After what has largely been a disappointing career for Rafael Montero, it certainly seems odd to ask him to have a better final pitching line than seven innings, seven hits, three runs, three earned, one walk, and four strikeouts.  Considering where he’s been in his career, this line seems like nothing short of a miracle.  Certainly, you would take that line from Jacob deGrom and be quite happy.

However, it is not the pitching line yesterday that is at issue.  It was the way those three runs scored.

You hate to see the Mets fall down 1-0 early with Montero allowing a solo home run to the second batter of the game, Marcus Semien.  By the way, the sooner that guy gets out of New York, the better.  After entering the series as a .151/.300/.247 hitter with no multi-hit games, he went off on the Mets.  In the series, Semien was 7-13 with a homer, three RBI, and two stolen bases.

Even with the Mets falling behind early, the team would tie it with Michael Conforto hitting his 19th home run of the season off Atheltics starter Daniel Gossett:

https://twitter.com/TheRenderMLB/status/889201912360439808

Right after that game-tying third inning home run, Montero would allow the Athletics to jump right back ahead in the top of the fourth.  The pitch Khris Davis hit out was middle-middle meaning Montero just failed to execute.

The Mets would rally back in the sixth inning to once again tie the score.  Jay Bruce would hit a lead-off single, move to third on a T.J. Rivera double, and he would scored on a Jose Reyes RBI groundout.  Wilmer Flores walked to continue the rally, but Rene Rivera could not punch home that go-ahead run.  It would cost the Mets as Montero would go right back out there and allow the Athletics to take the lead again.

This time, Montero allowed a solo homer to Matt Chapman.  Again it was a poorly executed pitch over the heart of the plate to a player with plus power.

Overall, Montero allowing just three runs over seven innings is the latest sign of his turnaround from enigma to a major league caliber starting pitcher.  It’s also impressive that even with him allowing these homers he didn’t melt down.  He went right back to working to get the next out.  With him pitching like this, there definitely will be a spot for him on the 2018 Mets roster.

However, while Montero is making these strides, he needs to begin making that next step.  That step is shutting down the opponent when your team either ties the game or take the lead.  Make no mistake, the Mets loss on Sunday was on the Mets offense for not producing against a poor Athletics starter.  However, Montero played a role in allowing those home runs to come at the worst points imaginable.

So yes, Sunday was a step forward for Montero, but it was not as big a step forward as we may want to believe.

Game Notes: This could have been the final home game for Curtis Granderson (0-3, BB), Bruce (1-4, BB, K), and Lucas Duda (0-4, K) as a Met.  Conforto was 2-4 with the homer.