The New York Mets started off Thursday's game with a 5-0 lead, but a blow up by Jose Quintana, followed be struggles from the Mets bullpen cost them a game they had to have.
Host Ryan Finkelstein went live on YouTube during the ninth inning of the game, and broke down where things went wrong for the Mets.
Also, could the Mets have found a new two-hole hitter with Mark Vientos, and will New York bounce back against the Marlins over the weekend?
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[MUSIC PLAYING] It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. With T-Mobile, you can get tons of benefits and still save, because nobody likes having to choose. It's like getting romance and sci-fi. I love you. Also, I'm a robot. At T-Mobile, you can get the benefits you want and still save on every plan versus AT&T in Verizon. See how with our savings calculator at tmobile.com/switch. Plus, switch and keep your phone. We'll pay it off up to $800. The infertual prepaid card in 15 days qualifying unlocked device credits, service, and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months at ctmobile.com. Walmart plus members save on meeting up with friends. Save on having them over for dinner with free delivery with no hidden fees or markups. That's groceries plus napkins plus that vegetable chopper to make things a bit easier. Plus, members save on gas to go meet them in their neck of the woods. Plus, when you're ready for the ultimate sign of friendship, start a show together with your included Paramount Plus subscription. Walmart plus members save on this plus so much more. Start a 30-day free trial at walmartplus.com. Paramount plus a central plan only. Separate registration required. See Walmart plus terms and conditions. Hello to all you amazing Mets fans. We are watching a game live here for today's edition of lockdown Mets as this will either be a thrilling comeback victory or a very frustrating loss in the longest game of all time. You are locked on Mets. Your daily New York Mets podcast. Part of the locked on podcast network. Your team every day. Hello to all you amazing Mets fans. You're listening to locked on Mets. Part of the locked on podcast network. Your team every day. Thank you for making lockdown Mets your first listen every day. Lacked on Mets is free and available in all platforms, including YouTube. Well, I did a live recording on the show today. So in the first segment, you're going to listen back as I started to break down the most frustrating, agonizing, extremely long game. Yesterday's the Mets eventually lose, but I was recording the first segment during the bottom of the ninth inning. So that adds a little extra wrinkle to your show today. Then in the second segment, I still try to get over the loss. Well, also talking about how I did like the way the Mets changed the lineup for this game with Marc Fiento's batting second. Is that a change the Mets could stay with moving forward? Then in the final segment, I'll preview the weekend ahead against the Miami Marlins, a series of the Mets. Don't only have to win, it feels that they have to sweep it. They got to take advantage and make up for what just happened against Oakland. Before we get to any of that though, I'm your host Ryan Finkelstein. If you want to find any of my work, follow me on X at Finkelstein Ryan. You can also find some by writing it just baseball.com where I work as the managing editor. - This is a first here with locked on Mets. I am going live for a show while there's a Mets game still on. Bottom of the ninth J.D. Martinez up against Mason Miller, because I think this thing is over and yes. That is me trying to reverse Jinx a victory for the Mets in what is most likely going to be one of the more frustrating losses of the season. So we're going to get right into the show before we do this episodes brought you by prize picks. The easiest, most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports. Go to prize picks.com/lockedonmlb and use the code on lowercaselockedonmlb for your first deposit match up to $100. As J.D. Martinez strikes out swing to start off the inning, this game's frustrating. For those of you who aren't aware, I'm your host Ryan Finkelstein. If you want to find any of my work, you can follow me on Twitter @Finckelstein Ryan. You can find my writing at just baseball.com where I work as the managing editor. All right, so let's settle in and talk about this game as I watch this game, because this has been an absolute slog of a game where there's been, at one point they said 72 foul balls and it's probably over 80 now. You've had, I can't even tell you how many walks. Look at the box score, a ton. And a game where the Mets should have won and it's looking very much like it's going to be a loss. I want to say on the front end of this that this entire situation is my fault because I am actually going out of town this weekend. So I had the idea of, okay, one