Antonio Bastardo

Mets Lost a Game They Had No Business Winning

One of the Mets hottest hitters, Asdrubal Cabrera, and the Mets best hitter, Yoenis Cespedes, got a day off with the Mets playing a day game after a night game. Kelly Johnson was getting his first start since July 1st. Wilmer Flores and James Loney were the number three and four hitters in the lineup going up against Kyle Hendricks, who has only allowed three earned runs over his last 31 innings pitched. The Mets sent Bartolo Colon to the mound on a hot and humid day at Wrigley. Long story, short, the Mets had no business winning this game. 

They didn’t. 

It started in the first with Colon issuing consecutive two out walks. Both runners would then score on an Addison Russell bases clearing double. Anthony Rizzo would then hit a homer in the third (solo) and the fifth (two run) shot. Following that home run, the Cubs put two on with one out chasing Colon from the game. 

Antonio Bastardo came on and allowed an inherited runner to score on a Javier Baez RBI single. That closed the books on Colon who allowed eight hits, six earned, and two walks with one strikeout in what was an ugly outing. Bastardo only allowed that one hit in 1.2 innings meaning this could very well be the best game he’s pitched as a Met. 
The Mets did have their chances. In the second, the Mets threatened in the second. Travis d’Arnaud hit a double that would have scored anyone but the slower than Sid Bream Loney. After a Johnson walk, Juan Lagares hit into an inning ending 5-4-3 double play, which was nowhere near as impressive as the one the Mets turned last night.

Loney’s speed prevented the Mets from scoring another run in the fourth. With two outs and Loney on second, Johnson singled to center. Human windmill Tim Teufel sent Loney who was gunned down at home by Jayson Heyward. Ironically, the one time the Mets get a hit with a runner in scoring position, it’s Loney at second, and the runner still doesn’t score. 

As usual, the Mets didn’t score until a home run was hit. In the eighth, Flores hit a two run homer off Cubs reliever Travis Wood. It made the score 6-2, but it was too little too late. The Mets lost two of three to the Cubs, but they still won the season series against them 5-2. 

Game Notes: Johnson was a perfect 4-4. Michael Conforto got his first extra base hit in his return with a fifth inning double. He was 1-4 on the day with a strikeout. With Lagares playing today, he was back in left, and Curtis Granderson was back in right. 

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Mets Do Not Need Bullpen Help

As the trade deadline approaches, every team usually states that they need bullpen help, and those that are true contenders usually add an extra arm or two to the bullpen.  For example, back in 1999, one of the biggest strengths for a Mets team fighting for the NL East and the Wild Card was their bullpen.  Armando Benitez had taken over the closer role much earlier than anticipated.  Turk Wendell and Dennis Cook were having excellent seasons.  Pat Mahomes was a revelation as the long man in the bullpen.  Ex-closer John Franco was expected to return form injury to help with the playoff push.  Greg McMichael was having an off year, but he had previously been a valuable bullpen arm in a pennant race from his days with the Atlanta Braves.  On top of that, the Mets had some young promising arms to go to down the stretch with Jason Isringhausen and Octavio Dotel (even if Bobby Valentine thought they were better suited and belonged in the rotation).  Overall, the point being is the Mets did not need bullpen help.

Even with that being the case, a Mets team that was very active during the trade deadline made sure to acquire another arm for the bullpen by sending McMichael and Isringhausen for Billy Taylor.  It turns out Billy Taylor was washed up, and he would not even be on the postseason roster thereby forcing the Mets to make do with the already good bullpen pieces they had.  The Mets find themselves in a similar position than the 1999 Mets did.

The Mets bullpen is led to Jeurys Familia who is the best closer in the game. When needed, Familia can pitch two innings to get the big save that the Mets need.  The primary eighth inning set-up man has been Addison Reed, who is only sporting a 2.26 ERA and a 0.912 WHIP.  This duo has only lost one lead that has been given to them this year in 32 attempts.  Behind them is Hansel Robles who has done everything the Mets have needed in the bullpen.  He can come out and bail the Mets out of a bases loaded no out jam or pitch 3.2 terrific innings to save a Mets bullpen from a first inning injury to a starting pitcher.  Jerry Blevins has been an extremely effective LOOGY allowing lefties to hit .210/.269/.310.  By the way, he has been even better against righties limiting them to a .107/.188/.214 batting line.

