Matthew Cerrone
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | About Me
A home run is nice, but it was great to see the Mets using a bit of small ball, and clearly some great feedback from advanced scouts, to help needle the Cubs last night in Wrigley Field.
In the sixth inning, in a 2-2 tie, Yoenis Cespedes singled. He advanced to second base because – get this – Lucas Duda dropped down a bunt. Yes, Duda bunted! Imagine that? I’m certain every Mets fan has been screaming for Lucas to bunt the last few weeks, when he’s been constantly put in the position to hit into the shift. The entire left side of the field is repeatedly wide open, yet he kept trying to pull the ball. Last night though, Duda squared, put the barrel on the ball, got thrown out, but moved Cespedes to second, after which the outfielder stole third… again. He later scored on a wild pitch, a strike three curveball in the dirt that got away from Cubs catcher Miguel Montero. I’m also convinced that Cespedes’s dancing up and down the third base line, daring the Cubs to throw down, may have distracted reliever Trevor Cahill, who could not stop looking at third base.
Similarly, the next inning, Daniel Murphy did a terrific job hustling down the first base line to beat out a ground ball between shortstop and third base, which, thankfully, Kris Bryant double clutched. Later, Kyle Schwarber dropped a line drive to left field, which scored David Wright and pushed Murphy to third. Duda then pulled a ball on the ground that sent Murphy home for the game’s final run. Again, it happened because of the little things…
“We can’t solely rely on hitting home runs to score runs,” Wright wisely said after the game. “Once you get ahead of a team, I think you have to continue to put your foot on the gas and do those small things, try to steal some bases.”
The Mets have stolen seven bases this postseason. By comparison, they stole four bases as a team in the final month of the regular season. What’s more, they stole third base just six times ALL season. However, they’ve already swiped third base five times in the last eight games.
“We came in knowing that we had to be a little aggressive on the bases, something we don’t normally do,” manager Terry Collins said. “We’re not that kind of a team, but we told the guys, ‘Look, if you get on and you think you can go, go.'”
The stolen bases are clearly a byproduct of this organization’s advanced scouts, because it’s the only way to explain the stark contrast in attempting to take extra bases. They obviously said to TC, ‘If the Cubs do X-Y-Z, make your move,’ and he’s directing his players to follow suite. The fact is, the Cubs are terrible at both holding runners on and throwing them out, so it makes sense to push the envelope, especially when afforded some wiggle room up 2-0 in the series. They’re now up 3-0, so hopefully they’ll continue to push their limits…
Comment
from Metsblog http://ift.tt/1W4oceG
No comments:
Post a Comment