Granderson, Mets walk-off Dodgers

Mets teammates mob Curtis Granderson after his ninth inning walk-off home run. Courtesy of Al Bello (Getty Images)

The Mets welcomed the Dodgers into town this weekend for a three game series.  It is a special Memorial Day weekend as the Mets are honoring the 1986 Mets on the 30th anniversary of their dramatic World Series win over the Red Sox.  While the big ceremony takes place on Saturday night, the Mets got some early fireworks going on Friday night in the form of a ninth inning walk-off home run by Curtis Granderson.

The Mets got off to a fast start.  In the bottom of the first with Asdrubal Cabrera and Yoenis Cespedes on base, Neil Walker doubled into the left field corner to score Cabrera.  Juan Lageres followed with a single into centerfield that scored Cespedes and put the Mets up 2-0.  

After a Chase Utley sacrifice fly in the third put the Dodgers on the board, the Mets answered in the fourth.  David Wright homered for the third straight game.  His solo shot into centerfield put the Mets up 4-1.  In the fifth, Juan Lageres homered into right field to give the Mets the commanding 5-1 lead.  

Mets starting pitcher, Jacob deGrom had a solid start.  He went seven innings allowing just one run on three hits, striking out seven and walking three batters.

"I feel closer.  There's still some work, but this is a step in the right direction," deGrom said.  "I didn't give up as many hard hit balls tonight; there were a couple hit at Cabrera but their base hits, none of those were really hit hard.  So I think that's a step in the right direction."

Jeurys Familia went out in the ninth inning to finish the game, though it wasn't originally a save situation.  He loaded the bases and allowed a walk to Yasmini Grandal that cut their lead to just three with Utley due up.  Utley was booed the sellout Citi Field crowd the entire night.  Fans were still bitter about his controversial slide that injured Ruben Tejada last October.  

Utley made those boos even louder and silenced the crowd in the process.  He delivered a clutch base hit into right field to score three runs and tie the game up at 5.

"You're always shocked when Jeurys doesn't come in and slam the door, but look, we had a chance to win the last game and we did it.  We'll take it and get ready for tomorrow," said Terry Collins.  

In the bottom of the ninth, Granderson made the crowd erupt again as he took the second pitch of the at-bat into the right field seats for a walk-off home run to give the Mets the 6-5 win over the Dodgers.

Granderson said the fans and the atmosphere in the ballpark all weekend with the tributes to 86' will benefit with the motivation.

"The fans did a good job of keeping us motivated.  We had a packed house here for the 86' weekend, which is definitely good," said Granderson.  

With the win and the Nationals losing 6-2 to the Cardinals, the Mets are now tied with the Nats for first place in the NL East. Game two will take place tonight at 7:15 and prior to the game the Mets will honor the 1986 team with a special pregame ceremony.  Then Noah Syndergaard will take the mound looking for another stellar start.  

Mets sweep Brewers

Noah Syndergaard has been named NL Player of the Week for May 16-22. Courtesy of Mitchell Clayton/Getty Images

Noah Syndergaard was electric on the mound and Michael Conforto and Asdrubal Cabrera provided the offensive support as the Mets swept the Brewers at Citi Field on Sunday afternoon 3-1.  The win gives New York some much needed momentum as they head to Washington for a crucial and exciting three game series against the first place Nationals.  

Trailing 1-0 entering the bottom of the first, Conforto came through with a home run to tie the game, a solo shot to right-center.  Conforto hasn't had his best month, hitting just .194, however over the last seven days he's batted .300 with three home runs.  

"I think during my rough stretch, my swings were okay, but my decisions weren't good," said Conforto.  "I took a look at it, and I was getting in my own way by swinging at pitches out of the zone.  

In the bottom of the fourth, Conforto led off by drawing a walk.  Yoenis Cespedes followed with a blooper to shallow left field.  Ryan Braun slid attempting to catch or stop it and the ball went past him allowing Cespedes to take second base. Instead of a single or pop out.  Two batters later, Cabrera sent them home with a two-run single into right field.

Syndergaard dominated on the mound.  He went seven innings, allowed only one run on six hits while striking out 11.  His efforts both in this start and his previous start on Tuesday night against Washington (which he struck out 10) helped earn him the NL Player of the Week.  

"The growth that I've had in the span of one year has been night and day.  I have the ability to go out there and have the confidence to throw any pitch at any given time," said Syndergaard.

The sweep over the Brewers was a good response for the Mets after a horrible performance in the previous series against their division rivals the Nats.  

"We spent last year doing the same thing.  We'd have a tough series and everybody would be writing us off, and we'd bounce back and play good," said Mets manager Terry Collins.  

The sweep pulls the Mets within a game and a half of Washington as these teams will meet starting tonight in DC.  Bartolo Colon gets the start for the Mets up against Gio Gonzalez.  