Behind these pitchers are some very solid options.  There is Jim Henderson, who was great before Terry Collins abused his arm.  Henderson is currently in AAA on a rehab assignment.  Seth Lugo has been absolutely terrific out of the bullpen in his two appearances.  However, it is only two appearances, and there still remains a (remote) chance that he may wind up in the starting rotation with the Matt Harvey injury.  There is Erik Goeddel, who even despite one poor performance this season, still has a career 2.75 ERA and a 1.054 WHIP.  There is still Sean Gilmartin, who was an essential part of the Mets bullpen last year.  He is a starter in AAA, but if the Mets are that desperate for major league relief help that they will swing a trade, they should pull up a known quantity to help the team where he is needed.

If the Mets will consider calling up players from the minors, there are some good options in AAA.  Josh Edgin has a 2.45 ERA in the hitter friendly Pacific Coast League.  Paul Sewald has taken over as the closer, and he has recorded nine saves.  There is always the alluring Josh Smoker, who is having a down year but still sports a mid-nineties fastball.

Finally, in addition to all of these players, there is still Antonio Bastardo, who is going nowhere.  It is doubtful a rebuilding team will want to add him into the mix with his high salary and poor production.  The Mets are stuck with him, and they are going to be stuck with him for the full season, regardless of whether they make another move to add a reliever or not.  In essence, Bastardo is the reason why people mistakenly believe the Mets need bullpen help.  With that in mind, the best thing the Mets can do is to find a way to get Bastardo back on track.  That will help the Mets bullpen more than them adding another reliever.

Overall, the Mets bullpen is in fine shape with four outstanding relievers and plenty of good options behind them.  The Mets do not need a reliever.  They need to fix Bastardo since he’s going to be here whether or not the Mets make a trade.  With that in mind, the Mets should leave the bullpen as is and turn their attention to the teams other needs at the trade deadline.

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Murphy Homered Off Bastardo

Nothing encapsulates the difference between the Mets and Nationals right now than Daniel Murphy hitting a two run home run off of Antonio Bastardo. 

In this past offseason, the Mets determined Bastardo deserved a big contract, and he has rewarded them with a 5.05 ERA. The Mets passed on Murphy, and he has taken every opportunity he has to remind them what a poor decision it was. He has 18 RBI against the Mets this year, which is his most ever against one opponent in a single season. He’s now hit six homers against the Mets, which is only one less than he hit for the Mets last postseason. 

Tonight, Murphy was 3-4 with a walk, a run, four RBI, a double, and a homer. This would be all the run support Max Scherzer would need as he just dominates the Mets. He came into the night with a 2.03 ERA, a 0.839 WHIP, and a 12.3 K/9. With Yoenis Cespedes being out, it was a minor miracle that the Mets scored a first inning run off a Neil Walker sacrifice fly.  It was all the Mets could reasonably expect to score off Scherzer, who would allow only three hits, one earned, and two walks while striking out nine over seven innings. It would be up to Logan Verrett to make that run hold up. 

He didn’t. Verrett, who is taking Matt Harvey‘s spot in the rotation, allowed four hits, five earned, and five walks with three strike outs over 6.2 innings. All five of the players Verrett walked would come in to score. It was tough to see him pitch almost as tough as it was to see this offense hit tonight. 

The Mets only mustered four hits and three walks on the night. To rub salt in the wound, Alejandro De Aza was the Mets best offensive player on the night going 2-2-3 with a walk.

On a night where Scherzer was dominant, Murphy was Murphy, and De Aza was the Mets best offensive player, it’s no wonder the Mets lost 6-1. 

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Mets Win the Home Run Derby

On the eve of the All Star Game, the Mets and Nationals engaged in their own Home Run Derby with each team hitting four apiece. Of all the home runs, none was bigger than Wilmer Flores‘ near Promenade shot in the fifth giving the Mets a 7-6 lead. 

It was Flores’ third home run in the past two games and his fifth on the home stand. It was made all the more gratifying as it came off of everyone’s favorite ex-Met Oliver Perez. 

Flores had entered the game in the top of the fifth as Bartolo Colon was ineffective and couldn’t make his way out of the fifth. In fact neither he nor Nationals rookie starter Lucas Giolito were good. Colon looked too old giving up six earned over 4.2 innings, and Gioloto looked too young allowing four earned in 3.2 innings. Neither pitcher would factor in the decision. 

