Neil Walker
Just like yesterday, Terry Collins asked too much from his starter, which is unfortunate because he’s really not asking that much right now. Yesterday, it was asking Matt Harvey to pitch six innings. Today, it was asking Robert Gsellman to pitch five innings.
Gsellman was struggling out there each and every inning. It all unraveled in the fifth. What was once a 4-2 lead became a 10-4 deficit. Gsellman got best around that inning allowing the first four Brewers to reach base. He’d depart the game not recording an out in the fifth, leaving the bases loaded, and the Mets still up 4-3.
That lasted a blink of an eye when Hansel Robles allowed a bases clearing double to the first batter he faced. With that, Gsellman’s final line in the loss was four innings, nine hits, six runs, five earned, three walks, and three strikeouts.
Robles also imploded. Despite his being double switched into the game, he only lasted one inning. That was because he allowed four runs on four hits and a walk. With that, his sparking 1.42 ERA is a pedestrian 3.15.
Robles blowing up was eerily reminiscent of the Mets bullpen getting beat up yesterday. In fact, the game was really a poor facsimile of yesterday’s loss.
This time it was Michael Conforto getting picked off second base instead of Jay Bruce. Neil Walker had another big game at the plate homering once again. Paul Sewald came on the eat some innings, and he allowed a run. Rafael Montero once again looked good out of the bullpen.
Then there were the things that were different. Jose Reyes played center field in the sixth inning before finishing the game at shortstop. T.J. Rivera played left field from the seventh inning on. Kevin Plawecki had a good day at the plate going 2-4 with a double and two RBI. There was some normalcy with Plawecki with the Brewers going two for three on stolen base attempts.
The main similarity to was the Mets losing. This game was by the score of 11-4. After a good stretch, the Mets have lost a game and a series. They’re now three games under .500, and they’re back at the drawing board.
Game Notes: Asdrubal Cabrera, who has struggled defensively, committed two errors on one play bringing his error total up to five on the season. He had just seven last year.
Was it too much rest? Was it Julian Edelman? Maybe it’s just that Matt Harvey still isn’t quite right. Whatever the case, this was another disappointing start for Harvey.
Through the first five innings, he was fighting it. He needed 97 pitches to get through those innings. His mechanics weren’t sharp. He was laboring. He was walking batters. He was getting hit hard. He didn’t have a 1-2-3 inning until the fifth.
In the second, he allowed a leadoff walk to Domingo Santana who then scored on a Jett Bandy double. On the play, Curtis Granderson had trouble both tracking it down and picking the ball up. Ultimately, it didn’t matter, but it was an ugly play.
Hernan Perez homered to start the third giving the Brewers a 2-0 lead. To be honest, the score probably should have been worse than that. They were really lucky to still be in the game.
They initially took advantage. Neil Walker brought the Mets within one with a fourth inning home run. The Mets then put together a two out rally in the sixth after Michael Conforto just missed hitting one out to deep center.
Asdrubal Cabrera doubled and moved to third on a wild pitch. Jay Bruce walked. Cabrera would score on an ensuing Walker RBI single. The rally ended when the Brewers put on a pickoff play, and Bandy caught Bruce sleeping. The play prevented the Mets from potentially taking the lead. They wouldn’t get close again.
Coming off a strong fifth, Terry Collins decided to stick with Harvey to start the sixth. What was a decent start Harvey could possibly build off of turned into a nightmare.
Eric Sogard and Orlando Arcia would hit back-to-back homers giving the Brewers a 5-2 lead. With that, a Harvey who was probably done after five innings was officially removed from the game.
It’s hard to tell why Harvey was still out there. It’s possible Collins thought Harvey found something and thought Harvey had another inning in him. Perhaps, he was trying to save his pen with Jeurys Familia going on the DL after his surgery today to repair the aneurysm in his throwing shoulder.
