When I was a kid, I used to tease my little brother by playing a game called, “I’m Not Touching You.” You probably know this game – I certainly didn’t invent it, and I imagine older siblings everywhere played it. It ususally got started when the younger sibling was getting tired of getting pushed, smacked, poked, or knocked around, told a parent, and then the parent threatened, “if you touch him one more time, [insert punishment].” When you are nine or ten years old, for some reason, this phrase sounds an awful lot like, “PLAY BALL!” After observing the peremptory five- to ten-second silence, the older sibling obligingly stick his index finger right in front of the younger’s nose and waves it there for as long as possible, taunting, “I’m not touching you! I’m not touching you!” until the younger one explodes in a rage, punches or kicks the older one, and then gets in trouble for starting a fight.
For most of last night’s game in Flushing, the boys in blue and orange continued playing the major league version of I’m Not Touching You. As they had done for nine innings the night before, the Mets quickly went back to their maddening game of putting runners on with less than two out, inning after inning, waving them in our collective faces, and then ever-so-carefully avoiding causing most of them touch home plate.
And then came the eighth inning. Clearly this was the best inning we’ve seen out of the Mets this season; in my opinion, it was one of the best they’ve had in a couple of years, not just because they hit, but because they executed. They extended the inning. They jumped on the opposition and made a fielding error really sting. They kept the opposing pitcher off-balance and piled on the runs.
The play that defined the inning for me was not the Barajas double, or the Pagan single, or even Chris Carter’s double. It was Alex Cora noticing the infield playing back and dropping down a perfect bunt. It’s small ball, sure, but that kind of play does more than move a runner and keep the lineup turning. It shakes the pitcher and the infield, and causes an inning to spiral out of control for the defense. It looked to me like that bunt broke Clippard, setting up the rest of the inning.
As disappointed as I was that Ike missed a grand slam by a few feet (and I’m sorry, but how annoying are these video replay breaks?!), I loved watching him put the icing on the cake with yet another flip into the dugout to end the game. Great shot of Frankie just smiling and shaking his head after Ike made that play. Davis had better be careful, though – one of these days he’s going to make a play like that with runners on base and less than two outs. Check your rulebooks: all runners move up a base if the fielder ends up in the dugout (or the stands) after making a catch. Just sayin’.
Aside from the eighth, I was pleased to see Wright finally hitting the ball where it was pitched, instead of trying to place it every time. He will hit — including for power — once he goes back to just doing that.
Welcome to New York, Chris Carter. One AB is only one AB, but given the clamor from the fans to get him up here, and the nature of his personality, I ask you: Is “The Animal” going to be our next Super Joe McEwing/Endy Chavez?
Let’s see if the Mets can turn this one huge win into a run of success. Don’t forget, momentum is only as good as the next day’s starting pitcher. Are you listening, Big Pelf?