Hansel Robles would be the pitcher who got the win for the Mets. He came on in the fifth, and he bailed the Mets out of a bases loaded situation by getting Anthony Rendon to fly out to center. Robles kept the Mets in the game allowing for Flores’ heroics. Overall, he would pitch 1.1 innings allowing only one hit while striking out two. 
It was a good hard fought win that saw the Mets rally from 1-0, 4-1, and 6-4 deficits. You accomplish that by getting key hits from everyone in the lineup:

  • James Loney hit a two out RBI single in the third to tie the game 1-1. 
  • Travis d’Arnaud and Jose Reyes homered in the fourth to narrow the gap from 4-1 to 4-3. 
  • Yoenis Cespedes tied the game in the fourth with an RBI double scoring Curtis Granderson
  • Brandon Nimmo battled from back in the count to get a single in the fifth. He would later score on Flores’ three run homer. 
  • Asdrubal Cabrera hit a solo home run in the sixth to give the Mets an 8-6 lead. 
  • Neil Walker added an insurance run in the seventh with his seventh inning RBI single making it 9-7. 

Quietly, Granderson, the new second place hitter, had a brilliant night. He was 3-5 with two runs, two walks, and a double.  The Mets needed this entire offensive output because the Natuonals weren’t going away and because the Mets had to use Antonio Bastardo. In the seventh, Bastardo allowed Daniel Murphy to hit a bomb to right center. Murphy joined Bryce Harper, Clint Robinson, and Rendon in Nationals who homered on the night. 

After Bastardo was out of the game, the Mets turned to Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia to secure the 9-7 win. Reed pitched 1.1 scoreless, and Familia recorded his 31st straight save to start the season. 

Familia was aided by a terrific play by Cabrera after he issued a leadoff walk to Jayson Werth. Murphy hit a ball that Cabrera made a terrific play just to get to the ball with a dive to his right. He flipped to Walker to get the force out. It become a double play as Werth was ruled to have interfered with Walker by sliding past the base. For what it’s worth, Murphy was safe at first by a mile, but that’s the new rule. Familia then struck out Harper to end the game. 

The Mets have now closed the gap to three games and two in the loss column. 

Game Notes: The eight home runs were the most in any single game at Citi Field. Reyes had started, stumbled, stopped, and was picked off of first by Wilson Ramos. It went down as a caught stealing. 

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Sandy Alderson Had a Poor Offseason

This past offseason Sandy Alderson and the Mets were heralded for building a deep roster that was better built to sustain a slate of injuries like the Mets fared last year.  Here are how all the players Sandy Alderson acquired during the offseason have fared with the Mets this year:

Neil Walker

So far, Walker has had a terrific 2015.  In fact, he is on pace to have the best year of his eight year career.  However, as the Mets offense has tailed off, so has Walker.  Here are his monthly splits:

  • April .307/.337/.625 with 9 homers and 19 RBI
  • May .250/.333/.420 with 4 homers and 6 RBI
  • June .224/.307/.289 with 1 homer and 6 RBI

Each and every month Walker has gone from one a career best year to stats worse than he has had over the course of his career.

Asdrubal Cabrera

Like his double play partner, Cabrera’s stats are masked by a hot April.  In April, Cabrera hit .300/.364/.400.  Since that time, Cabrera is only hitting .247/.307/.409.  Worse yet, despite many raving about his defense, the advanced metrics disagree.  So far, he has a -5 DRS and a -2.1 UZR.

Alejandro De Aza

He was supposed to be a platoon partner with Juan Lagares in center.  Given his .165/.216/.242 batting line, it is a blessing that never came to be.

Yoenis Cespedes

For the second straight year, Cespedes has been terrific for the Mets.  His OBP and slugging are on pace to be the highest in his career.  He’s also on pace for a career high 38 homers.  Even with his poor defense in center field, he has been day in and day out the best player on the Mets.

Rene Rivera

Like every other backup catcher during the Sandy Alderson regime, Rivera has not hit.  Initially, he was supposed to be a minor league depth, but after another Travis d’Arnaud injury, he was called-up to the majors.  He has worked well with Mets pitchers this year, specificially Noah Syndergaard  Mostly due to his defense, and also because of how poorly Kevin Plawecki has played, he has stayed in the majors when d’Arnaud came off the disabled list.

Ty Kelly

He was a minor league free agent that was never supposed to play in the majors.  When he hit .148/.207/.259 in 14 games we found out why.  Of course, he was pressed into action in part because the Mets found it wise to start with Eric Campbell on the 25 man roster instead of Ruben Tejada.

