I was about to sit down to recap the Cincinnati weekend for the Mets and preview the Toronto series and then I was thinking about whether I should write about Jets in some fashion and then I realized…

A big Mets game?

A big Jets game? (I mean, different levels of big, but still - season opener, Aaron Rodgers debut take two…)

Those are the perfect conditions for a live blog.

So here we go.

4:40pm: The news to start the day wasn’t so great. I was looking forward to seeing Paul Blackburn return from the IL tonight in Toronto and instead we’re going to get a Tylor Megill start. I’m done hoping for the best for Megill. He’s has his opportunities to turn the kind of corner David Peterson has turned, and I don’t think it’s going to happen. I bet we start seeing the Mets just go to him for 3-to-4 innings and then calling it a day. I was a little surprised Jose Butto didn’t come into yesterday’s game late. I wonder if this is why - maybe the Mets had an inkling of an idea that Megill would be starting today and they wanted to get maximum length out of Butto. Three innings from Megill, three innings from Butto? And hopefully nothing is seriously wrong with Blackburn.

4:50pm: Oh man. I just saw that Ed Kranepool passed away. That’s really sad. I never watched him play - for those who don’t know my Mets conscious memory starts in about 1985 - but he was THE Met we always heard about. Different than The Franchise, Tom Seaver - Ed Kranepool was the 18-year-old on the 1962 Mets (nope, 17, according to Baseball Reference) and played the entirety of his 18 year career with the Mets. Sad to see so many of the 1969 World Series champions are now gone.

5:10pm: Oh man, James Earl Jones too. Baseball adjacent because of ‘Field of Dreams.’ Kind of an ominous start to this day. I’m a little bummed out now.

6:30pm: There was a time when I would wait to have dinner until the Jets game and probably have a couple of beers then too. Those days are behind me. Now it’s 6:30 and I’ve already had dinner and if it weren’t for Mets first pitch at 7:07pm I might have tried to sneak in a nap before kickoff.

6:35pm: I have no idea how to feel about this Jets season. I got so excited about last year and that brought the most unique heartbreak in a Jets lifetime of heartbreaks so it’s hard to get excited about this year even though it should feel the same as it did a year ago at this time. I’ll watch the games, I’ll be excited about them to an extent, but I can’t help but feel like the next disaster is lurking just around the corner.

7:00pm: I guess I haven’t weighed in on the weekend against Cincinnati. My two big takeaways are 1) it feels like the Mets got away with a couple of wins against the Reds. The bats are slowing down and it didn’t really bite the Mets until Sunday’s loss. But the pitching has been great so it would be good news if they’re getting those kinds of outings for the next three weeks. 2) 9-1 every 10 games would certainly get the job done this month. Let’s hope the Reds continue to play tough as they move on to Atlanta tonight.

7:02pm: Oh, it’s a makeup game between Atlanta and Cincinnati. I take it back. Well, I don’t - I still hope the Reds bring it tonight. (1-0 Reds already!) But after that it’s Atlanta at Washington. Let’s go Nats. I guess this is as good a time as any to tell you the Diamondbacks are at the Rangers starting tomorrow (why are the Mets the only team that has to play immediately after the Sunday Night game) and the Padres are at Seattle, again after a day off today. The Mariners can help the Mets big-time there - that would be nice on a lot of levels after they tanked after sweeping the Mets.

It’s also weird to see everyone with the same amount of games after the Mets had so many fewer earlier on. With Monday-Thursday off days here and there the rest of the month there will be a lot of half-game changes before it finally settles into the last few games.

7:06pm: Oh wow. Just saw Christian McCaffrey isn’t playing for the 49ers tonight. That’s a big Jets advantage. Unless they geared everything on defense towards defending McCaffrey. I don’t know. I’m not the football expert the way I know baseball. I do know of players missing games tonight McCaffrey is likely more costly than Blackburn.

7:15pm: More often than not it has been rough watching Pete Alonso hit this year. When he’s slumped in the past he just looks so off-balance at the plate. He’s looked like that all season this year. The slumps used to be few and far between - now the solid hitting is few and far between. I still hope he catches that fire down the stretch here but it seems like most times he’s in a situation like that - 2 outs, runner on 2nd (Brandon Nimmo 13-for-13 stolen bases! Wow!) - it hasn’t been a threatening at-bat.

