’ve got good guys here. We’ve got Reyes and he’s a good guy to help the clubhouse,” Cabrera said. “He’s always happy, he’s always smiling and that helps us to enjoy it all.”
Just Reyes being Reyes.
“I don’t think I have to do it. It’s something I’ve always had since I was a little kid. I try to bring a lot of energy to the ball park,” Reyes said. “I just like to help the guys here too with energy, positive energy. So what you see here and what you see on the field that’s Jose Reyes. I only know one way to play: be happy and have a lot of energy.”
Collins acknowledged the Mets have had a target on their backs all season. Hey, it goes with the pennant-winning territory.
“It’s something you live with the entire year. You’re the defending champs. And when you play teams and you’re the defending champs they want to beat you, they want to beat you bad,” Collins said. “So no matter who you play, you pick up the local papers in any town and it’s a story, ‘Hey we’re playing the National League champions.’ So people get excited. It’s a great experience to go through for our players, but each and every night you have to have your A game because teams want to beat you bad.”
The Mets have dropped four straight meetings to Washington. … Matt den Dekker, whom the Mets traded for Blevins, was designated for assignment by the Nationals on Friday