Whatever the case, Harvey struggled, and he got tagged with the loss. Brewers starter, Matt Garza, who was able to pitch the sixth, got the win.
The Mets bullpen behind Harvey would struggle. Josh Edgin allowed a double to Jonathan Villar. After a walk to Perez, there were runners at the corners with one out. Edgin would strike out Travis Shaw on a 3-2 pitch. Perez ran on the pitch, and he forced a run down allowing Villar to score.
Rafael Montero came on to pitch the seventh. While he looked pretty good, he still allowed a home run to Bandy to make it 7-2.
It wasn’t until Paul Sewald came on in the eighth that the Mets bullpen didn’t allow a run. The Mets could’ve used a little better effort from their bullpen as their offense came alive in the ninth.
Walker continued his terrific night leading off the ninth with a single. Overall, he was 3-3 with two runs, a walk, a homer, and two RBI. He’d move to third on a Granderson double, and he’d score on a T.J. Rivera RBI single. Granderson would score on a wild pitch to make it 7-4.
That would be the final score. You can’t win when the opposing team had as many home runs as you have runs scored. It was a night that had some promise, but it all fell apart in the bottom of the sixth.
Game Notes: Lucas Duda returned from the DL, and he was 1-4 with a double. With Duda being activated and Cabrera ready to play, Jose Reyes sat, and Rivera played. Rivera was 1-3 with an RBI and a walk.
Imagine believing you need to use multiple relievers every inning. Imagine using the same relievers. relievers day after day after day. Sooner or later it catches up to you. That moment was today for the Mets.
It spoiled what was a good day for Tommy Milone. Despite being released by the Brewers and his not having started a game since April 25th, he pitched well.
Milone pitched five innings allowing six hits, two runs, two earned, and two walks with five strikeouts. He exited the game in the sixth after allowing back-to-back singles to Buster Posey and Christian Arroyo.
Fernando Salas came on for Milone and allowed one of the inherited runners to score. That run scored when Justin Ruggiano followed a Nick Hundley single with a deep sacrifice fly. From there Salas slammed the door shut.
Gorkys Hernandez grounded to the third baseman Wilmer Flores. Instead of trying for the around the horn double play, Flores went home. Kevin Plawecki made a terrific play picking up Flores’ short-hopped throw to tag out Arroyo, who just stopped running on the play. Salas followed this out by striking out Mike Morse to end the rally.
With Salas ending the rally, Milone was in position to earn his first win in a Mets uniform – a win he didn’t get. Milone was in that position because he helped his own cause. In the fourth, Milone hit an RBI single off Matt Cain to expand the Mets lead to 3-1. The single scored Curtis Granderson, who had a pretty good game himself.
It started with an opposite field double in the first inning to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. He also reached on a Buster Posey error to get the aforementioned rally started.
The other run was courtesy of Jay Bruce:
Cain threw Bruce a middle-middle changeup and Bruce took it for a ride. It landed deep in the bullpen. pic.twitter.com/5TYgdVGfyr
— CitiFieldHR (@CitiFieldHR) May 10, 2017
After losing one to the rainout, Bruce finally got his 10th home run back. The third inning homer also snapped a 1-1 tie. The game was tied because Posey hit yet another homer off the Mets.
The Mets had a chance to put the game away in the sixth. With a perfect Juan Lagares bunt down the third base line, the bases were loaded against Giants reliever George Kontos with one out. Kontos then recorded back-to-back strikeouts of Asdrubal Cabrera (pinch hitting for Salas) and Jose Reyes to keep it at 3-2.
The Mets similarly fizzled in the seventh. Bruce and Neil Walker hit back-to-back one out singles. Granderson popped up, and Flores lined out to kill that rally.
The Mets bullpen tried to keep it at 3-2. Josh Edgin (one batter) and Hansel Robles combined to pitch a scoreless seventh. This continues Robles’ 14 inning scoreless streak.
