Curtis Granderson
Here’s the best way to synopsize both this game and the 2017 season ➡️ Dillon Gee allowed half the amount of runs in this game than Jacob deGrom did. And no, Gee was not good tonight.
The former Met allowed four runs over 3.1 innings allowing solo homers to Juan Lagares, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Neil Walker. The most impressive of these was Lagares, not just because he hit one, but because it went opposite field:
Lagares HOME RUN!! 2-1 Mets! pic.twitter.com/TDPz9JpdfF
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 7, 2017
It was almost four homers, but Jay Bruce got robbed by Jared Hoying:
Get ?, @jhoying3035! https://t.co/QKyVJsWYEc
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) June 7, 2017
The other run came in the first and was set up when Michael Conforto led off the game with a double. He later scored on a two out RBI single by the red hot Lucas Duda.
For his part, Lagares was uncharacteristicly good at the plate going 4-5 with a homer.
It wouldn’t matter as deGrom couldn’t hold any lead. He just couldn’t protect a 1-0, 2-1, or a 4-3 lead. He allowed runs in every inning he pitched.
It started when deGrom couldn’t get his footwork right in the first inning. Adrian Beltre grounded into what should’ve been an inning ending 3-6-1 double play, but deGrom was searching for the bag with his feet instead of stretching for the throw. Instead of getting out of the inning unscathed, deGrom allowed the tying run to score.
In the second, deGrom lost a 2-1 lead. Rougned Odor hit a double after a Jonathan Lucroy single to set up runners at second and third and no out. Hoying hit an RBI ground out, and Delino DeShields followed with a sac fly to make it 3-2.
The Mets took the lead, and deGrom gave it back in the third on a Joey Gallo two run homer. On the play, Bruce had a NL opportunity to return the favor to the Rangers by stealing a homer himself, but he fell just short:
https://twitter.com/therendermlb/status/872265476822401024
It all came crashing down in the fourth for deGrom. With runners on second and third with no outs, deGrom threw a wild pitch while walking Shin-Soo Choo to make it 6-4. The seventh run scored when Elvis Andrus hit into a double play. Unfortunately, deGrom still couldn’t get out of the inning before allowing a solo homer to Nomar Mazara.
It was a tough night for deGrom. His final line was four innings, 10 hits, eight runs, eight earned, one walk, and just two strikeouts. Not too long ago, he seemed to turn the corner. This is now his second poor start, and his ERA has ballooned to 4.75.
The best thing you could say scour the night was deGrom seems more devastated by his struggles than Mets fans are.
From there, the Mets had little choice but to bring in Josh Smoker and his 7.43 ERA into the game. Things could’ve gone worse, but he still allowed two runs over his two innings pitched raising his ERA to 7.56. If you really want to be depressed, consider Neil Ramirez was the Mets best pitcher on the night.
The Mets bats went mostly silent after the third with the team scoring just one run in the 10-5 loss. The team was 2-13 with RISP, and they were only able to score one run when they had bases loaded and one out in the eighth. They were one big hit away from getting back in the game. Instead, they made three quick outs.
However, the bats reawoke in the ninth. After a Flores lead-off single, Curtis Granderson and Travis d’Arnaud went back-to-back to get within 10-8. After a Lagares single and a Conforo walk, the Mets were really in business. Asdrubal Cabrera struck out, and then Bruce hit into a game ending double play.
The Mets need to get going soon because the Nationals aren’t slowing down anytime soon.
Game Notes: Duda (2-5, HR) and Wilmer Flores (3-5) continued to hit. Travis d’Arnaud played poorly going 0-4 leaving five runners on base. DeShields also stole two bases off of him.
If you like a traditional offense of get ’em on, get ’em over, and get ’em in, this was not the game for you. The Mets were 1-5 with RISP making them much better than a Pirates team that was 1-12.
That one hit wasn’t much of a hit either. In the fourth, Elias Diaz followed a one out Jordy Mercer double with an “infield single.” It really should have been an error as Wilmer Flores charged the ball and had it go underneath his glove. With that being the one hit, you already know the Pirates did not capitalize on the opportunity.