Captain Clutch: David Wright comes through with walk-off base hit

Mets teammates mob David Wright following his walk-off base hit. Courtesy of Elsa/Getty Images

The Mets were hoping to create some momentum after a quality win on Friday night to snap a two game losing skid and a slump that saw them drop six of seven prior to that win.  On Saturday afternoon the Mets and Brewers continued their three game weekend series.  Once again the Mets had to rally and they did, this time with a 5-4 victory.

Jacob deGrom took the ball for New York.  Despite striking out seven batters he went five innings allowing five runs on four hits.  The Mets fell took a 1-0 lead when Curtis Granderson led off with a home run on the second pitch of the at-bat.  The lead was short-lived as the Brewers scored twice in both the second and fourth innings.  The Mets, for the second day in a row, had to play catch-up.  Ramon Flores hit his first home run of his career, a two run shot, in the second.  Flores got an RBI groundout in the fourth while Jonathan Villar had an RBI single.

In the bottom of the fourth, trailing by three runs, the Mets began their comeback.  Yoenis Cespedes got on base with a single.  Two batters later, Asdrubal Cabrera drove him in.  Trailing by two runs in the bottom of the sixth, Michael Conforto drew a walk and Cespedes hit a two run homer that landed just inside the left field corner near the foul pole.  Citi Field erupted.  It was a brand new ballgame.

The bottom of the ninth started out with Eric Campbell leading off with a single.  Kevin Plawecki followed with a walk.  Matt Reyonolds hit a sacrifice bunt to move the runners over to second and third to bring up Granderson.  Brewers reliever Michael Blazek decided to intentionally walk him to load the bases which brought David Wright to the plate.

Wright has struggled all season long and he had a chance to come up clutch and show why he is one of the best franchise players of all time.  Wright worked a 3-0 count before lining a single to right=center to score Campbell and send the fans home happy.

"It's nice to be able to contribute to  a win.  These guys have picked me up so much this year that it's nice to be able to return the favor, do something positive to allow us to celebrate in here after the game," said Wright.

This afternoon the Mets and Brewers will conclude the three game weekend series in Flushing.  Chase Anderson will take the ball for the Brewers while the Mets will counter with their top pithcer Noah Syndergaard.  First pitch is at 1:10.

Mets rebound with win over Brewers

Entering Friday night's game at Citi Field the Mets have dropped six of their last seven including two of three to the Nationals.  The Mets looked to bounce back Friday night after Matt Harvey's worst outing of his career.  They got it with a 3-2 win to open their three game series.

Steven Matz took the mound for New York and pitched seven solid innings to win his sixth start in a row.  He got off to a rough start surrendering a two run homer to Chris Carter in the first inning however, he retired 15 consecutive batters after that as he went seven innings with nine strikeouts and no walks.

The Mets got on the board in the second inning with an RBI groundout by Rene Rivera.  Still trailing 2-1 in the sixth inning the Mets rallied.  Asdrubal Cabrera singled to lead off the frame.  Michael Conforto followed that up with a two run shot into left field to give the Mets a 3-2 lead they would not squander.

Game two of the three game set is today with a 4:10 first pitch from Citi Field.  Jacob deGrom will take the ball for the Mets while Zach Davies will pitch for the Brewers

Washington Redskins Wild Card Preview

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For the second time in four years, 2012 being the last, the Washington Redskins will host a playoff game at FedEx Field.  Unlike last time, which ended in heartbreak, the Redskins are determined to win in front of their passionate home crowd. 

One year ago nobody thought this would be possible as they finished in last place in the NFC East with a 4-12 record.  If that wasn't bad enough, the team won only seven games combined between the last two seasons.  The Redskins entered the season with question marks, starting with the man under center.  Quarterback Robert Griffin III or RGIII won the city over in 2012 with an incredible rookie season.  Since the playoff game against the Seahawks, which he injured his ankle, he was never the same.  Because of that, head coach Jay Gruden elected to bench Griffin and start Kirk Cousins.  A lot of media and fans questioned the move while others supported it but it took a great amount of patience. 

While it was a roller coaster to start the season, the Redskins did win some impressive games.  In particular, the comeback win over the Eagles in Week 4 was exciting but that didn't compare to what unfolded a few weeks later.  The Redskins were at home facing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and I apologize to my fellow readers for these next few sentences and paragraphs.  While I did write these from a journalist perspective, I also am a big fan.  What I am basically trying to say is, that Tampa Bay game was the one that completely sold me on having Kirk Cousins as the starter. 

