Baseball Review // Record-Journal Expos, 6 Middletown Mets, 15 June 9th, 2025 Buzzy Levin Field, Middletown CT (GHTBL)

Additional photos can be found in an album on Facebook here ::: 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1777540782976135&type=3

Official box score ::: https://ghtbl.org/event/record-journal-expos-middletown-mets-2 

Monday was a little bit cold and there was some light rain as I made the drive to Middletown.  I really thought that by the time I had made it to Buzzy Levin Field, there would be no one there and the game would be postponed due to the weather.   I was surprised to see not only this game starting, but at another field there was a different game with, I believe, children and the way they were toughing it out in the weather when I was ready to stay home really says a lot about me.

The Record-Journal Expos were coming off a loss Friday night to the East Hartford Jets (another questionable weather night) and this game against the Middletown Mets very much felt like the game the Expos had in Wethersfield against M&T only with more runs being scored.   In the first inning with no outs, Tristan Ciarlo doubled in two runs.  Dante LaRosa would eventually double in Ciarlo, making it a 3-0 game right away.  

Rory Mayer shut down the Middletown Mets in the first inning with his pitching.  The top of the second saw Tyler Casey load the bases and then when Tristan Ciarlo was issued a walk, the fourth run scored for the Expos, making it a 4-0 game with that early lead.

Then the Mets bats exploded and the Expos began to sink.  In the bottom of the third, with one out the bases were loaded completely on walks.  A hit up the middle by Jaden Hendricks scores one run with one out and it's 4-1.   A sac fly to right field- the old SF to RF- makes it two outs and 4-2.  The bases become loaded again and a run walks in to make it 4-3.  With the bases loaded, Kyle "Pile It On" Pileski hits a grand slam and the Mets go up 7-4 just like that.

The top of the third for the Expos was three up, three down.  This was the type of game that felt like it had been going on forever.  It just felt like we were in the tenth inning when we were in the fourth.  In the bottom of the third with bases loaded, a ground out to first brought in a run.  A wild pitch brought in another run and before the inning would end the Mets were up 10-4.  It was ony the third inning but it felt like the game was over.  

This game just kept going where the Mets would score and the Expos would have trouble getting out of the inning defensively and offensvely the Expos were mostly getting shut down.  There were more than a few plays where the Expos, defensively, had the ball and either just dropped it or threw it away.  This felt like maybe a matter of the ball being wet and slippery given the weather, but I'm not sure because the Mets weren't having the same problems.  

I will say that after the Kyle Pileski grand slam, I walked out to deep center field to retrieve the ball.  While out there, my very old and beat up checkered Vans slip on got both wet and covered in grass, as they had recently mowed.  I went to the sidewalk to knock off the grass and eventually my sneakers felt like they were drying.  Then I needed to change my camera battery and realized I only had two of my three batteries.  So I walked back out to center field again, ultimately found the battery but my feet were once again wet, cold and grass covered.

While my new sneakers are currently shipping and should arrive by Saturday, the Expos are in a bit of a funk while the Middletown Mets are just having the best season of their franchise thus far.  It's really not bad to lose to the first place team when they just seem to be *that* good this season, but then the Expos are slated to welcome the Rainbow Graphics to Ceppa Field on Tuesday night.  The Graphics currently sit in second place, with a 4-2 record (the Mets are 5-1) so we shall see how this game goes but hope for the best.