In fact, they let Robert Gsellman off the hook. After a 1-2-3 first, Gsellman allowed base runners in all six innings he appeared.
The only rally they cashed in on was a third inning rally where the Pirates started the inning with back-to-back singled to set up first and third. Gregory Polanco hit an RBI groundout to plate a run.
The only other run the Pirates would score off Gsellman was a Josh Bell second inning homer.
The Pirates did have a golden opportunity in the sixth. Despite his having thrown 96 pitches heading into the sixth, Terry Collins went with Gsellman to start the inning. The Pirates put runners on first and second with one out, and Gsellman was up to 109 pitches. Collins then went to Fernando Salas.
Salas came on and struck out yesterday’s hero Elias Diaz, and got Jose Osuna to fly out to end the inning and preserve the Mets 4-2 lead.
With the Mets similarly struggling with runners in scoring position, they had to turn to the home run to win this game.
The Mets got an early 2-0 lead as Neil Walker hit a two run first inning home run off Pirates starter Tyler Glasnow. After the Pirates tied the score at 2-2, Jay Bruce hit a solo homer to make it 3-2 Mets in the third. Wilmer Flores then hit a fourth inning homer to make it 4-2. That’s where the score stayed besides both teams having a number of chances.
In the sixth, the Mets had first and third no outs off Pirates reliever Johnny Barbato. Flores and Rene Rivera strikeouts book ended. Curtis Granderson popping out to center.
In the sixth, seventh, and eighth, the Pirates hand two on, and they would not score a runner. Jerry Blevins and Addison Reed made the pitches they needed, and they preserved the lead.
For his part, Reed was double switched into the game in the eighth and was entasked with the six out save. Prior to this, he had never recorded a four out save.
Reed buckled down and did it. It wasn’t uneasy, but he got the job done. The Mets did as well. It was a good win, and the Mets needed to build off of this win.
Game Notes: Asdrubal Cabrera made his eighth error of the season thereby surpassing his error total from last year. Jose Reyes took over for him in the eighth when Reed was double switched into the game.
No one should expect a manager to publicly criticize his players. We also shouldn’t exactly anticipate a manager will be 100% honest in his responses. Still, there are times when a manager gives answers to honest questions, and he reveals part of himself. When Terry Collins does this, the answers are downright scary.
Zach Braziller of the New York Post posited a question to Collins if the Mets would platoon Jay Bruce, Michael Conforto, and Curtis Granderson when Yoenis Cespedes returns. Collins’ answer to the question was he thought Conforto is tiring. This is a nonsense.
In the Month of May, Conforto hit .314/.426/.627 with nine doubles, a triple, seven homers, and 21 RBI. Over the last two weeks, he is hitting .333/.472/.643. But sure, he’s the one who’s tiring. Not Bruce who is hitting .210/.296/.430 with seven doubles, five homers, and 19 RBI in May. Over the last two weeks, Bruce is hitting .214/.300/.429.
There is a world of acceptable answers to this question including Terry’s favorite, “You hit, you play.” Maybe he’s abandoned it because he really doesn’t follow the mantra especially when he’s batting Jose Reyes second and Bruce third in the lineup. Speaking of Reyes, Collins had a doozy of an answer about Reyes:
TC on Reyes role in #mets offense in May: "It helps that Jose swung better, getting on base." May numbers: .216/.280/.330. .610 OPS.
— Zach Braziller (@NYPost_Brazille) June 1, 2017
Seriously, how can anyone have anything positive to say about Reyes’ play this season? He’s been a bad baseball player. Among the everyday players, Reyes has the worst batting average, OBP, slugging, OPS+, wRC+, and WAR. You name it, and he’s bad at it. About the only thing you can say about Reyes is he leads the Mets in stolen bases with six. Despite all of this, Reyes bats second in the lineup instead of playing the Eric Young, Jr. role as a pinch runner.
Given his managerial decisions, Collins’ answers have given insight into what he really believes to be true. Somehow he believes Conforto is the player who is tired, and Reyes is getting on base. It really makes you question if he’s actually watching the games.