Leading into that game, Cousins threw 24 career touchdowns to go along with 27 interceptions.  The Redskins were down 24-0 at the half.  In the second half, Cousins and the Redskins came all the way back to win 31-30.  On his way to the locker room, Cousins turned to reporters and shouted out "You like that?!"  It got a lot of people mocking him and a lot of my friends that hate the Redskins told me that he was too cocky for doing that and that the team wasn't going anywhere.  I disagreed.  I thought this was going to somehow turn into a rallying cry, and it did.  

Since that game, Cousins has thrown 23 touchdowns and just three interceptions.  Cousins also leads the league in completion percentage and passer rating in the second half of the season.  

This Sunday the Redskins face a struggling Green Bay Packers team.  After starting their season 6-0, they have lost six of their last 10 games including two in a row.  Last week at home, they fell to the Vikings 20-13 which set up the road contest with the Redskins.  

WIth the way Kirk Cousins has played lately as well as the hot streak Washington has winning four in a row, I think they can continue their momentum in the playoffs.  The playoffs are a whole different animal but I think this Redskins team is one of the most motivated teams we have ever seen.  While teams of the past have had talent, I have never seen a team with this much chemistry and I have been following the Redskins for 13 years.  My prediction is that the Redskins will win 31-24. 

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Redskins beat Cowboys, Packers await in Wild Card

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The Redskins secured the division and home field for the first round of the playoffs yet still had one more regular season game against their arch rival Dallas Cowboys.  While nothing was to be gained in this meaningless game between the rivals, the Redskins were hoping for a win for momentum heading into the playoffs.  They got it with a 34-23 win.

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The Redskins played their starters in the first quarter and quarterback Kirk Cousins had a field day with three touchdown passes on three straight drives.  His first was a five-yarder to Ryan Grant.  The second came on a deep ball to Pierre Garcon 39 yards.  His third was a short three yard pass to Jamison Crowder to put the Redskins up 21-0.

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On his 12th completion, Cousins set the single-season record for most passing yards by a Redskins quarterback with 4,166 yards.  He finished the afternoon 12 of 15 for 176 yards to go along with the three touchdowns.  Jordan Reed also earned his place in the Redskins record books as he became the new leader of receptions by a tight end with 87.

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Colt McCoy took over for the rest of the game.  His lone touchdown pass was a beautiful 71 yard throw to Rashad Ross.  The Redskins 34-23 win was the cherry on top for a turnaround year that saw the Skins win more than double their win total.  The Redskins finished with a 9-7 record and winners of four straight games.  It is also their first division title and trip to the playoffs since 2012.  The Redskins will host the Packers this Sunday at 4:40 p.m. from FedEx Field.  Tickets for that game sold out this morning in 13 minutes.

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Beasts of the east

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You like that?!

What started as a comment Kirk Cousins yelled out loud at reporters has become the words the define the Redskins season.  After going 3-13 two years ago and 4-12 the next year, the Washington Redskins are your 2015 NFC East division champions.  Washington clinched it last night in Philadelphia over the Eagles by the final score of 38-24.

After the Eagles took a 7-0 lead to start the game the Skins answered when quarterback Kirk Cousins threw a 22 yard touchdown strike to tight end Jordan Reed.  Reed continued his hot streak where in the last two weeks heading into the last night's game, he led all NFL tight ends with 16 receptions, 204 yards, and three touchdowns.  The Redskins missed the extra point.  Washington took the lead over a minute left in the first quarter on another touchdown by Reed.  Cousins completed a short pass to him in the middle for a 13-6 lead.  The teams traded field goals in the second quarter and the first half ended with the score, 16-10 Redskins.  Kirk Cousins made a mental mistake when he drove the team down inside the 10 with five seconds left.  While he should have spiked the ball to stop the clock and kick the field goal, he took a knee instead.  Was it costly?

Not at all.  In the second half the Redskins kept rolling.  7:03 left in the third, Cousins found Chris Thompson in the end zone to put the Skins up 23-10.  The Eagles closed the gap to 23-17 on a Demarco Murray touchdown run.  On the next Philadelphia possession, the Redskins defense came up big.  Quarterback Sam Bradford fumbled the ball and DeAngelo Hall picked it up and took it in for a touchdown.  The play was almost reminiscent of Sean Taylor, who did that 10 years ago against the same team in the same stadium.

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In the fourth quarter, Cousins found Pierre Garcon and Washington converted a two-point conversion when Cousins found Jamison Crowder.  It sealed the 38-24 victory and the division.  The Redskins players were celebrating on the field and in the locker room.  The best celebration came when Kirk Cousins and Redskins team president Bruce Allen embraced and were shouting, "you like that?"

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There were even a ton of Redskins fans waiting in Ashburn, Virginia at Redskins Park greeting the team when they arrived home around 3 a.m.  The win locks in a home game for the Redskins in the first round of the playoffs.  Before that happens the Skins have one more game left at Dallas against the Cowboys.  Kickoff is at 1:00 this Sunday.

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