7:30pm: A real Tylor Megill-y first inning right there. No harm no foul, I guess. Not great to hear Blackburn is dealing with back discomfort now. He says he still hopes to return by this weekend in Philadelphia. That seems like a big question mark to me.

You know what, while we’re here I was thinking about my mis-read of Mark Vientos today. Because I heard other people saying the same thing - we’re glad we were wrong about him. I wrote about this at the end of June. Among other things I said, “I thought Vientos talked a major league game that he didn’t quite have.” The reason I wrote that, I realized today, was if you watch Vientos, he always seems to know where the camera is and what it’s showing. I kind of think that’s what they used to say about Gary Carter back in the eighties. But all of that is fine when you’re hitting. I just noticed the behavior before I saw the results on the field, that’s all. And, you know…..Gary Carter ended up in the Hall of Fame. So go be you, Mark.

7:37pm: I have set up the second TV. I think I’m going to have to move the Mets to the smaller, secondary TV and put the Jets on the main TV. The Jets haven’t earned that, and the Mets certainly have played better than being designated to ‘second TV’ status, but I need to pay closer attention to the football because of previously noted lower football IQ. In fairness, the Mets get main TV status most nights of the week.

I won’t turn ESPN on until closer to 8:15 though. I’ll tell you what - I haven’t watched an NFL pre-game show in years.. And I do not miss them. It’s a better experience for me.

7:40pm: I take that back. I watched last year before the Jets opener. Haha. I watched John McEnroe interview Aaron Rodgers and Rodgers telling him the goal was the Super Bowl and McEnroe saying you can’t say that out loud and Rodgers insist you can’t be scared of stating the goal and McEnroe said we don’t do that because bad things happen and then you know what happened four plays into the season.

7:55pm: I just saw that Anthony Becht is doing the Jets radio broadcast with Bob Wischusen tonight. That’s pretty great - he has always been a very good analyst. I think I saw him do Jets preseason games and maybe college football before he started coaching in the XFL or whatever league that is he’s been coaching in. I’m not sure if this is a one-time fill-in or for the season, and it’s rare I even have the opportunity to listen to Jets games on the radio, but I’ll be keeping my ear out for some clips from tonight. I’m happy for him. (For newer readers: I rooted hard for Becht as a player. I had high hopes for his tight end career.)

8:06pm: TWO TVs ARE FULLY SET UP. Mets have runners on first and second with two outs in the fourth. Can they get on the board before the Jets start?

8:09pm: Yes! 1-0! RBI single J.D. Martinez!

8:13pm: OK. It’s go time. Just took the dog out so that’s taken care of. Also almost forgot to put on my (hopefully) lucky new Jets shirt. That's taken care of too. Couldn’t resist getting another new shirt this year with the new old-look logo.

Crap. I am very excited about the Jets.

8:16pm: How about Mark Vientos’ defense too. So reliable over there. 4 good innings from Megill. I’m wrong yet again. (I’ll take it.)

8:20pm: Three and out for the Jets. Allen Lazard proving it doesn’t matter who the quarterback is - he’ll drop it for anyone.

8:22pm: Three and out for the 49ers. I forgot how much fun the Jets defense is to watch.

8:31pm: Not a great start for the Jets. The defense has been great - forcing a field goal after a fumble by the Jets on their own side of the 50. 3-0, 49ers.

Meanwhile, whatever Jeremy Hefner said to Megill in the first inning mound visit really seems to have worked. 5 scoreless in Toronto. Reds clinging to a 1-0 lead in the 8th, for what that’s worth.

8:34pm: Finally, the much-awaited Aaron Rodgers-Garrett Wilson connection Can’t wait to watch that all season. The Jets offense seems to be gathering some rhythm.

8:40pm: A Jets touchdown. Great drive. Just a normal, wonderful, competent drive. Multiple Rodgers-Wilson hook-ups, punched in by Hall. Exactly what we’re looking for. 7-3 Jets.