Jacob deGrom started the game issuing a lead-off walk to Eric Sogard, and then he allowed a two run home run to Eric Thames. That start was a good indication as to where this game was headed.
This was arguably the worst start of deGrom’s career. He needed 105 pitches to get through four innings. His final line was four innings, eight hits, seven runs, seven earned, five walks, and six strikeouts. He probably wasn’t even that good.
On the other side, Junior Guerra was dealing. About the only good that Mets position players were able to do was some nice diving catches by Michael Conforto and Lucas Duda:
? Lucas Duda flashing the leather. #LGM pic.twitter.com/20LsLaYfsS
— New York Mets (@Mets) May 31, 2017
The real highlight of the game for the Mets was Josh Edgin. He came on in the fifth, and he saved the bullpen pitching three scoreless innings. It’s the type of outing that really gets overlooked during the course of the season, especially with Gary, Keith, and Ron talking Caramel M&Ms with Keith throwing the M&Ms to the camera crew. Still, Edgin’s outing is an important one.
It was also important because it gave the Mets a chance. They’d load the bases in the seventh with one out. Jay Bruce then grounded into the inning ending 4-6-3 double play. It was a close play at first worthy of a challenge except Terry Collins ran out of time thus ending the Mets only chance to get back into the game.
The shut out was broken up after Conforto followed a Juan Lagares hit a two out infield single with a Conforto RBI double.
From there, the Mets brought in Neil Ramirez, and the guys in the booth broke out the baseball cards. Honestly, there’s not much else you can expect in a 7-1 loss. It was even too much for Mr. Met to take:
https://twitter.com/adelucia35/status/870092668084375552
Game Notes: Curtis Granderson was 2-3 which finally brings his batting average over the Mendoza Line at .201. Mets pitching walked eight batters. The Mets are now 3-11 when they walk six plus batters.
In the Matrix, Morpheus said to Neo, “You take the blue pill, the story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”
Apparently, Tyler Pill is the blue pill because there were a number of strange things that happened at Citi Field that only the most ardent Mets fans could believe:
Jose Reyes started over a red hot Wilmer Flores. More than that, Zack Davies appeared to strike him out looking. Instead, the home plate umpire called it a call leading to a Reyes bases loaded walk.
Travis d’Arnaud threw out last year’s stolen base leader Jonathan Villar:
Thing of beauty! pic.twitter.com/biPntHLwZq
— GENY Mets Report (@genymets) May 31, 2017
Jerry Blevins allowed an inherited runner to score.
Fernando Salas not only got an at-bat, but he also got a hit.
More than that, Pill only allowed one run over 5.1 innings.
Despite Pill having a minor league 1.60 ERA this year, his peripherals indicated his ERA should be over 4.00. Long story short, Pill has been extremely lucky this year. While that luck escaped him in his major league debut, he brought it with him today.
Starting with his warm-ups, Pill was in trouble all night. He hit Keon Broxton, who was the very first batter he faced. He’d be the only one to score against Pill after a Travis Shaw double.
From there, Pill had no 1-2-3 innings. He somehow stranded seven batters including Eric Thames, who tripled to lead-off the fifth thanks to some poor Jay Bruce defense (that was believable).
Through of all this, the Mets had a 4-1 lead scoring twice in the fifth and sixth innings. In the fifth, Curtis Granderson and Asdrubal Cabrera hit a pair of doubles to tie the game at one. The Mets would then load the bases, and Reyes drew the aforementioned bases loaded walk.
Neil Walker hit a lead-off double off Brewers reliever Eric Sogard, and he would score on a Lucas Duda homer:
This left Pill on the long side on a night despite allowing six hits, three walks, and a hit batter over 5.1 innings. Despite all of this, he wouldn’t get the win.
He didn’t get the win because in the seventh inning the unthinkable happened. Yes, it was easy to believe Salas would walk two to help load the bases with one out. It’s easier to believe that happened when you consider he was running the bases in the top half of the inning.
