Much has been done about the Mets ’tendency to win the series so far this year as a basis for why they have moved to the early lead in the N.L. East. And that’s clearly a good thing: Washington, D.C. Going into Thursday’s matinee in, the Mets were 8-0-1 in their first 10 series. It is useful.
Equally important – and perhaps more meaningful – is this: the Mets have lost only one back-to-back game this year. Every threat of a lost streak is quickly bound by a tourniquet. And the Mets wanted to do it again on Thursday. The lower nations had crushed them 8-3 the night before. It’s silly to be scared on a game.
But when a game becomes two, and two becomes three, and …
“We wanted to run our business today,” said Mark Canha.
And so it was that Kanha, who had been given a three-day leave in the last six, found himself in the plate with two outs and the base juice at the top of the first inning. They were loaded by Nets starter John Adon, but it looks like the Mets are on their way to hook him up.
If Kanha had looked at the scoreboard, he would have seen his batting average sit at .291 – the very first day when he entered the game with less than .300 after a brilliant start. But he was not paying attention. He had only one thought in his mind.
“Run a little, baby!”
Kanha belongs to the Bay Area, so he may have easily mentioned one of the patron saints of that region, Al Davis. Or, as he offered, “somehow I knew they would hit me inside, and I tried to use it to my advantage, jumping fastball and trying to drive someone away.”
They stumbled. He jumped. The two Mets scored, and they were on their way to a Drama-Free 4-1 victory, remaining unbeaten in 10 series and still losing more than two in 33 consecutive games in 22-11 seasons.
Loved a lot of vacations in the National Park. Taijuan Walker threw seven scoreless innings on the Nets in one week, and Phillies lit up, and Jim Brown did so while lame for most of the day.
The highlights of this year’s reel included pre-collected plays, a double-non-double game at the bottom of the fourth, which was so unique that both outs earned their respective points – one was 5-6-1, and two were 9-6 out.
But for all the good things, the Mets generated just five hits – three were from Kanha, who came out of the .300 game at .313 and added a great puzzle to the pitch, with right-hander Steve Sishek sidelined. Ninth who cleared the fence to face the Mets on the final run.
He earned him the Mets’ daily “Heater of the Day” honor, announced after the game and before the media went to the clubhouse. If you find that you haven’t seen any flashy boxing belts or fun hats or sashes that are usually associated with this type of thing, you shouldn’t be surprised that no-nonsense mates have no-nonsense. Awards.
“It’s just a baseball belt,” Kanha said with a smile.
“What’s great about this team is that all of our hitters have won awards sometime this year. This is the coolest part. It’s not always the same.
The home run was also absolutely enjoyable. It’s hard to describe Kanha’s hot start, as the Mets signed him for two years and $ 26.5 million before the lockout hit. It was a bit disappointing for the player who hit 26 homers (for 2019 A) as 23 of his first 25 hits went for singles.
Buck Sholter hopes Kanha will find the strike soon, with the Mets’ manager claiming that spring training illness has put Kanha a little behind in his normal spring routine. Kanha can feel the difference.
“I’m right where I want to be,” he said. “I’m fine. I got two softies today, but I’m fine. Things are getting worse in my head and I’m getting better. Finally.”
And the Mets pulled out of Washington and their strong start is still intact. On Yogi Berra’s birthday, the Mets made sure to back off on one of the yogi’s time-honored slogans – “Other teams can hurt us if they win” – for at least another day.
