The Mets have borrowed much from their Brooklyn Dodgers ancestors, but after yesterday’s 4-1, 10-inning defeat to the Braves, the team that plays in a ballpark with a rotunda named for Jackie Robinson and evokes memories of Ebbets Field can be excused for appropriating the motto, “Wait ’til Next Year.”
As the saying went in Flatbush until the glorious year of 1955, wait ’til next year, when the Mets just might be better equipped to win such a game against an opponent with the best record in the majors.
And wait until next year, when baseball will feature an expanded system of video review that, if available yesterday, might well have saved the Mets from the home run Greg Burke served up to Chris Johnson with two on and two out in the 10th inning, one batter after Freddie Freeman was ruled safe at first by umpire Jerry Layne on a comebacker to Scott Rice.
This was no Jim Joyce/Armando Galarraga fiasco; no clear-cut mistake. Still, it appeared as if the throw to first by Rice, who scrambled behind the mound to recover the grounder after an initial muff, beat Freeman by an eyelash.
Next year, presumably, we’ll know whether that appearance was deceiving or whether the umpire’s eyes deceived him.
“Obviously if we were playing [this game] next year, we wouldn’t be in that situation,” said starting pitcher Jon Niese, who yielded one run while striking out nine over seven innings. “That’s the beauty of replay, and how necessary it is.
“I’m on board with it. Right now, sometimes we get calls that we shouldn’t and sometimes we don’t. [Replay] will level the playing fieldand make every game fair.”
Manager Terry Collins left the dugout to contest the call. For all the good that did, he might as well have waved a white flag. This same game next year, he could have remained in the dugout to throw a flag on the field to challenge the call.
“It’s funny, when I went to the mound [for the pitching change], the first thing Justin Turner said was, ‘Next year we’ll find out if the call was right.’
“Yeah,” Collins told the shortstop, “but that doesn’t help us now.”
The Mets could have done more to help themselves yesterday, as Collins — who was ejected when he rushed onto the field in support of Daniel Murphy, who also was tossed for mouthing off to Layne following the homer — said.
“We had chances,” said the manager, whose team left the bases loaded in the ninth when Juan Lagares bounced into a force. “[The Braves] are really good.”
“You can’t get deep in a game with them. They’re tough to match [out of the bullpen.]”
The Mets have matched up pretty darn well with the Braves thus far, splitting 16 games with three remaining on the road against an Atlanta team whose 77-49 record is baseball’s best. They’ve also inflicted unintentional physical damage on the runaway NL East leaders, who can be excused for believing next year might be too soon for their next visit to Queens.
After losing right-hander Tim Hudson for the season with a broken ankle from a collision at first base with Eric Young Jr. on July 24, Jason Heyward yesterday was struck on the jaw by an errant Niese fastball in the sixth inning. The right fielder, who remained down on his back for several minutes, was escorted off the field by the Braves’ trainer before going to a hospital for X-rays.
He suffered a fractured jaw and will be out 4-6 weeks.
“It was scary, to be honest,” catcher John Buck said. “He was spitting blood.”
The Mets are 17-17 after the All-Star break, even without David Wright since Aug. 2 and Bobby Parnell since July 30.
“I’m very encouraged,” Collins said. “I’m very proud of the way the guys have hung in all year.
“To be honest, they’re having some fun. Maybe not today, but they know there’s light at the end of the tunnel.”
That light is a signal of progress. Just as is the adoption of video review. The Mets aren’t the only ones waiting ’til next year.