Blevins came on, and it appeared he did what he had to do. He struck out Shaw looking. While he did issue a bases loaded walk to Domingo Santana to make it 4-2, he did get Jett Bandy to pop up to short.
That’s when the unthinkable happened. The sure-handed Cabrera Luis Castilloed it:
https://twitter.com/therendermlb/status/869733991867445248
Thankfully, Santana was not hustling like Mark Teixeira did meaning the Brewers merely tied the score on the play instead of potentially going up 5-4.
The bullpen did its job. Josh Edgin and Addison Reed each pitched a scoreless inning, and Josh Smoker pitched three scoreless. Smoker got into a jam, but he got a huge strikeout to get out of the 10th. We then saw one of his signature celebrations:
What the hell kind of celebration is that @Josh_Smoker? lol pic.twitter.com/NgFZnKdlmI
— MetsKevin11 (@MetsKevin11) May 31, 2017
What’s interesting is Terry Collins had the opportunity to double switch both Reed and Smoker into the game to possibly get an extra inning out of them. He passed both times.
Finally, the Mets got something started in the 12th. T.J. Rivera led off with a pinch hit single off Wily Peralta, and Conforo walked. After Reyes couldn’t get a bunt down, he hit a fielder’s choice with Thames getting Conforto at second. The Mets finally won it with a Bruce single against the drawn-in shifted infield.
A long bizarre game finally came to an end with the Mets winning a game they have typically lost all year. The final score indicates Mets fans really took the blue pill.
Game Notes: Walker’s two doubles on the night gave him 1,000 hits for his career. Mets are 3-10 when they walked six or more. They walked eight.
In his last start, Terry Collins controversially lifted Robert Gsellman after throwing 84 pitches over six innings in a 5-3 game. It came back to haunt the Mets as the bullpen blew the lead and the game.
Today, Collins controversially left Gsellman in the game. In the bottom of the sixth, Gsellman was due up with the bases loaded and two outs. To that point, Gsellman had thrown 89 pitches, and the Mets were clinging to a one run lead.
Rather than go for the knockout punch, Collins stuck with his starter in what could be Gsellman’s last start. Before the game Sandy Alderson announced both Steven Matz and Seth Lugo will likely join the rotation some time next week. In all likelihood, this means Gsellman is bound for the bullpen or Vegas.
Collins’ faith in Gsellman was rewarded in more ways than one. First, Gsellman earned a bases loaded walk off Brewers reliever Rob Scahill with some help from C.B. Bucknor:
Call hurts #Brewers
Ball 3 should be strike 3
Bot 6 Scahill vs Gsellman
30% call same
1.1in from edge pic.twitter.com/uFnOvwnT0S— Brewers Strike Zone (@BrewersUmp) May 29, 2017
It was actually Gsellman’s second RBI of the game. His previous RBI came in the fifth inning.
The Mets had runners on second and third after a Rene Rivera RBI double. Gsellman hit a medium to shallow fly ball to right, and Glen Sherlock sent Wilmer Flores. Rivera would then score on a Michael Conforto RBI double.
With that, it was 4-2 Mets heading into the seventh. Gsellman rewarded his manager’s faith in him by mowing down the Brewers with a 1-2-3 inning. That would close the books on a good start for him.
Gsellman’s final line was seven innings, three hits, two runs, one earned, two walks, and five strike outs. It was the Mets fourth straight quality start, and it might’ve been his best start of the season.
He kept a good hitting Brewers team at bay. The one run on him was a home run he allowed to Domingo Santana on a pitch that was on the batter’s shoe tops. The first run was on the Mets infield.
Asdrubal Cabrera threw a ball away allowing Jonathan Villar to reach. Later that inning, Jose Reyes picked up a Matt Garza sacrifice fly bunt attempt rather than letting it go foul. This put Villar in scoring position and allowed him to score on a groundout.
The Brewers wouldn’t have a rally like that until the ninth. Travis Shaw and Domingo led off the ninth with back-to-back singles. Addison Reed then settled down by striking out the next two batters and then getting a game ending ground out. It was Reed’s seventh save of the season.