Addison Reed and Jerry Blevins pitched a scoreless eighth. Blevins came on with two outs in the eighth because Brandon Belt was announced as a pinch hitter. Blevins probably came on because Terry Collins was probably having a panic attack thinking about the possibility Blevins may not pitch in a game. He also completely disregarded Reed’s numbers against left-handed batters.
Reed career .236/.296/.353 off LHB. In 2016, LHB hit .210/.264/.269. Good thing Terry got him out of there.
— Mets Daddy (@MetsDaddy2013) May 10, 2017
The Mets would rue the town blown opportunities to tack on runs as Jeurys Familia blew his first save of the season.
Ironically, it wasn’t Conor Gillaspie who got to him. In fact, Familia dispatched with him easily. In fact, it was Flores who got to Familia. After Joe Panik walked, Flores threw off line to second. Instead of an inning ending double play, there were runners on first and second. Hunter Pence singled past a diving Flores to tie the game at 3-3. Posey then walked, and Arroyo hit a bases clearing double to make it 6-3.
At that point, Rafael Montero came into the game. Note, he didn’t make his way into a 6-1 game, but today, he relieved Familia. Because he has a sick sense of humor, Montero recorded two quick outs to get out of the inning.
Flores redeemed himself a bit in the ninth. After the Mets put two on with two outs in the ninth, he came up. Flores hit one that deflected just off Ruggiano’s glove and the top of the wall. It made it 6-5, but it was too little too late. Kevin Plawecki grounded out to the catcher ending the game.
The winning streak is over, and the Mets fell to a game under .500.
Game Notes: Michael Conforto sat with a hamstring issue. With Bruce in right and Juan Lagares in center, Granderson played left. With Conforto sitting, Reyes returned to the lead-off spot.
It started early for the Mets. Steven Matz was injured before Opening Day, and the Mets again wondering what is really wrong with him. Seth Lugo pitched in the World Baseball Classic, partially tore his UCL, and he is going to try to rehab it rather than having Tommy John surgery. Indirectly, this led to Rafael Montero pitching like, well, Montero. It also led to a less than inspiring performance by Adam Wilk.
Noah Syndergaard is gone for an extended period of time with a torn lat. Matt Harvey has been suspended three games for failing to show up at the ballpark. Yoenis Cespedes and Lucas Duda have not played in a few weeks, and there are just rumors that they are soon to return. Travis d’Arnaud is yet again on the disabled list himself, and as usual we are unaware when he can return. Once again, Asdrubal Cabrera has been hobbled in the early part of the season leading everyone to wonder when the Mets finally put him on the disabled list.
Jeurys Familia was suspended for the first few weeks of the season, and he was not sharp immediately upon his return. Addison Reed struggled in his adaption to closer and again in his transition to the eighth inning reliever. Fernando Salas just struggled, and Josh Smoker has probably struggled more than Reed and Salas combined.
Jose Reyes was hitting .095 midway through April. Curtis Granderson entered the month hitting just .128. Neil Walker is under the Mendoza Line against right-handed pitching, and he entered the month of May hitting just .195. Wilmer Flores cannot his right-handed pitching. Juan Lagares can’t hit any pitching.
The end result was the Mets losing six in a row and 10 of 11. Already, people were starting to wonder if this team was similar to the 1992 or the 2009 Mets teams. Despite all of this, the Mets are back at .500 and second place in the National League East. How did it happen?
Well, for starters young and under utilized players have stepped up. Michael Conforto went from the bench to one of the best hitters in baseball. For the second straight season, T.J. Rivera has taken complete advantage of an unexpected opportunity being given to him. Josh Edgin has become a dominant LOOGY in the bullpen. We have even seen Paul Sewald step up pitching terrifically after some initial hiccups.
Then there are the veterans who have had career best seasons so far. Jay Bruce is on base to put up career best numbers in every offensive category. Jerry Blevins has been used almost every game, and he is putting up better numbers than he did last year’s career best season for him. Rene Rivera is hitting over .300. Hansel Robles is 4-0 with a 1.56 ERA in 16 appearances.