o'clock game, I'm going to record before my wife and I hit the road at like, you know, five, six o'clock tonight. And I did not expect a four hour baseball game, but here we are and I'll tell you early, I just thought, all right, the Mets are going to cruise because Jose Quintana was bending, but not breaking early in this game, loads the bases in the first and the third inning, but somehow pitched himself out of those jams. Bella Kea was being very selective with who he was pitching to, who he wasn't, trying to just navigate his way through it. And the Mets score a bunch of runs early, they're up five nothing in the game as, now I'm watching Tyrone Taylor got hit by a pitch. Let's see if the Mets can do more this time because in the seventh inning, Tyrone Taylor gets a pinch hit off the bench and then steals second base and somehow the Mets aren't able to get him in because of a horrible decision when it comes to who Carlos Mendoza decided pinch hit, but I'll get to that in a minute. Earlier in this game, it was all about Marc Vientos because Marc Vientos has two home runs as part of the five runs, the Mets score. Also, Jeff McNeil, who did get pinch hit for again, I'll get to that. Jeff McNeil had a great at bat in the second inning where Peter Lanzo was already on. Jeff McNeil has just fallen off a million pitches because that was setting the table for what the entire day would be and he rips a double down the first baseline that puts two runners in scoring position. The Mets get their first run on a wild pitch. Their second and third runs on a two run homer from Marc Vientos driving in Lindor. And then again, later Vientos homers for a second time and I'm in my head already prepping out the show. All right, we're talking about Marc Vientos. Should he be the new hitter in the two hole and we will talk about that in the next segment after this game ends? But I thought it was going to be nice and easy, but then Ben Not Break Cantana turns into completely broken. And Jose Cantana can't get out of the fourth inning. They let him pitch for, I think, too long, honestly. First of many decisions that Carlos Mendoza made in this game that I feel like you can quibble with. Guess they thought, all right, let him pitch to JJ Blede, left-handed hitter. Why not? Well, JJ Blede has been better against lefties than Reddy's this year and is one of the few hitters in that lineup that can take you deep. And Cantana did not have it at that point. So the fact that nobody was ready in that spot, you let a game that was in hand five to nothing. And then Jose Cantana gives up a grand slam and all of a sudden it turns into a ballgame. The Mets had this series wrapped up five-nothing. Even if it was a bullpen game from the fourth inning on, if you get out of that jam and only give up one instead of four, a lot harder for the A's to pile on, but instead they get a four-on-head start and they ultimately chip away, chip away, and take a lead in this game. Peter Lanz is having a pretty good at bat. It gets made similar, by the way. It's a full count. Sure, all of you who are watching this stream right now, hopefully watching the game. So I have to give you the full play by play. But so frustrating that that game starts to get away from you, when maybe if you go to the bullpen sooner, this doesn't turn into what it's become, which is just this slog of a game as Peter Lanzo has popped out. It seems and there's two outs in the ninth inning. Man. So Cantana comes out and that was actually when the second home run for Vientos happened. That made it a six to four game at the time. So Brazaban comes out of the bullpen to pitch after Cantana. He gives up a run on a walk ahead a wild pitch, was able to limit the damage after that. And then Reed Garrett gives up two runs in his inning on three hits in a walk. And now the Mets all of a sudden trailed and that's what we've been sitting at, at the seven to six score for all these innings now, since that sixth inning when Garrett gave it those runs. Now the Mets have had chances in this game to get that run back. Francisco endured in the bottom of the sixth inning draws a walk, advances the second on a ball. He's right there, you just need a base hit to get him in, the Mets strand him. The seventh inning is that frustrating at bat that I was talking about. So Tyron Taylor, pinch hits for Jesse Winker with the left knee on the mound, gets a base hit. He then steals second base after Peter Lanzo strikes out. So he's on second base, Jose Iglesias comes up and perfect timing to mention that 'cause Iglesias is batting right now. Let's see if he can do anything that gets Mason Miller. If you remember, it was Jose Iglesias that, was it a walk, he has a walk right against a roll, just Chapman, that great at bat in that comeback against the Pirates. So if there's a guy that I want up right now, Iglesias is pretty high up on the list. So we'll see what he does here