Let’s recap today’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
Mets 1
Reds 0
W: D. Matsuzaka (3-3)
L: M. Latos (14-7)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–Mat Latos, after having a run of starts that were alarming for a variety of reasons, was on today. Seven strikeouts and one run in seven innings. That’ll do.
–Chapman.
NEGATIVES
–Offense? Hello? Offense?
NOT-SO-RANDOM THOUGHTS
— This was the eighth time Mat Latos gave up 2 or fewer earned runs and did not get the win. He’s had some hard luck this year.
–Joey Votto is being very kind to Pete Rose. He’s really holding off on reaching base for the 311th time.
–Have to see what the Pirates do tonight, but it’s looking like the Reds are likely to be the second wildcard. Whatever.
–I’m going to be honest, after last night’s loss, I’m in “calm before the storm” mode. The Reds are going to be a wildcard. I’d rather them play in Cincy, but with one game, it hardly matters. I want a deep playoff run, and I’m saving my energy for that. I don’t believe in momentum; there have been plenty of teams who have scuffled before the playoffs and then gone on a run and plenty of teams who were winning everything and got their behinds kicked in the first round. The playoffs are what matter now.