Joey's Unhappy Recap: A National Disaster On Opening Day

Hi, everyone.  This is Joey Beartran.  In addition to my roving reporter and culinary expert duties for Studious Metsimus, I occasionally write a happy game recap.  More often than not, that recap comes on Opening Day, but today's season opener was anything by happy for the Mets and their fans.

Everything started out happy for me and my Studious Metsimus colleagues.  We attended a tailgate outside the ballpark where we had a tasty burger.  And that, my friends, was the extent of our happiness.

Happy days are here again.  Then the game started.

Oh, sure, the Mets took an early 3-0 lead on a home run into our section by Andrew Brown (I didn't have my glove with me so I let some kid catch it).  And yes, after a poor second inning in which he allowed a long two-run homer to Adam LaRoche, Dillon Gee settled down to retire 15 consecutive batters.  But you have to consider this.  Dillon Gee wasn't going to pitch a complete game.  And Andrew Brown was the Mets' offensive star.

You had a feeling this wasn't going to end well.

Once Gee was removed from the game in the seventh inning, the bullpen pitched as if every Nationals hitter was named Eddie Gaedel.  Entering the game with the Mets still leading, 4-3, Carlos Torres threw four straight balls to pinch-hitter Nate McLouth.  Then Scott Rice came into the game and thought he was playing Horse.  That's the only explanation I can see for Rice throwing four consecutive balls to Denard Span - he didn't want to get saddled with an "H".

The back-to-back free passes allowed the Nats to tie the game.  And somewhere in the dugout, Dillon Gee sulked.

Dillon Gee walks dejectedly off the mound in the seventh.  Many other Met pitchers would follow suit.

The Mets eventually got out of the inning when Jose Valverde (reliever No. 3 in the inning) struck out Mr. National himself, Ryan Zimmerman.  After retiring the side in order in the eighth, Valverde was in line to pick up the win after Juan Lagares gave the Mets a 5-4 lead with a home run in the bottom of the eighth.

But these are the Mets.  And even though they're the most successful Opening Day team in big league history, they still found a way to send the sellout crowd home disappointed.

Down to their last out, the Nationals tied the game in the ninth off Mets closer Bobby Parnell.  Then Washington scored four runs in the tenth off Jeurys Familia and ex-Nationals pitcher John Lannan.  The big blow came off Lannan, as the southpaw allowed a three-run homer to Anthony Rendon.  In six years with Washington, Lannan won 42 games.  Looks like he won another one for them today.

By the time David Wright hit a meaningless two-run homer in the Mets' half of the tenth (the third time in six seasons Wright has homered in the Mets' home opener), the number of empty seats outnumbered the number of filled ones.

All you need to know about this game is that Dillon Gee allowed four hits and two walks in six and two-thirds innings.  Then six relievers combined to give up five hits and four walks in just three and a third innings.  And oh yeah, Curtis Granderson went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts and the first base combo of Ike Davis and Lucas Duda both went 0-for-2.  The Mets as a team struck out 18 times, led by Eric Young, Jr., who fanned four times.  I mean, if he wanted to wear a golden sombrero so badly, he could have just borrowed Ballapeño's rally sombrero and painted it gold.

So that's it, Mets fans.  Although this past weekend's rainy weather left before the first pitch was thrown, the game itself was still a washout.  It's never a good thing to write an unhappy recap.  It's even worse when it comes on Opening Day.  Let's hope I don't have to write too many of these in 2014.

Washington's Bryce Harper goes down in the second inning.  The Mets would do the same eight innings later.

Joey's Recap: Sponsored By "R", "A" and "20"

Hi, everyone!  This is Joey Beartran and here is my recap of today's Citi Field finale, a game that featured a number of key moments in Mets history, both inside and outside the ballpark.

Since today was a day game, we headed out to the ballpark early, especially since today was going to be The Apple's Final Mets Tailgate Ever.  So after a few hot dogs (I think I had more hot dogs than Jason Bay has doubles this year - he has two in case you didn't know or can't count past one), we took some photos of friends, tailgaters and bloggers alike before moving on to another historic event - the shaving of Keith Hernandez's iconic mustache.

