“We’re still in the race”.
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Mets manger Terry Collins said Murphy is taking advantage of mistakes.
“You know, he’s pumped up to play against us and show us we made a mistake”, Collins said. However, they have certainly met some adversities and as the All Star break is impending, the Mets find themselves in a better position than previous year in terms of standings. We’re in position to make a run in the second half.
When it comes to trying to put Daniel Murphy’s first half of the season into context, even his Washington Nationals teammates are resorting to answering a question with a question. The Mets will be heading into the All-Star break trailing the Nationals by six games in the NL East, as they have a 47-41 record. He said, it was a disappointing end to the homestand losing three-of -four to the division leaders and in between sweeping those four games from the Cubs. He is 8-1 with a 1.65 ERA in 13 career starts at Citi Field.Tanner Roark threw 2 1/3 ideal innings in his first relief appearance of the season before Jonathan Papelbon earned his 19th save with a one-hit ninth.Jose Reyes hit two homers, including a blast leading off the first, for the Mets.Left-hander Steven Matz (7-5) remained winless in his last eight starts after allowing three runs on six hits and four walks while striking out five. Matz later allowed an RBI single to Wilson Ramos in the third.
Steven Matz overcame a shaky start to allow three runs over seven innings. Jose Reyes had solo homers against Gio Gonzalez in each of his opening two at-bats to pull the Mets within 2-1 and then 3-2. Roark took over from there and tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings to bridge the Nats to the ninth where Jonathan Papelbon earned his 19th save of the year. NY added All-Star right-hander Noah Syndergaard and slugger Yoenis Cespedes to its injury list on Friday and did not have enough without Cespedes in the lineup to make a dent in Nationals star Max Scherzer during Saturday’s 6-1 loss.
“I don’t think I would have thought I’d be doing what I’m doing”, Murphy responded, “so yeah, I’d say I’m surprised”.
The second half commences Friday in Philadelphia, and the Mets can only hope for a repeat of last year’s drive to the pennant.
“Dan Murphy is a student of hitting”, Collins said. “I’ve just got to take a step back and really evaluate what my routine has been”. Only four teams since 1995 have overcome first-half deficits larger than five games, however, to win their division: the 2003 and 2006 Minnesota Twins, the 2012 Oakland A’s, and the 2015 Texas Rangers.
“I don’t think it’s just against us”, Matz said.
Cespedes had been scheduled to start in left field for the NL All-Star team, but will skip the game with the injury. He also did not play Saturday.
Reyes deep, twice: Jose Reyes recorded his first two-homer game since September 27, 2011, by hitting a pair off Gio Gonzalez. That was the second-to-last game of Reyes’ original tenure with the Mets. “Murphy is learning how to hit the ball out of the ballpark”.
Who he’s seeing right now is pretty good. They were good pitches to hit.
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Candace Parker hit four 3-pointers and finished with 26 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists to help the Los Angeles Sparks beat the Washington Mystics 93-82 Sunday night. He plans to work out three of the four days during the All-Star break.
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“I feel like I’m starting to get in a groove”.