against Miller, but in that seventh inning, he gets an infield hit, great hustle. So that keeps an out off the board. You have runners at first and second, one out. Jeff McNeil, who has been the best hitter in this match lineup since the second half started, is coming up against a lefty and because of left-right matchups, as Jose Iglesias is pounding his quad every time he takes a ball, he's got a three-o count. So Iglesias trying to extend it for guess who? Francisco Alvarez, because he pinch hit for Jeff McNeil. Who would you rather have up in the ninth inning? This decision is gonna come to fruition again as Iglesias draws the walk. This is, I mean, perfect timing to be talking about this because right now with Mason Miller up, I think I'd rather have Jeff McNeil in the game, but we'll find out in a second. Who knows? Maybe Cosmon Dose is a genius. Maybe Francisco Alvarez is gonna turn the entire tenor of this podcast around with one swing of the bat. Mason Miller is at 37 pitches, we'll see. But I personally think it was a terrible decision 'cause I think Jeff McNeil's the guy who won up right now because Jeff McNeil has been the best hitter on the Mets since the second half started, you can make an argument for Francisco Alvarez has been the worst hitter on the Mets since the second half started. And he swings through a slider, first pitch, only one count. That's where the Mets lost this game for me. And now it's gonna be a double-down effort if Alvarez strikes out against Mason Miller here because his swing's long right now. He does not look like he is himself in the box. And I get the left-right thing, but how about the hitter that had an 11 pitch at bat that ended in a double today? The guy that's been locked in, you now loose him for the rest of the game. And now here it is, ninth inning. And Francisco Alvarez hits a fly ball, that'll end the game. There you go. And that's the ball game for the New York Mets, that was seven to six, to the Oakland Athletics. And we wrap up the first segment in eight minutes and 30 seconds. You could not have planned that any better from a podcasting perspective, but I was hoping that I would talk Francisco Alvarez into making Mendoza look good, but instead he looks bad. Now what I will say about this game, is I don't think that we have to jump off the bandwagon off of this loss, because there was some good things about this game for the Mets. The lineup did some things that I like. Mark Vientos in the two hole, maybe that's something the Mets can go to. And as we look right now, I checked a minute ago, the Braves were losing two-nothing to the Giants, that is still the score in the bottom of the fourth inning. We'll see if that one holds up. There's still time that the tenor of a season can change so quickly. We see that if Alvarez gets a little more on that ball and hits it into the gap and it's a double and two-run score, cross Mendoza turns into a genius. But today, as we reflect on this game and the Mets opportunities, they blew this one. Winning five-nothing against the Oakland Athletics with a chance to win the series, potentially gain a game on the Braves and carries some momentum into your series against the Marlins. And you end up losing seven to six. That's a brutal loss for this Mets team. Hopefully they can learn from it and bounce back, but we'll talk about the change in the lineup in the next segment here and the road ahead this weekend. So before we get into any of it though, quick word from our sponsors. Today's episode is brought to you by Liquid IV. Get hydrated with electrolytes, essential vitamins and clinically tested nutrients from the number one powdered hydration brand in America. What I love about Liquid IV is the convenience factor. 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Discover automatically doubles the cashback you've earned on your credit card at the end of your first year with cashback match. That means with Discover, you could turn $150 cashback to $300. That's right, you could put it towards some memorabilia you've had your eye on or treat yourself to a premium sports network. You earn and discover doubles. See terms at discover.com/creditcard. (upbeat music) All right, so I wanted to talk about Marc Vientos. Let me get a quick sort of water here. I will admit that it's just normal water, not liquidiv. I wish it was liquidiv if I'm being honest. Marc Vientos. So he had a great game today. At least a great early part of the game with the multiple home runs. This season, Marc Vientos has an 890 OPS and we're now past the 250 at benchmark. The 202 at bats. You start to feel like this guy is what he is at this point. And I am for keeping him in the two hole. Why was he back in there today? Brandon Nemo has a stomach virus. So he was out for this game. We'll see if that's gonna keep him out for Friday's game as well. But if I'm Carlos Mendoza, I am changing up this lineup. And Marc Vientos