The crowd that gathered around the Home Run Apple before the stroke of noon for the shaving of the 'stache was quite large.  In fact, I'd wager a hot dog that the number of people with cameras in tow was larger than the attendance at Wednesday night's game.  But then again, this was no ordinary 'stache we were talking about.

Some fans, like Matt Falkenbury of The Daily Stache, were particularly moved by the moment.  After seeing Matt's sign, I couldn't help but be moved as well.

Shortly before noon, the barber began to work his magic.  There was music playing over the speakers, with all the songs having a common "gone" theme.  I was glad they didn't play any songs from "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street", or else Keith might not have stuck around in the barber's chair very long.

But why am I still talking?  I'll just let these exclusive photos tell the story for me.

That was the pre-game show.  Now let's move on to the game itself.  Today's game came on the heels of David Wright's historic hit against the Pirates.  Wright's 1,419th hit in Wednesday's game moved him past Ed Kranepool into the No. 1 spot on the club's all-time list.  R.A. Dickey was also trying to make history today.

With a win, Dickey would become the sixth Mets pitcher to win 20 games in a single season, joining Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Dwight Gooden, David Cone and Frank Viola.  Things didn't start off so well with the Mets' resident knuckleballer, as Rod Barajas drove a long double off him in his first at-bat, followed by a home run his next time up.  Barajas' blast off Dickey gave the Bucs a 3-1 lead over the Mets, giving this bear and my 31,506 human friends in attendance a brief "oh no" moment.  But it was just brief.

An RBI single by Scott Hairston in the bottom of the fourth cut the deficit to one.  Then in the fifth, Daniel Murphy dropkicked a single to center to tie the game, which was followed by a titanic opposite field homer by David Wright.  The three-run blast could not be caught by Pirates' rightfielder Travis Snider, who made an Endy Chavez-like catch earlier in the game on a long drive by Mike Baxter.  And by Endy Chavez catch, I mean he made a highlight-reel catch in a losing effort.

Although Dickey admitted he "felt exasperated" and "was not himself today for the most part", he certainly didn't show it on the mound.  After Barajas' fourth-inning homer, Dickey did not allow another run, striking out a bazillion batters in the process.  Okay, so it was really 13 Ks, but it sure felt like a bazillion.

I guess "bazillion" didn't fit on CitiVision.

Dickey pitched into the eighth inning but with two outs, he walked Travis Snider on his 128th pitch of the game.  That was enough for Terry Collins, who removed Dickey and handed the ball to birthday boy Jon Rauch.  Rauch got the final out of the inning, but then had us all reaching for our Rolaids in the ninth.

A leadoff walk to Jordy Mercer (he of the .196 career batting average entering the game), followed by a two-run homer to Alex Presley (he of the 41 career RBIs in three seasons entering the game) cut the lead to 6-5.  But Rauch beared down (no pun intended) and got out of the inning without allowing another runner to reach base.  When Mike Baxter squeezed the final out into his glove, Dickey became the team's first 20-game winner since Frank Viola in 1990.  Interestingly, Viola also defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates for his 20th victory, as did Tom Seaver , who turned the trick twice.  Seaver picked up his 20th win against the Pirates in both 1972 and 1975.

Congratulations indeed!  What a season by the great R.A. Dickey!

Today was a day filled with many "lasts".  It was the last tailgate by The Apple (unless if the Mayans were wrong).  It was the last day Keith Hernandez got Tootsie Pop residue stuck in his 'stache.  It was the last home game at Citi Field.  But it was a "first" that became the most memorable part of the day, as R.A. Dickey became the first Mets pitcher to win 20 games in over two decades.

Although the season wasn't exactly great, Citi Field did get to witness three great moments.  In June, the home fans were treated to Johan Santana throwing the first no-hitter in team history.  Then in a span of 24 hours, David Wright became the franchise's all-time hits leader and R.A. Dickey put the cherry on top of his remarkable season (the whipped cream will be added on the day the Cy Young Award winner is announced).

Thanks to everyone who made this season special for me.  I'll miss seeing you all at Citi Field, but it'll just make me look forward to seeing you all again on April 1, 2013, when the Mets play their home opener next year.  I can't wait to see what the Mets have in store for us then.  Toodle-oo!