Bartolo Colon

Somewhat surprisingly, at the age of 43, Colon is having his best season with the Mets.  He’s 6-4 with a 2.86 ERA and a 1.170 WHIP.  He also did this:

Jerry Blevins

After he went down last year, the Mets searched high and low for a lefty out of the pen.  They never did quite find one.  Blevins has been healthy this year, and he has been terrific going 2-0 with a 2.49 ERA.  Only recently did he have a 21 appearance and 13 inning scoreless streak snapped.

Antonio Bastardo

He has been the worst reliever in the Mets bullpen with a 5.28 ERA and a 1.565 WHIP.  Terry Collins has shoved him to the back of the bullpen and tries to avoid using him in high leverage situations at all costs.

Jim Henderson

The minor league free agent had a great Spring Training and made the Opening Day roster.  He was having a terrific season until Collins pushed him too far for what he perceived to be a must-win game in April.  His production tailed off, and now he is on the disabled list with an injured shoulder.  This is the same shoulder that caused Henderson to miss all of the 2015 season after having had two surgeries on the joint.

Overall, looking over how these moves have panned out thus far, it does not appear that Sandy Alderson has had as good an offseason as many proclaimed him to have had.  In fact, as the season progresses, it makes Alderson’s season look worse and worse.  In order for the perception of Alderson’s offseason to change again, the underperforming players are going to have to improve.  Time is growing shorter and shorter for that to happen.

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Daniel Murphy – Mets Killer

In Max Scherzer‘s last three starts (including tonight) against the Mets, he has allowed four hits total. In essence, he only allows one hit per outing against the Mets. Asdrubal Cabrera took care of that one hit with a second inning single. Since it wasn’t a home run, it meant the Mets weren’t going to score off of him. 

No, it didn’t help that Curtis Granderson needed to be scratched from the lineup after getting nicked up yesterday.  His absence was all the greater when Terry Collins decided to put Alejandro De Aza and his .216 OBP in the lead off spot. It really makes no sense at all until you consider 

The decision worked as well as everyone thought it would. Brandon Nimmo hit a one out single in the eighth chasing Scherzer from the game. Granderson then pinch hit for Rene Rivera and singled off Oliver Perez. After a Travis d’Arnaud pinch hit fielder’s choice, the Mets sent up De Aza.

Dusty Baker brought in his closer, Shawn Kelley, for the four out save as he was the only person in the ballpark who thought De Aza was a threat. Despite having been 3-3 off Kelley in his career, De Aza would strikeout to end the inning. 

It also didn’t help that the Mets didn’t re-sign Daniel Murphy in the offseason. He’s now a National AND a Mets killer. Coming into tonight’s game, he was hitting .419/.441/.645 with two homers and eight RBI. Tonight was more of the same:

Murphy’s homer was one of the two runs scored off of Logan Verrett who made a good spot start. He pitched five innings allowing the two runs with four walks and one strikeout. It didn’t matter as the Mets didn’t score any runs for him. 

If there was any hope the Mets would comeback, Murphy crushed those hopes:

Murphy’s two run home run off Sean Gilmartin in the eighth made it 4-0. It put the game out of reach. The James Loney two run homer in the ninth really only served to end a 23 inning scoreless streak. The Mets lost 4-2 and fell to six games behind the Nationals in the division. 

Game Notes: Nimmo took some poor routes on balls leading to some base hits that led to a run in the third. Antonio Bastardo pitched two scoreless innings.  Murphy went 2-4 with two runs, three RBI, and two homers. 

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Nationals Stole This One

In the top of the third, the Mets went up 4-0, and it seemed like the game was over. The Mets were hitting Nationals’ starter Joe Ross hard. The Mets had Noah Syndergaard on the mound who never loses with a four run lead:

Then the bottom of the third happened. The Nationals would send nine men to the plate. The Nationals scored five runs on five hits, one walk, and four stolen bases.  Like most of baseball, the Nationals ran wild on Syndergaard:

Syndergaard just didn’t have it tonight. As Ron Darling would say, Syndergaard looked flustered. For a pitcher that rarely walks anyone, he issued three walks. He threw a wild pitch in the fateful third. With him previously complaining of some elbow soreness, and the recent Steven Matz news, there will be some Mets fans who panic. Mercifully, Collins pulled Matz after three innings after he threw 71 pitches allowing seven hits, five earned, and three walks with five strikeouts. 