in the two hole is an interesting look. We've seen J.D. Martinez sort of stay in that three hole. I think his at bats had been better lately. I wouldn't drop him just yet. Pete Alonzo's been batting fifth a little bit. I think I like that. We'll see if Pete gets hot. Maybe you move him up. But I sort of liked the idea of the line up the Mets had today when you have a right-hander on the mound. Where it's Lindor to Vientos. And then you have J.D. Martinez. You then after that, I have Jesse Winker, Pete Alonzo, batting fifth. Batting sixth today was Jose Iglesias. And I think that was a good look because of what he's done with runners in scoring position. So if you want to keep Jose Iglesias saying when he starts and have him batting in that sixth spot behind Pete Alonzo, well then seventh, today was Jeff McNeil. I kind of liked that. This is all leading to what I think the Mets should do. And I don't know if they have the courage to do it. I've talked about it on the show the last couple of days here. But for the last couple of weeks, I guess. I don't know, we've been talking about Nemo and his struggles for a while. I would put Nemo in the nine hole when he comes back. And the reason I would do that for one, take the pressure off a little bit and make it a sort of double lead off situation. I don't think that Brandon Nemo's gonna be batting ninth all year. But let him get hot in the ninth hole. Let him be at the bottom of the lineup with Francisco Lindor giving him protection. And maybe you get more out of Brandon Nemo in that instance. Let's just say, all right, when the lineup turns over and it's the third inning. Well, maybe Brandon Nemo's leading off that inning. And all of a sudden you got Nemo Lindor, Mark Fientos. I feel like that's a lineup that can put up some big numbers in some of those middle innings. I really like how that stacks up and it keeps your lineup really long with a lot of threats sprinkled throughout. So I really do believe even though it ended up not being a great game for the Mets offensively altogether because they score those five runs early and then or the six runs early. And then the back half of the game, they just struggled. I still believe that they're onto something with that mix and in particular, I just liked the idea of Mark Fientos getting more at bats because right now he is the guy that is most frequently leaving the yard. And you need guys that can hit the ball of the ballpark, especially when you have Francisco Lindor getting on base at the clip that he has been since being the lead off spot. But even more recently with his hitting streak, I mean, you got to keep someone behind him that can maybe drive him in and Brandon Imo's not doing it. So you got to find some other options in that two hole. I also think when Staling Martik comes back, he is another guy you can put in that spot. We've seen it before, but I wouldn't take him from a short rehab stint and just slide him right into the tool in the lineup. I feel like you need to give him some more time to get his feet, but if that's ultimately going to be where you go, I think against left handed pitching, it's not a bad option. But for me, I would see what Vientos can do in that two hole for the rest of this week, at least against the Marlins. We're going to talk about that series in the next segment. When I get into the preview, I can look at the pitchers that are going to go because that'll tell us a little bit about who with this next series is going to look like. And there's a lot of lefties, which the Marlins in the past, I haven't really looked at the roster post deadline. They've had a ton of lefties. So this would allow you to, as I'm looking now, getting ahead of myself, they're three righties starting this series, but it will have some lefties coming out of the bullpen. I still think Vientos in the two hole is a good little wrinkle to this lineup that the Mets should try to roll with for a little bit. I have nothing else to just change up the vibe in that lineup and in particular, to get Nemo out of the two hole, where I feel like he's been dragging this lineup down. But there's no way around what this day was, what this game was for the Mets. It's a huge disappointment. You had a great victory on Wednesday to get some momentum back in your favor. And you carry that into the first four innings of this game. And for a while, it looks like, all right, the Mets are going to win. When Jose Quintana was pitching in that fourth, until he hung that pitch to play day, I still did have some hope and some faith that he was going to find his way out of another jam. And then they would pull him after that fourth inning. So that decision by Mendoza, while it was brazen, still I feel like to not even have someone ready to pitch behind Quintana, I still was okay with that move that the Mets made in that game. But when it all ends up going against the Mets and you see how it plays