Right now, it’s time to start getting optimistic about this team. The offense is still scoring runs, and the starting pitching has been pitching better and going deeper into games. If that continues, you’ll see more games of just Paul Sewald and Reed. That right there is a winning formula.
Game Notes: Jerry Blevins did not warm up. Unlike Saturday, Curtis Granderson moved to right field for defense when Juan Lagares came on in the eighth for defense. On Saturday, Jay Bruce stayed in and couldn’t get to the game winning hit. Flores was 3-4 with all at-bats coming against right-handed pitching.
Whenever he takes the mound, the biggest story in any Mets game is going to be Matt Harvey. Part of the reason is Harvey is a lightning rod. The main reason is the Mets need Harvey to be good if they have any hopes to get back to .500 and then back into the NL East race. If we get the Harvey we saw tonight, there is a chance.
Now, this wasn’t the Harvey of 2013 or even 2015. Heck, this wasn’t even the Harvey of April. This was a Harvey still trying to find himself and succeeding more than he has been. We saw some things from his struggles this year that gave you some pause as to how this game would progress. First, there is his propensity to give up the long ball as evidenced by the Gregory Polanco second inning home run. There is the command as shown by Harvey’s two walks. Then, there is the inability to really put batters away. Tonight, he had only four strikeouts.
And yet, there was a Harvey emerging that could be a good pitcher again. The one thing that stood out was his ability to limit the damage. The biggest example of this was the fourth inning. The Mets had a narrow 2-1 lead, and the Pirates had a rally going. David Freese hit a one out infield singles, and Andrew McCutchen followed with his own single. As if this wasn’t enough, Harvey threw a wild pitch putting runners on second and third with one out. Harvey responded by striking out Francisco Cervelli and Jordy Mercer to end the inning.
Overall, Harvey threw 102 pitches over six innings. It was his longest outing in over a month, and it was his second straight win. It might’ve been due to a weak Pirates lineup. It could be Harvey is getting back to becoming a reliable pitcher. Whatever it is, the Mets should take it right now.
The Mets will also take the seven runs they got tonight. The biggest source of those runs came from the three players who would be most affected by the return of Yoenis Cespedes – Jay Bruce, Lucas Duda, and Curtis Granderson. Bruce showed signs of getting out of his May funk going 3-5 with a run, two doubles, and an RBI. Granderson, hitting lead-off with Michael Conforto getting the night off, had hit first three hit game of the season going 3-5 with a run, double, and an RBI. Duda homered in his second straight game, and third out of the last four games.
Jose Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera also collected RBI hits in what was an easy 7-2 victory. Overall, the only thing that put a damper on the night was Terry Collins‘ handling of the bullpen. With a five run lead in the seventh, he turned to Paul Sewald for two innings making him unavailable again for a few days. It wasn’t until the ninth that he used Neil Ramirez, and Ramirez struggled enough to lead to Jerry Blevins having to warm up in yet another game.
Still, the Mets took two out of three in the series. It was a step in the right direction and another step towards .500. Sooner of later, the Mets are going to have to stop giving games away, and they are going to have to turn some of these series victories into sweeps. Still, it was a good win leaving the team on a good note as they head back to Citi Field.
Game Notes: This was the Mets first win on a Sunday since their first Sunday game of the season. For the second straight game, a Mets pitcher failed to get down a sacrifice bunt. Juan Lagares was the only Mets starter without a hit.
When Lucas Duda and Travis d’Arnaud came back from the Disabled List, neither one was hitting much. Recentky, Duda broke out, and he’s literally getting on base in half of his plate appearances. After last year, there was legitimate concern over whether d’Arnaud would hit as well.
Those concerns were put to rest as d’Arnaud came within a triple of hitting the cycle. Overall, he was 3-5 with a run, double, homer, and two RBI. It should also be noted the Pirates didn’t attempt one stolen base against him. It was about as good a night as a catcher can have.
Duda was just as good. He was 2-4 with a run, double, homer, and RBI. Seriously, no one can get him out right now including Pirates ace Gerrit Cole. Actually, that’s not entirely true. Duda’s manager was able to get him out.