In true Mets fashion, an embattled Ross would settle down. Neither he nor the other Nationals pitchers would allow another run. 

However, Sean Gilmartin and Erik Goeddel would. Gilmartin pitched two innings allowing seven hits, five earned, and one walk with one strikeout.  Goeddel allowed a run on three hits with a walk and a strikeout in two innings. Amazingly, Antonio Bastardo was the only Mets pitcher that didn’t allow a run. 

The only thing worse than the Mets pitching tonight was James Loney‘s defense. To say he had fall-down left, fall-down right range would’ve been complimentary. During the key rallies, there were a few balls hit by him that a first baseman with range could’ve fielded.  He also made a mental error in the fifth inning. With the infield in, he fielded a ball off the bat of Ben Revere. Instead of stepping on first, he threw home to try to get Danny Espinosa, who he had no chance of throwing out at the plate.  Revere would later score on a Jayson Werth double. 

The fifth inning might still be happening if not for Werth’s classless play. With the score 10-4, Werth broke home on a Bryce Harper infield single, and Loney easily threw him out. 

Overall, the Nationals beat the Mets in every way possible. It was an 11-4 laugher for them:

Game Notes: Brandon Nimmo collected his first career hit and run scored. He finished the night 2-4 with a run. 

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Antonio Bastardo Isn’t Good in Even Numbered Years

The highest paid reliever in the Mets bullpen is Antonio Batardo. Part of that is a function of baseball’s free agency rules. Another part is the fact the Bastardo was coming off a terrific year with the Pirates. He was 4-1 with a 2.98 ERA, 1.134 WHIP, and a 128 ERA+. 

He hasn’t been that player this year. Sunday was another reminder of that. 

Jeurys Familia, Addison Reed, Jerry Blevins, and Hansel Robles have received a lot of work lately. Robles especially. With that in mind, Terry Collins really had little choice but to go to Bastardo in the eighth after seven good innings from Bartolo Colon. Given how Collins has used Bastardo all year, you knew that was the last place he wanted to go in a 1-0 game. Bastardo showed us all why Collins distrusts him. 

Without recording one out, the Braves turned a 1-0 game into a 5-0 game. It was capped off with a three run homer from Adonis Garcia who is just the latest in Braves Mets killers. After this game, Bastardo now sports a 5.46 ERA and a 1.62 ERA.  His ERA+ is 88. It makes you question where it had all gone wrong for Bastardo. 

The simple fact is this is who Bastardo is. He pitches well every other year. Here are his ERA and ERA+ figures for his full years in the majors:

  • 2011: 2.64 ERA, 146 ERA+
  • 2012: 4.33 ERA, 94 ERA+
  • 2013: 2.32 ERA, 163 ERA+
  • 2014: 3.94 ERA, 95 ERA+
  • 2015: 2.98 ERA, 128 ERA+

This is a definitive pattern, and Bastardo has been following that pattern so far this year.  This is something the Mets should have anticipated when signing him this offseason (maybe they did when giving him a two year deal). 

To his credit, Collins hasn’t trusted Bastardo from the moment Curtis Granderson stepped up to the plate to begin the 2016 season. Collins has avoided putting Bastardo in high leverage situations, but he had no choice on Sunday.  It didn’t work out. Things typically don’t work out for Bastardo in even numbered years. 

It’s not the reason the Mets lost on Sunday. Bastardo wasn’t the reason the Mets failed to hit again.  Still, he was a big part of the Mets loss as he put the game out of reach. 

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It’s Never Easy

This was supposed to be an easy game. The Mets were up 5-0 heading into the top of the fifth. James Loney hit a three run homer to make it 8-0. However, that’s not all that happened in the top of the fifth. Steven Matz was rubbing his pitching elbow in the dugout. Everyone saw him doing this but Terry Collins and Dan Warthen. 

Matz came out in the fifth throwing a slower fastball (from 94 MPH to 92 MPH). The Braves opened the inning with three consecutive doubles. The second double was a can of corn off the bat of Nick Markakis, but Yoenis Cespedes lost it. It’s not really on Cespedes as the outfield lighting at Turner Field is a joke. 

That’s the type of inning it was as Matz allowed six earned on eight hits. The big blow was a Brandon Snyder opposite field pinch hit three run homer.