out, obviously that was one big, determined factor in this game that changed the momentum. And even when Marc Fanto is homered after it, you didn't get that momentum all the way back. Brazaban giving up a run to make a closer read Garrett. It's just frustrating. It's hard to win a, you know, two run game when your bullpen has to come in that early. And so Quintana is the main reason to blame. If we're really peeling back the curtain on the game, it's really Quintana who had a bad start and that resulted in all this. And moving forward, that might keep being an issue. The Mets as a team, as I'm still trying to wrap my mind around everything that happened today. The Mets are a team that has a small margin for error. And when you are going right and you're riding that good wave as Francisco Landora said in the past, that margin seems to get a little bit wider and you're able to get by a little bit and things are going your way. When other Mets are in a pier where things aren't going their way, where you've got to be so perfect and take advantage of every opportunity you get. I don't know if Jeff McNeil gets a hit in the seventh inning of this game today. But I don't think he hits a ball in the batter's box and runs into it like Francisco Alvarez does. And I also don't know if he strikes out, well, I guess he didn't strike out against Mason Miller. But I still would have liked to see Jeff McNeil hitting that spine instead of Alvarez. So the final takeaway from the game is I try to flush it and we move to what's going to happen this weekend. The final takeaway is, Cantana wasn't great and that's been a pattern. So what exactly are the Mets going to do with that spot on the rotations? It's just Cantones for the rest of the year. Is he going to figure things out? Will the rotation turn into an issue for this Mets team? Because all of a sudden it's starting to be a factor. Blackburn blows the first game of this series. Cantana, this one, puts you in some big holes. Or in Cantana's case, instead of putting you in the hole, he ends up making it a ballgame when it shouldn't have been one after the way the lineup rallied early. So that's the big one, okay? Then you have just some of the decisions that were made. Why is Jeff McNeil your highest that are getting taken out from Francisco Alvarez? And the final one is just have the Mets found a new lineup that they're going to carry into this weekend. And may Mark Fiento's batting second, the Mets can just handle business against the Marlins. And if you sweep that series, at least this isn't a wasted week. But now we talk about marching for error. If you don't sweep the Marlins, you just win the series. Well, now you had six games against the A's and the Marlins. And the best the Mets are going to do is 500. That's not going to keep pace in a wild card race where these teams just keep on winning. So how are the Mets going to go about beating the Marlins in every single game this weekend? I'll talk about that next first though, another word from our sponsors. Today's episode is brought to you by Prize Picks. Prize Picks is America's number one daily fantasy sports app with over 5 million active members. Prize Picks is the easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports because unlike other apps on Prize Picks, it's just you against the numbers. All you do is pick more or less on two to six player staff projections. You watch the winnings roll in. Get in on daily action with your friends and become part of the Prize Picks community today. You can now win up to 100 times your money on Prize Picks with as little as four correct picks. So you can turn $10 into $1,000. For looking for promotions, Prize Picks has got you covered every week from lowering select player staff projections on Tuesdays to help your line of pit or getting your entry fees back if you have a losing lineup on Fridays. Down on the Prize Picks app today and use the cool lockdown MLB for a first deposit match up to $100. That's called lockdown MLB on Prize Picks where I first deposit match up to $100, pick more, pick less, it's that easy with Prize Pick. - The lockdown MLB fantasy minute is presented by Prize Picks. Prize Picks is the most fun I've had playing daily fantasy baseball and winning up to 25 times my money. Download the app today and use the code locked on MLB for first deposit match up to $100. Exploring my skills on Prize Picks this season has an extra layer of excitement to daily fantasy sports which is a few taps you could transform $10 into $1,000 if you've got the skills. Prize Picks is incredibly user friendly. I could make my selections, submit my entries in less than 60 seconds. And as the host of lockdown fantasy bass by mice will give you some great picks to start you off with. Offer run ill block out of higher than five strikeouts in his next start. Offer gunner Henderson to have higher than 1.5 total bases in his next outing and offer