It was one of a series of bizarre moves from Terry Collins on the night.
Going into the sixth, the Mets had a 4-2 lead due to the aforementioned contributions from Duda and d’Arnaud as well as a Jay Bruce first inning solo home run.
In the sixth, after Neil Walker botched a potential inning ending double play, Collins left Zack Wheeler in to pitch to Andrew McCutchen. At that point in the game, McCutchen had homered and walked against Wheeler. With Wheeler under 90 pitches and pitching well, Collins stuck with his starter who gave up an RBI double.
It was somewhat of a damper on what was a good night for Wheeler. His final line was six innings, seven hits, three runs, three earned, two walks, and five strikeouts.
For a brief moment, it seemed the Mets would hold onto that 4-3 lead.
In the seventh, Collins went to his bullpen and somehow decided to go with Neil Ramirez. Collins used Fernando Salas to close out an 8-1 game, but he decided to go with Ramirez and his 27.00 ERA with the Mets to hold a one run lead. After Jordy Nelson doubled to start the inning and moved to third on a groundout, it became obvious the pitcher with a 27.00 ERA wasn’t going to get the job done.
Collins then double switched Jerry Blevins into the game. This meant the Mets best hitter and defensive first baseman was lifted from a one run game. Fortunately, Blevins got the Mets out of the jam as he typically does.
The Mets also went unscathed though the eighth with a combination of Blevins and Salas. Salas was helped out by Juan Lagares who raced back to get a McCutchen ball at the wall.
The Mets were no so lucky in the ninth. Mercer hit a double to center off Addison Reed that not even Lagares could catch. The way Lagares played tonight in center, that’s saying something. John Jaso tied the game sending it into extras.
The Mets had a chance to go ahead in the top of the 10th. Lagares hit a lead-off single and moved to second on a T.J. Rivera pinch hit single. However, while d’Arnaud was huge for the Mets all night, he struck out to end the rally.
With Collins once again ripping through his bullpen, he had to go to Tyler Pill to pitch the bottom of the 10th. Things did not go well.
It started with Lagares absolutely robbing Gregory Polanco of an extra base hit. Pill then quickly loaded the bases allowing a single to David Freese, plunking McCutchen, and walking Francisco Cervelli. With all that, the Mets were so close to getting out of that inning.
Gift Ngoepe popped out to shallow right. Collins then went to Josh Edgin to try to get Jaso out. Edgin struggled with his command, but he fought back into the at-bat going 3-2 with Jaso. Jaso then hit a line drive to right almost every right fielder in baseball gets to. Not Bruce. As he flailed at the ball, the Pirates were scoring the game winning run to take the game 6-5.
It should be noted Collins brought Lagares in for defense. Instead if moving the far superior fielder, Curtis Granderson, to right, Collins stuck with Bruce, and it indirectly cost the Mets the game. It’s not exactly how Collins wanted to celebrate his 68th birthday. Instead of blowing out his candles, his overworked bullpen did the job.
Game Notes: Asdrubal Cabrera was the only hitless Mets starter. He made up for it by dekeing McCutchen in the sixth. Cabrera got to a ball in the hole, and he had no play at first. He feigned going there, and he then nailed McCutchen at home as he tried to score from second.
Well, Jacob deGrom went out there tonight and reminded everyone why he should be considered the Mets ace.With the bullpen on fumes and the team coming off two embarrassing losses to the Padres, deGrom went out there and played the part of the stopper.
deGrom became not only the first Mets starter to record an out in the eighth, he became the first Mets starter to throw a pitch in the ninth. He was in that position because he completely dominated the Pirates.
To put it in perspective, deGrom was 2-4 at the plate. He only had four fewer hits than he allowed. In his 8.1 innings, deGrom allowed just those six hits while walking one and striking out 10. If not for a mistake to Gregory Polanco in the fourth, it might’ve been a shutout.
On a night like this, deGrom didn’t need much help from his team. Still, the Mets gave him a ton of run support led by native son Neil Walker.