More than there, the Mets have exhibited some professional pride. Reyes is hitting .282/.341/.564 with three doubles, a triple, two homers, nine RBI and a stolen base over his last 10 games. Granderson has hit .250/.368/.625 with three doubles, a homer, and four RBI over his last five games. Walker has hit .276/.364/.414 with four doubles and four RBI in the month of May.
In addition, the bullpen has been much better of late. Familia has had five straight scoreless outings. Reed has allowed just two hits with no runs in the month of May. Terry Collins has been more judicious in his use of Salas, and Salas has not allowed any runs in his last five appearances. With Blevins, Edgin, and Robles continuing their outstanding seasons, this has become the dominant bullpen everyone envisioned it would be to start the year.
With the combination of the resurgent veterans and the outstanding young player, the Mets are winning again. In the month of May, the Mets lead the majors in runs scored. They are fifth in the National League in homers. However, unlike last year, the Mets do not need homers to score runs. The Mets .320 team batting average and .517 slugging with runners in scoring position is second best in the majors, and its .419 OBP with runners in scoring position is the best in baseball.
Despite all the noise around the Mets, this team is playing its best baseball of the season. Once their pitching gets relatively healthy, and their current pitchers pitch close to their true talent levels, this team will once again be one of the best teams in all of baseball. Until then, this current group of Mets will make sure the Washington Nationals will be within shouting distance allowing the Mets to compete for the division.
It doesn’t matter how poorly the Giants are playing this season. If Zack Wheeler is going to pitch like he did tonight, he is going to beat even the best offensive teams.
Through six innings, Wheeler allowed just two hits and one run. The only issue was the four walks, but with the stuff he had there was no way the Giants were capitalizing. His slider was sharp, and he was getting his fastball up to 98 MPH. The only damage against him was a Buster Posey fourth inning solo homer.
By the time Posey hit that homer, the game was effectively over. The resurgent Mets offense jumped all over Jeff Samardzija.
In the first, Eduardo Nunez misplayed a Neil Walker ball into a two RBI “triple.” The ball was likely going to land and score one run, but it was not a triple.
Jose Reyes singled home Walker, and Rene Rivera doubled him home. Just like that it was 4-0.
In the second, back-to-back doubles by Michael Conforto and T.J. Rivera made it 5-0. In the seventh, Conforto put the final nail in the coffin hitting a solo home run to left-center field.
Now, despite having a 6-1 lead in a May game against a terrible offense, Terry Collins managed the eighth inning like it was the eighth inning in the seventh game of the World Series.
After a scoreless seventh, Collins let Hansel Robles start the eighth. After Robles hit Justin Ruggiano, Collins brought in Jerry Blevins to pitch to the left-handed hitters Joe Panik and Brandon Belt. Collins went to Blevins despite him being used way too frequently early this season despite the score being 6-1, and despite left-handed hitters hitting just 1-19 off Robles.
After Blevins got the two lefties, Collins went to Addison Reed to face Hunter Pence because of a little known MLB rule that if Pence hits a home run in Citi Field in the eighth inning of a game played on May 9th with the Giants down by five runs, the home run counts for 10 runs.
This ladies and gentleman is why Collins has stuck around long enough to pass Bobby Valentine for the second most games managed in Mets history.
Naturally, given how close this 6-1 game was Collins went to Jeurys Familia to close it out in the ninth. Somehow, the official scorer did not give Familia a save for this one. In any event, thanks to Collins pulling out all the stops, the Mets are back to .500.
Game Notes: Josh Smoker was sent down before the game to make room for Matt Harvey whose suspension just ended. Rafael Montero remains on the roster.
This just isn’t the same Jacob deGrom. Sure, he looks the same. The stuff sure looks similar, and he’s even getting big strikeout numbers. Still, something is off with him. Tonight was another example.