Anthony Santander to have higher than 0.5 home runs in his next game. Download the app today and use the code locked on MLB for first deposit match up to $100. Again, download the app today and use the code locked on MLB for first deposit match up to $100. Pick more, pick less, it's that easy with Prize Picks. (upbeat music) You are an everyday listener to the show, make sure to become a locked on Mets insider. This is our text and service for good updates for me. Anytime news breaks on the Mets can ask me questions anytime. You also can take partner locked on Mets signed photo giveaways and get the lineup graphic sent to your phone each day so you're knows in the starting lineup that ever having to go on social media. Wanna be a locked on Mets insider? You can find the link in the description. Go to subtext.com/lockedonmets. All right, so the Marlins were off today and it was one of the best little anecdotes during the game where Gary and Ron were talking about how long of a baseball game this had been and they mentioned how the Marlins could have gone to the Statue of Liberty and around Manhattan it had a whole day of New York Sightseeing watching this Mets game on their phones trying to follow along what's happening but the Marlins probably weren't too concerned about it. They're 31 games under 500 right now. You gotta beat this team this weekend. I mean, we talked about no excuses. I will give you some for the athletics, right? I said going into the series that excuses go away. Well, maybe I'm gonna go back on it because here's what I'll say and here's what we've talked about as a preview of that last series against Oakland. That's a team that's been playing good baseball. Like Shay Langolier has felt like he gotta hit in every single bat in this series. There was guys, JJ Blue Day with the Grand Slam. He's had a good year. They have hitters that are having better seasons than guys on the Mets for sure. So there's definitely some good pieces in Oakland. That's a rebuild where it's clearly not finished yet but it's closer than what the Marlins are doing, which is taking. The Marlins are taking this season. Now are the A's going for it? Not necessarily but they have been making trades over the last couple of years to acquire talent. Like JJ Blue Day came in the AJ puck trade. Shay Langolier's came in. So one of their trades with the Braves, right? Is it the Matt Olson trade? You know, they've been accumulating guys and they're good young players who are starting their big lead careers and they're playing for themselves each day. If nothing else and probably for each other a little bit, they'd be rallying around this idea of the last season in Oakland. They're not a horrible team. They're record-torable, but they're not a horrible team. The Marlins are a horrible team. Okay, there's the distinction between these two teams, even if the record's only like seven games apart. Doesn't matter to me. The Marlins are a bad team that just got worse. Okay, because they traded off Jaz Chisholm. That was one of the at bats in the lineup where you were playing the Marlins the last time when you circle, like, okay, that's a tough guy to go up against. Josh Bell's gone, another professional hitter. Jake Berger has been red hot. So you got to watch out for him and Xavier Edwards also atop the lineup has been, I don't think a qualified to be able to hit for a batting title, but since he's been up, he has been leading the league in batting. So they do have a couple of bats in that lineup, but you got to neutralize them and you got to win this series at home and really I feel like you got to sweep this series at home because you can't give away these games when you're getting an opportunity, your last opportunity to beat up on a bad Marlins team, it doesn't get any easier next week. The Baltimore Orioles come into town for three. That's a really good baseball team, a team that's better than the Mets. And then they go on the road and face another team that's probably better than them and the Padres for four. Now the Mets can get hot at any time. And as much as we looked at this week as the opportunity to win games, the Mets could surprise us next week. The Mets could beat the Orioles and beat the Padres and you'll be shot when they end up winning five games in a week against those two teams. It could happen, but this was an opportunity this week to stack some games before you got to that point. And as we talked about on yesterday's show, the Braves aren't going to win around for you, okay? There's other teams that could always get into the race, but the Diamondbacks and the Padres certainly are waiting around for you and it doesn't feel like the Braves will either. Let me do another quick score check. Still to nothing, middle of the six. So hopefully the Giants can hold on for nine more outs and today's loss feels a little bit better, but not really because you could have gained a game. You