Matz would eventually get chased after a Freddie Freeman RBI single. Hansel Robles then came in to bail out the Mets and preserve the bullpen again. The latter was very important with Addison Reed and Jerry Blevins unavailable. Robles got out of the inning without allowing another run. He would go 2.2 innings for yet another well earned win. For the week, Robles has pitched 8.1 innings. 

Everything seemed calm down until Cespedes was picked off base in the seventh. Cespedes rolled his ankle stepping on first and had to be helped off the field. Every Mets fan breathed a sigh of relief as Cespedes took the field in the bottom of the seventh. 

Once Cespedes was alright, it was easy to admit that a lot of good things happened tonight:

  • Neil Walker was 3-4 with three runs scored
  • Loney was 2-3 with three runs, three RBI, a double, and a homer
  • Travis d’Arnaud was 1-4 with three RBI

The last two RBI were interesting. For some reason, the Braves walked Michael Conforto to load the bases to face d’Arnaud.  Considering the fact that Conforto has been terrible since May, it was an odd decidion, and d’Arnaud made the Braves pay with a two RBI single. 

It was good to see the Mets offense clicking, and it was great to see Jeurys Familia break Armando Benitez‘s record for consecutive saves to begin the season. 

Familia would have to go four outs for his 25th save. Antonio Bastardo allowed a two out double to Markakis in the eighth, and Terry Collins went to Familia. Familia got Adonis Garcia, last night’s villain, to get out of the inning. However, the ninth wouldn’t be easy. 

Familia allowed the first two on base, and then Chase d’Arnaud, Travis’ brother, was sent up to bunt. Wilmer Flores dove for the bunt, but barely missed it. However, it confused the Braves. Flores ran back to third for the force, and he threw to second to complete the unconventional 5-5-4 double play. Familia struck out the last batter if the game. 

Still, that pitch went to the backstop. It forced d’Arnaud to race to the backstop and make a quick throw to first. It was off-line, but Loney held the bag to end the game.

 It was a fitting end to a strange 8-6 game that was never easy. 

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Mets Have to be Better

You can look at any aspect from this game and say the Mets have to be better. That’s always the case when you lose a game. That goes double when you lose to what may be a historically bad Braves team. 

For starters, Matt Harvey regressed after three terrific starts. His location was off, and the Braves made him pay. Harvey’s final line was six innings, seven hits, four earned, two walks, and five strikeouts. Ultimately, it may not have mattered, but you have to scratch your head at Terry Collins starting Kevin Plawecki over Rene Rivera. 

Now, the Mets could’ve picked up Harvey tonight as they were facing former Mets prospect John Gant and his odd windup tonight: 

https://youtube.com/watch?v=r_8hONBmVSA

It looks difficult to hit, right?  Well, it hadn’t been the case this year with Gant having entered the game with a 5.63 ERA and a 1.750 WHIP. Naturally, Gant turned it around tonight pitching 6.2 innings allowing only two hits, one earned, and two walks with five strikeouts. 

Gant had the sinker working that makes him an intriguing prospect. It’s why the Braves did a good job getting him as one of the pieces in the Juan Uribe/Kelly Johnson trade. For what it’s worth Johnson was 0-2 with a walk against Gant. 

That’s how the night went for pretty much all of the Mets except Curtis Granderson who was 2-4 while scoring the only run of the game for the Mets in the first. There were a few stop and starts over the night, but the Mets were not cashing in on their opportunities. Most notably, the Mets had bases-loaded in the seventh, and Collins turned to Wilmer Flores, who couldn’t grip a bat yesterday, to pinch hit for Alejandro De Aza, who was originally announced go pinch hit for Antonio Bastardo, as the Braves brought the lefty Hunter Cervenka. Flores struck out as it’s hard to play with one hand. 

The offense and pitching wasn’t the Mets only failing. In the eighth, Yoenis Cespedes bobbled a ball in the outfield. The play allowed Chase d’Arnaud, Travis‘ brother, to score even though he had already stopped at third. It went down as an unearned run to Erik Goeddel. 

As if all of this wasn’t enough, James Loney made a bush league play on the bases that led to a game ending inning ending double play. On a Plawecki grounder, Loney slide into second. His slide wasn’t enough to break out the double play, so he lunged his elbow towards Jace Peterson‘s crotch. Even though Plawecki would’ve been safe by a mile, it was correctly ruled a game ending double play.

With that, Gant had his first career win, and Harvey had his major league leading ninth loss. It was a bad loss that was hard to watch. Across the board, the Mets need to be better than this. 

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