The Giants entered the game as the worst offense in the National League, and yet, they jumped all over deGrom. Hunter Pence hit a two run homer in the first to make it 2-0. After the Mets battled back to tie, Buster Posey hit one in the second deck to make it 3-2.
The final line for deGrom was six innings, four hits, three runs, three earned, three walks, and 12 strikeouts. He needed 105 pitches to get through the six innings. He’s now allowed at least three runs in each of his last four starts.
Despite to relative struggles, deGrom got the no decision as the Mets offense was scoring runs again.
In the first, Neil Walker hit an RBI ground rule double scoring Michael Conforto, who had earned a lead-off walk. Given the Madison Bumgarner game started the narrative that Conforto can’t hit lefties, it should be noted Conforto has been very respectable against lefties. So far, he is 3-12 with a homer and two walks against left-handed pitching. That includes him going 1-3 with a walk tonight against Giants starter Matt Moore.
The Mets tied the score at two when they strung three hits together to begin the fifth. deGrom and Conforto singled, and deGrom scored on a T.J. Rivera double. Despite the Mets leading the majors with batting average with RISP, the Mets could not push another run across despite there being no outs.
After the Mets fell behind on the Posey homer, the Mets responded. Juan Lagares was on first with two outs after Rene Rivera, who singled, was forced out at second. Bruce Bochy then made a very curious decision. After Curtis Granderson was announced as a pinch hitter, Bochy stuck with George Kontos despite lefties hitting .333/.455/.444 off him this year. Granderson made the Giants pay by hitting a game tying RBI double.
From there, it became a battle of the bullpens. Terry Collins continued his recent habit of not letting Fernando Salas pitch to left-handed batters. This meant after Salas recorded the first two outs, Collins went to Jerry Blevins to get the final out of the inning. With Addison Reed pitching a scoreless eighth, he was in position for the win.
The Mets would load the bases off Giants reliever Derek Law with one out. After Jose Reyes walked to start the inning, Rivera singled again, and Lagares walked. Asdrubal Cabrera, who has seemingly injured everything but his pinky toe, entered the game as a pinch hitter. He’d kill the rally by hitting into an inning ending 6-4-3 double play.
Going back to Conforto’s supposed struggled against lefties, Bochy brought on the left-handed reliever Josh Osich to start the ninth. Conforto worked out a lead-off walk.
After Osich retired the next two, Hunter Strickland relieved him. Wilmer Flores greeted him by hitting an infield single off his foot. Then Walker lined a ball to right for his first ever walk-off hit.
For all the talk about the Mets dysfunction, the Mets have now won seven of their last 10 games.
Game Notes: Despite rumors Gavin Cecchini was getting called-up, the Mets never made a roster move to put him on the major league roster. Jeurys Familia earned the win after pitching a scoreless ninth.
When you bat around twice in one game, you know your offense is humming. In fact, tonight marked the fifth straight game the Mets scored seven plus runs. It’s the ninth straight game the Mets scored five plus runs.
The latter the Mets took care of with a five run first inning. The fifth run was scored when Michael Conforto drew a bases loaded walk. Believe it or not, he did that again in the fifth inning. It was one of six walks the Mets drew on the night.
It was one of those nights. The Mets scored 11 on just seven hits. The walks and the Marlins having three errors will do that. In fact, with all that help, the Mets didn’t need a homer to score a run.
Every Mets batter reached base tonight except Wilmer Flores and Hansel Robles, and Robles had a successful sacrifice.
Flores entering the game was the real downside to the game. He entered due to Asdrubal Cabrera injuring himself while diving for a ball in the third. Initially, many thought it was another aggravation of his leg injury. In fact, he suffered a hand injury. Cue the Amed Rosario discussions.