got to gain some games this weekend and the Braves, they're going to Anaheim. Are they going to have as much struggles as the Mets did? Hopefully, we'll see. In this series, on Friday night, Roger Munoz is going up against Chamanaya. And Manaya had a really bad start the last time. He's got to be the stopper. He's got to find a way to get the Mets right back on track and the Marlins are a team that he should carve against. And considering the amount of work the bullpen needed to get through this game on Thursday today, Chamanaya needs to go deep in this game, at least sixth inning. So that's going to be the first step for this weekend. Manaya's got to help reset that bullpen. You have a pitcher going for the Marlins. It's got an ERA well over five. Beat up on him, get the series off to a good track. Game two is a little bit tougher as I'm looking at the matchups. Yeah, Max Meyer going for the Marlins. Now he's got an ERA of 5-2-0, but I wouldn't look at that. This kid's nasty, okay? And he's had a very strange season because he started off the year great. He opened up, I believe in their opening day rotation. And across his first three starts, he had a 2.12 ERA and he won two of his three starts. Looked like a guy who could be the ace of the Marlins this year and because they're out of it and they were able to manipulate a service time, oh and also hold his innings back. They sent him down to the minor leagues and pretty much just had him wasting away there all year. They've called him back. He's had some rough starts since coming back and his four starts after April. He's given up at least three runs each outing. He had one start in July, three starts in August. His August ERA is 8.22. So he has not been pitching well since coming back, but this guy's due because I'm telling you, earlier this season, he was lights out. He's a top prospect for a reason. That's not going to be an easy game on Saturday. So the onus here is on your top two pitchers, Shyam and I on Luis Severino because SEV he's going on Saturday. So really carry you to a series victory to start things off. Those are your two guys, right? That and David Peterson now, but your horses are supposed to be benign in Severino. And we'll see. And I honestly think this season, when it's all said and done, it might just come down to the Mets didn't have enough pitching to beat out a team like the Braves. And if that's the case, we just got to accept that because this was not a year where the Mets were loading up on the type of pitching that can win you a world series. And it was always going to be tough, tough to get all the way through the marathon of the season. But it does feel like there's just been some wasted opportunities on all fronts over the last couple of weeks. And I guess that's just what happens when a 500 baseball team regresses back to the mean. Not to get the Mets are better than that, but they're three games over right now. And where are they going to finish this season? And if they finished this season at 84, 78, and they were a little bit better than 500, they probably overachieved in some respects, probably underachieved in others. You can't waste this series against the Marlins. And I will say to close out the series on Sunday to give you the last pitching match up, you've got Valenti Peloso, who I've never heard, of I'll be honest, pitching to a 2-2-8 ERA in five starts. So that, honestly, that scares me more than Max Mayer, because in even less of a named guy, we're in number 83, 24 years old. I mean, come on, that's always the script, right? I can envision how this series is gonna go horribly wrong this weekend, potentially. And I don't want that to ruin my weekend, at least I'm getting out of town. So it won't be as consumed by it. Paul Blackburn's gonna go against Peloso. Peloso, as I say, Peloso, Valenti Peloso. We'll see if Blackburn can bounce back after his rough start against the A's. This is a weekend where the Mets have to go and beat up on our Marlins team, that again, I'll say it one last time to close the show, 31 games under 500. Beat the Marlins this weekend, that's simple. I appreciate all of you who tuned into the live stream, those of you who will watch it, play back on YouTube, as well as you who are listening on the audio side. Make sure you follow, rate, and review wherever you get your podcasts. Even though I'm going out of tab visiting some friends, I will still be putting out audio-only shows that will hit YouTube and your podcast feed. So make sure you're following them both of those places. If you are watching on YouTube, please subscribe. I want to get to 10,000 subs by the end of the season. So I appreciate all of you who do that. If you want to be locked on Mets insider, go to subtext.com/lockedonmetz. You can follow me on @XFinklestindRyan, follow the show at @LactonMetz. Thank you for making Lacton Metz. 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