162

Yesterday was the Mets last game of the regular season and unfortunately the entire season. The game was a microcosm of the whole season's highs and lows.

The Braves scored first. The Mets pulled ahead in the bottom of the first 3-1. The Braves tied it up in the fourth. Joe Panik homered for the Mets in the eighth. Adeiny Hechavarria responded in the top of the ninth; he hit his second homer in the top of the 11th. I'm sure he was happy to get some kind of revenge against the Mets who released him earlier this season. This was immediately followed by another homer by Adam Duvall. The score was 6-4 in the middle of the 11th.

I was wondering why I had invested so much time in this game. How could Noah Syndergaard be so good and so bad simultaneously? How bad could the Mets bullpen be? I didn't want to end the season on a bad note. Even with a loss, the Mets would still win the series. But it was too little, too late: meaningless.

On to the bottom of the 11th a single, an out, a single, an out. Dominic Smith came to the plate for his first at bat in two months. On the second pitch, he hit a three-run walk-off homer.

My time watching the game paid off. I could be happy with the end of the game: a walk off homer, a series sweep, a record 10 games over .500.

Wait until next year.