Justin Upton’s home run caps wild Padres comeback at rain-soaked Citi Field
All-Star outfielder Justin Upton can be had if the price is right. The San Diego Padres have made as much very clear with the trade deadline looming on Friday afternoon. He could even be had by the New York Mets if they were so inclined to take the plunge and take on the remainder of his $14.5 million salary.
That doesn’t seem likely as of Thursday evening, and even if it did, it would be far too late to overturn the second significant gut punch Mets fans have received since Wednesday night.
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With the rains pouring down on Citi Field on Thursday afternoon, the Mets were one out from victory when the umpires were forced to the call for a delay. When play resumed 45 minutes later, the Mets were still that one out away from victory, and closer Jeurys Familia was still the man on the hill. Then the chaos began. After a pair of singles from Derek Norris and Matt Kemp, Justin Upton launched a three-run home run that stunned the crowd and gave San Diego an 8-7 lead.
Then the rains intensified again, or perhaps those were Mets tears from heaven. Either way, the tarp was brought back out, and the Mets were forced to sit around for nearly three hours and digest what had just happened.
Like the Citi Field grounds crew, they didn’t respond well.
Craig Kimbrel made quick work of them in the ninth inning to complete the improbable comeback.
Amazin’ indeed.
Aside from deflating, the only word that could aptly describe the Mets 24-hour period beginning around 7:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday evening and ending the same time on Thursday would be chaos.
Pure, unadulterated, chaos.
Think about all of the absurdity they were able to squeeze into that relatively short amount of time. There was the trade with Milwaukee that would that would have brought Carlos Gomez back to the organization, but reportedly crumbled because the Mets either balked at Gomez’s medical history or the financial obligations required of them. You can decide which was more likely.
There was the on-field madness surrounding Wilmer Flores, who was overcome by emotions after learning in the middle of Wednesday’s game that he was headed to Milwaukee if and when said Gomez became official. It didn’t, and manager Terry Collins was left to explain why Flores was forced to play through tears.
And then there was Thursday afternoon’s game against the San Diego, which may go down as the Mets worst loss of the entire season. A six-run seventh-inning lead dissolves after two swings — a Derek Norris grand slam and the Justin Upton game-winner.
We won’t call those 24 hours a season killer, but these events will certainly be a test of the Mets resolve and will shine even an brighter spotlight on their next 24 hours.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
