By Joe Rini
I had credentials for tonight’s Mets game and it was hot during the day. It was so hot today, I drove to Citi Field in my T-shirt while my green and white checked short-sleeved shirt rode shotgun in the passenger seat.
I arrived at the ballpark, attended Terry Collins and Sandy Alderson’s pregame press conferences but when I walked over to the field, the batting cage was set up but no Mets were taking swings. The few Mets on the field initially were in shorts as Jacob deGrom ran windsprints in the outfield and Tim Teufel chatted with the conditioning coach. I asked Teufel what time the Mets got in this morning from St. Louis and he said, “Four o’clock.” Okay, so not only were the Mets too hot to take batting practice, they were too tired, too.
Hmm, I thought, there are going to be some tired swings by the Mets tonight, on this the 26th of the dog days of August. I wouldn’t be surprised if they have trouble scoring runs.
So, of course, Reyes leads off the first inning with a home run for the hot and tired Mets and Cabrera follows with another home run one batter later. Not only are the Mets up 2-0 two batters into the game but they’ve opened a game with home runs by their number 1 and 2 hitters for only the second time in team history.
As the game goes on, Flores hits a grand slam, Cabrera hits his second home run of the game, and Bartolo Colon doubles AND singles – his first two hit game since 2002 (this is 2016, so that is a long time between two hit nights).
As this game enters the bottom of the eighth inning, the bats of the hot and tired Mets lead the Phillies 9-4. Sleep, batting practice, and comfort must be overrated.