.@NeilWalker18 knows a thing or two about hitting home runs in Pittsburgh. #LGM pic.twitter.com/MfaC10P4d3
— New York Mets (@Mets) May 27, 2017
Walker was 3-5 with three runs, two homers, and four RBI. His RBI accounted for half the Mets offense on the night.
The first run the Mets scored came in the second with Lucas Duda and Curtis Granderson hitting a pair of doubles off Pirates starter Chad Kuhl.
After Walker hit his first homer in the third, the Mets rallied again in the fourth. Jose Reyes tripled and scored on a Jay Bruce sacrifice fly. Walker followed this with his second homer of the game. He would be heard from again.
In the sixth, there were runners on first and second and two out due to Michael Conforto and Bruce earning walks off Pirates reliever Johnny Barbarto. Walker blooped a ball just past the out stretched hands of Pirates shortstop Jordy Mercer to make it 6-1.
Duda followed with a bases clearing double to make it 8-1. With the double, Duda continued a hot stretch over the past few games where he’s hitting .500 with an OBP above that.
Almost as hot is Granderson. Over the last two weeks, he’s hitting .291/.395/.581. He added to those totals going 1-4 with a double, walk, and an RBI. Both Duda and Granderson need these hot streaks with Yoenis Cespedes playing his first rehab game today.
But tonight, that was about deGrom and Walker. Both players stepped up big when the Mets needed it the most.
Game Notes: Jerry Blevins warmed up in the eighth but did not appear in the game. Fernando Salas recorded the last two outs.
Due to the ineffectiveness and injury to Tommy Milone, the Mets put Robert Gsellman back in the rotation.
Gsellman went out there and gave the Mets what is technically considered a quality start, which is three earned over six innings. Things might’ve gone better for him, but Yangervis Solarte got to him twice knocking in all three runs against Gsellman.
After the top of the sixth, Gsellman had thrown just 84 pitches. There would be no seventh inning though because Gsellman was due to lead off the inning. That and the fact Gsellman hasn’t started in a while.
Still, it should not have mattered. The Mets were up 5-3 against the team with arguable the worst offense in the National League.
Well, the Mets look like the worst bullpen in the National League, and Terry Collins used all the quality arms last night. Well push came to shove, and Fernando Salas was the one who got hit.
Salas loaded the bases with two outs following a pinch hit single by Chase d’Arnaud with back-to-back walks to Matt Szczur and Solarte. At that point, Collins decided to make the worst possible move he could’ve made. He went with Neil Ramirez and his 10.32 ERA to pitch to Wil Myers:
Mets had a 5-1 lead. Now tied at 5 in the 7th after Wil Myers' two-run single. Missed a grand slam by thismuch: pic.twitter.com/uiQHeKeu71
— James Wagner (@ByJamesWagner) May 25, 2017
Thanks in part to a little luck and some Timo Perez-esque base running, the Padres only tied the score. Fortunately, Josh Edgin got the Mets out of the jam.
Unfortunately, Collins went to Josh Smoker to pitch the eighth. For the second straight night he was greeted with a long home run. This one was hit by Hunter Renfroe.
Renfroe would return the favor to the Mets in the bottom of the eighth. He flat out dropped a Juan Lagares fly ball. To his credit, Lagares hustled on the play and got to second base. The Mets would strand him there.
That was about all that the Mets offense had done wrong on the night. Michael Conforto continued to rake going 2-3 with a run, RBI, and two walks. Wilmer Flores hit a bases clearing double in the third. He scored on a Curtis Granderson single. Overall, every Mets starter except Rene Rivera reached base at least once.
The Mets offense would get one last chance against Brad Hand who came on to save the Padres 6-5 lead.
Neil Walker got the rally started with a lead-off single. Lucas Duda had a tough at-bat drawing a well earned walk, his third of the game. He came off for Matt Reynolds. The bases were then loaded as Flores hit a seeing eye single just past the shortstop.
Granderson and Rivera then struck out putting the game in Lagares’ hands. Renfroe wouldn’t drop this flyball leading to yet another brutal loss created by a bullpen meltdown. At least we know Collins won’t learn from this game either.
Game Notes: Jay Bruce sat with a back injury.