Quick Recap: Mets 5, Marlins 1 - Bay Slams Buehrle

Jason Bay might be useful after all. At least against left-handers. He has an OPS over .800 against them over the last three years, and he blasted a grand slam the other way off of Mark Buehrle in Sunday's game. Since we're on the topic, that's also a good way to get some use out of him without allowing him to vest that final year of the contract.

But no, the point is, Bay had a nice moment. And collected another hit later. Twitter, and our game thread, went nuts. Adam Rubin had to assure people that it wasn't a typo. Deadspin said Bay trolled the internet. There was the hilarity, and the jumping around, and the jokes.

His batting average this year is still below .165. That's how bad he has been. Then again, if he can OPS over .800 against lefties, he might as well be on next year's opening day roster as the backup/platoon left fielder. He's a sunk cost, yes, but he could still provide non-zero value.

We knew it was over when...

Jason Bay hit a grand slam in the first inning. Well, okay, probably more when Chris Young fanned Giancarlo Stanton for the second time in the bottom of the third inning. You know, we had to be sure it wasn't going to be one of those 9-7 nailbiters.

What else?

• The team played hard in the field, with Jason Bay going all out on a dive into the corner, Justin Turner running into center field for a popup, and lots of efforting all around. Then again, Bay didn't get the ball, neither did Turner, and the defense wasn't really all that much better than usual.
  
• Andres Torres had two hits. He also got doubled off of second base on a lineout. Both hits were from the right side, and he continues to be bad from left side -- he flied out from the left side against Carlos Zambrano (who was doing a Ryan Dempster glove flip) in the ninth inning.
  
• Chris Young is the opposite of Matt Harvey in terms of age and stuff. He still kept the Marlins off balance and collected three strikeouts against a walk and a five hits in five innings. Useful veteran.
• Mets pitching figured something out about Giancarlo Stanton in this series. Gary Cohen thought it was high fastballs, but whatever it wast, it worked: Giancarlo went two for 12 with seven strikeouts and no walks against Mets pitching.
• Some fan whistled all game. Anybody watching with the sound on was dreaming up torture techniques by the seventh inning.
  
• Josh Edgin and Jon Rauch were good again, and they are starting to look like a competent part of a late-game approach that includes Bobby Parnell. Frank Francisco? Got lucky with a comebacker that ricocheted to a fielder, got Greg Dobbs and Donovan Solano, both bench players on a good major league team, to fly out. Needs more information.

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by MetsFan4Decades; that effort in the game thread embiggens us all.