Despite Cabrera coming out, the offense didn’t skip a beat with the Mets offense still clicking on all cylinders:
- Conforto 0-2, R, 2 RBI, 3 BB
- Cabrera 1-2, R, 2B, RBI
- Bruce 2-5, R, 2 2B, 3 RBI
- Walker 1-5, R, 2B,
- Granderson 0-2, 2 R, 2 BB
- T.J. Rivera 1-3, 2 R, RBI
- Reyes 2-4, R, RBI
- Plawecki 0-2, R, HBP, SF, RBI
- Gsellman 0-1, BB
It should be noted Gsellman wasn’t great again. He needed 83 pitches to get through five innings, and Terry Collins lifted him for a pinch hitter in the fifth to help expand the Mets lead.
Gsellman’s final line was five innings, eight hits, three runs, three earned, no walks, and two strikeouts.
The main issue for Gsellman is he’s not getting the ball down like he did last year, and he’s missing a tick or two off his fastball. That was apparent when both Giancarlo Stanton and Marcell Ozuna hit long homers off him.
On the bright side, Paul Sewald pitched two scoreless innings to close out the 11-3 game. Due to two big plays from Granderson in center, Sewald didn’t allow a hit.
The Mets have now won two in a row at home for the first time all season. They have also won six of their last eight to get back to second place. If they win tomorrow, they get their first home sweep and will be back at .500.
Game Notes: Even with a five run lead and two outs in the sixth, Collins still lifted Fernando Salas for Josh Edgin to face Derek Dietrich.
The Mets took a first inning lead when T.J. Rivera jumped all over a Tom Koehler pitch to make it 1-0. That was fun while it lasted.
Rafael Montero took the mound and was Rafael Montero. By some minor miracle, he had two scoreless before the Marlins scratched a run across in the third. Then the fourth inning happened. The 1-1 game became 6-1 in an inning Montero had just one on with two outs.
He then allowed singles to Martin Prado and Christian Yelich to load the bases. To be fair to Montero, the Prado ball was probably a ball Jose Reyes, who was playing shortstop for the injured Asdrubal Cabrera, should have gotten. Instead of getting out of the inning, the bases were loaded, and Giancarlo Stanton hit a two RBI double.
With the score 3-1, Terry Collins, like most of us, had enough of Montero. His final line was 3.2 innings, seven hits, five runs, five earned, three walks, and four strikeouts. The line looked a little uglier because Josh Smoker imploded as well allowing the inherited runners to score along with two of his own.
At that point, it was 7-1, and it appeared like the Mets were just playing out the string. Instead, they fought back.
It started with Curtis Granderson hitting a two run homer in the bottom of the fourth. The homer put the Mets within reach and made the ensuing comeback more manageable.
Part of that comeback was some terrific bullpen work. Fernando Salas, Hansel Robles, Jerry Blevins, Addison Reed, and Jeurys Familia combined to pitch 4.1 innings allowing just four hits and no walks while striking out three. This outstanding work allowed the five run seventh inning rally to matter.
It all started with Wilmer Flores hitting an opposite field single that dropped just in front of Stanton in right. Reyes doubled him to third, and Rene Rivera singled him home setting up first and third with no outs.
Cabrera then pinch hit for Blevins and knocked home Reyes. Michael Conforto loaded the bases with a single up the middle. T.J. would then tie the game with a two RBI double:
That was it for Brad Ziegler. He allowed the Mets to tie the score and put the go ahead run on third without recording an out.
Kyle Barraclough came on and almost bailed the Marlins out of the jam. He got back-to-back strikeouts of Jay Bruce and Neil Walker. From there, he lost control of the strike zone, and the Mets would break the 7-7 tie.
In the three pitches he did throw to Granderson, they weren’t particularly close. After Granderson was intentionally walked (thank the Lord we were saved from that one pitch), Barraclough threw four straight balls to Flores to make it 8-7.
With the Flores walk, a terrific comeback was complete. Just like they did last year, Reed and Familia combined to slam the door shut.