8:50pm: Through 1 quarter of football we have a 7-3 Jets lead and a way better-than-expected outing from Tylor Megill, who is done after six scoreless and retiring 16 in a row. 1-0 Mets in the top of the 7th. Good start to the night.

8:56pm: It’s really wild that we have the Mets, Phillies, and Atlanta right now all in 1-0 games. 49ers kicked a field goal - it’s 7-6 Jets.

9:00pm: Well scratch that. Rays have tied the Phillies.

Troy Aikman was saying there that Rodgers probably wants to take that first hit. I’m glad to see him get hit and get back up. He’s going to get hit this year - glad to know he can take one. Seeing him take a hit and not come out of the game is just as novel as seeing him complete a pass to Garrett Wilson.

9:06pm: Well, the Reds are the only team to have held their 1-0 game. Jose Butto has appeared, as I expected…but he does not look good at all. Let’s see if he can get out of this inning with the score still 1-1.

9:10pm: Oof. Not Butto’s finest outing. 2-1 Toronto. Mets need to get the bats going.

The 49ers are shooting themselves in the foot with penalties here…but they’re moving the ball against the Jets. You have to give offenses credit when they move the ball effectively against this defense. It doesn’t happen a lot.

9:13pm: Well things have taken a turn here. 13-7 SF, 2-1 TOR. Both are far from over though.

9:18pm: Mets have the bases loaded with nobody out in the top of the 8th, down 2-1. Is it too bold to declare that if the Mets take advantage of this situation they’re 100% in the playoffs…and if they can’t capitalize, forget it? That might be drastic. I just hope they score.

9:22pm: Mark Vientos struck out on a high strike. It’s not the most egregious call by this umpire but he has not been good tonight. The Blue Jays had worse calls in the top of the inning. But Major League umpiring right now. It’s so bad.

And the Mets just got their second run of the inning on a wild pitch/passed ball. 3-2 lead. I guess they’re going to the playoffs? They might not have earned the distinction at the plate but sometimes you need some luck.

9:34pm: Outstanding relief outing from Ryne Stanek. The Mets go to the 9th with a 3-2 lead.

The Jets are about to head into the half trailing 16-7. Good job by the defense yet again forcing just a field goal before the half. Hopefully the Mets tie things up neatly and quickly (maybe with a few more runs in the top of the 9th) so I can singularly focus on the Jets. This is hard work.

9:47pm: All right, Mets. A 3-2 win, Edwin Diaz gets the save, and Gary cohen scared the daylights out of me with his call of the fly ball final out.

I’ll be honest: The Mets have squeaked out these last few wins. But wins are wins, and the Mets have 10 of them in their last 11 games. And they’re back to a game in front of Atlanta, solely in possession of that third wild card spot. When they start hitting again, they can really make a move.

OK. Now to put all of my attention on the football. I’m not even sure what’s going on there. Was Sauce hurt? Was he being benched?

10:00pm: Well, the defense isn’t supposed to be the problem. But boy, the 49ers offense is having their way. It’s 23-7 San Francisco already halfway through the 3rd quarter. The Jets haven’t touched the ball in the second half yet.

10:04pm: I guess I’d better get this out there now before this game gets out of hand and less interesting to read: A reminder that I’m running the New York City Marathon for Joe Torre’s Safe At Home Foundation. We’re more than halfway to our fundraising goal - if you’d like to contribute, you can do so at this link. Thank you!

10:06pm: Now a deflected pass interception. I was about to say I’m looking forward to watching Aaron Rodgers sling it here - maybe the comeback can happen. But I’m less hopeful now. The Niners might be able to run out the clock from this point, the way this has been going.

10:15pm: Well, one out of two on the night isn’t terrible. I kind of miss having the Mets game on right now, the way the Jets are playing. The math here is not favorable, but I’m not giving up. I’m just going to put the computer away. As much as everything went right for the Mets, it’s going wrong for the Jets - a field goal off the upright makes it 26-7 49ers. I’ve seen bigger Jets Monday Night Football comebacks, so I’m not going to say it’s over. But I am going to acknowledge there’s no shame in being beaten by a very good San Francisco team. Regroup and get that first win of the season in Tennessee next weekend.