It was a terrific night where everyone pitched in to help the Mets win. Both Rivera’s really stood out. T.J. was 2-4 with a run, double, homer, and three RBI. Rene was 2-4 with a run, dlubke, and
With the win, the Mets are now just two games under .500, and they are now in third place in the East.
Game Notes: Travis d’Arnaud was put on the 10 day DL to make room for Montero.
It’s time again to wonder what’s wrong with Matt Harvey. Again, he struggled against a poor Braves offense. This time, he couldn’t hold a lead. He’s not striking guys out.
Tonight, his line was 5.1 innings, eight hits, six runs, six earned, three walks, and two strikeouts. His start was more frustrating than those numbers indicate.
After being staked to a 2-0 lead on a Jay Bruce first inning homer off R.A. Dickey, Harvey gave the lead right back by surrendering a two run homer to Freddie Freeman. The Mets then fell behind 3-2 when Harvey allowed an RBI double to Ender Inciarte.
It’s odd that this was considered an earned run. The rally was started when Jose Reyes threw a ball away allowing Kurt Suzuki to reach. Despite Reyes’ arm and Suzuki’s speed, it was ruled a hit.
The Mets tied the game at three in the third with an Asdrubal Cabrera leadoff homer. From there on out, it was all Braves.
Things began to unravel in the fourth with some poor pitching, luck, and umpiring. Adonis Garcia hit a lead off single, and then he moved to second on a Suzuki hit by pitch. On the hit by pitch, Suzuki actually took a full swing which should’ve negated the hit by pitch, but he was awarded first anyway. It should be no shock this was the decision as the first base umpire Larry Vanover was not good tonight. For example, he initially called Juan Lagares out on this play:
https://twitter.com/mlbreplays/status/859581152096534530
And then there was this one:
https://twitter.com/mlbreplays/status/859604994705588224
In any event, Suzuki was awarded first. Harvey then walked Dansby Swanson to load the bases despite Swanson entering the game hitting .151 and being up 1-2 in the count. Garcia then scored a run on a large hop off Dickey’s bat. Inciarte, a true Mets killer, made it 6-3 with a two RBI single.
The Mets had things cooking in the fifth and looked to be poised to tie the score again. However, Neil Walker grounded into a double play turning first and second no out to a runner on third with two outs. Then, Nick Markakis absolutely robbed Travis d’Arnaud. It was d’Arnaud’s last at-bat of the game as he’d be lifted in the sixth for Kevin Plawecki because his wrist injury flared up again.
Harvey pitched into the sixth, but he was removed with one out after throwing 99 pitches. He likely would’ve been hit with another run, but Lagares nailed a runner at the plate.
.@juanlagares2 shows off the cannon as he guns down the runner at the plate! pic.twitter.com/MQI16imync
— New York Mets (@Mets) May 3, 2017
The bullpen still fell apart, and like they’ve been in the past, Josh Smoker and Fernando Salas were the culprits. In the seventh, the two combined to allow three runs on four hits and a walk.
Like that, the Mets had a horrible 9-3 loss dropping them back to last place which is a place no one thought they’d be at this point in the season.
There were some positives. Michael Conforto (2-4, R, BB) and Bruce (2-5, 2 R, HR, GS, 6 RBI) stayed hot at the plate. Cabrera hit a homer. Josh Edgin and Paul Sewald were good out of the pen. Despite his struggles, Harvey is regaining his velocity hitting 98 on the gun.
There was also the ninth inning rally. Matt Wisler loaded the bases and Bruce hit an opposite field grand slam to make it 9-7. Jim Johnson then came on and retired Walker to get the save.
Still, this was a bad game for the Mets. Harvey struggled with his command. The bullpen struggled more than he did. The lineup past Bruce is still not hitting. They are also not winning games they should win.
Game Notes: Curtis Granderson asked for the night off as he feels his swing is off. He made a pinch hitting appearance going 0-1.