Trevor Hildenberger

Luis Rojas Luck Ran Out In Mets Loss

New York Mets manager Luis Rojas rolled the dice a number of times in the game against the Chicago Cubs, and he kept getting lucky. Really, it was a number of just interesting, weird, and outright wrong decisions.

With J.D. Davis incapable of playing third, the Mets finally relented and put him on the bench. The Mets also sat Jeff McNeil. That led to Luis Guillorme at third and Jonathan Villar at second, instead of the reverse, which would’ve been the better defensive alignment.

So, naturally, right off the bat, Rojas’ (or front offices’) decision looked genius when Guillorme robbed Ian Happ:

This helped Joey Lucchesi get through the first two innings unscathed. Unfortunately, the Cubs would get to him in the third.

After walking two with one out, Lucchesi was on the verge of escaping the inning unscathed after a Happ flyout. Lucchesi had some bad luck with he got hit by a Willson Contreras comebacker driving in a run.

Kris Bryant then hit a two run double giving the Cubs an early 3-0 lead. That would prove to be it for Lucchesi as he would be lifted in the fourth for a pinch hitter.

The Mets responded in the fourth immediately. Dominic Smith doubled, and then Pete Alonso followed with yet another homer to pull the Mets to within 3-2.

The Mets would have a chance to build on this but couldn’t. Michael Conforto would double, and Villar drew a walk. That was it as neither Kevin Pillar nor Nimmo, who pinch hit for Lucchesi, could drive home the tying run.

At the time, Lucchesi had only thrown 60 pitches, and the Mets bullpen had been worked hard the past few nights. Rather than err on the side of caution, Rojas went to recently called up Sean Reid-Foley.

Reid-Foley was phenomenal pitching three scoreless. A pitcher who has struggled all of his career with control walked none and struck out four.

In the seventh, Rojas got lucky again. With one out and one on, Rojas tapped Davis to pinch hit over McNeil against Ryan Terpera. It worked as Davis hit a game tying RBI double, which should’ve been a triple as the ball got away from Jake Marisnick.

After a scoreless seventh by Trevor May, Rojas made the very curious decision of having Aaron Loup start the inning with the first Cubs LHP due up sixth.

The decision looked like an immediate disaster with Marisnick hitting a lead-off triple. Loup bore down getting Austin Romine to pop out, and Happ to strike out.

Rojas then went to Miguel Castro. Why Castro didn’t start the inning is anyone’s guess. Castro came up big striking out Contreras to end the inning.

Rojas then made yet another curious move. He only used Castro for the one batter. He would wind up double switching Edwin Diaz into the game which was setting the stage for Diaz to pitch two innings.

Notably, Diaz is not accustomed to two innings, and he’s not great with runners on base. With his being set up to pitch the 10th, and there being the ridiculous runner on second rule, that’s an important consideration.

The Mets got to the 10th partially because James McCann threw out another runner. On the play, Bryant had the bag stolen, but he came off the bag for a nanosecond. McNeil, who was double switched into the game with Diaz, kept the tag on leading to Bryant being called out.

In the 10th, Villar started the inning on second because Rob Manfred hates baseball. He’d quickly be on third due to a wild pitch. After McNeil struck out, Guillorme and Francisco Lindor walked loading the bases with one out.

Dominic Smith had the chance to deliver a huge hit. He hit the ball hard, but right at the second baseman David Bote, who started the inning ending 4-6-3 double play.

The Mets would not get another opportunity as Rojas’ luck finally ran out.

Diaz started the 10th, which meant a runner on second. His first pitch of the inning hit Matt Duffy. Bote would lay down the sacrifice. On the bunt, Alonso had a play at third, but he’d slip leaving only the out at first.

Rojas ordered the intentional walk to load the bases, and Jason Heyward came up as a pinch hitter. Diaz would throw one down the middle, and Heyward ripped a game winning single.

With that, the Mets suffered their first sweep of the season. They lost to a bad Cubs team and really looked bad in the process. At least, they are still .500 and in first place.

Game Notes: Trevor Hildenberger was sent down to make room for Reid-Foley. Mets were 1-for-8 with RISP stranding seven.

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Mets No Fuego In Second Half Of Doubleheader

After a big comeback to get Jacob deGrom a victory in the first half of the doubleheader, the Mets couldn’t replicate the feat to get Joey Lucchesi off the hook. With that, their four game winning streak snapped.

The Rockies jumped all over Lucchesi in the first. The first out he recorded was a long sacrifice fly by Trevor Story. Two batters later, CJ Cron hit a two RBI double giving the Rockies an early 3-0 lead.

On the other side, German Marquez was dealing for the Rockies. The only time he would get in trouble was the fourth when Jeff McNeil hit a two RBI double to pull the Mets to within 3-2.

With McNeil as the tying run at second, Jonathan Villar grounded out to end the inning. The Mets would get no closer, and this game would turn into a rout.

After Lucchesi went three, Robert Gsellman made his 2021 debut. He pitched effectively pitching a scoreless fourth. That should’ve helped keep the Mets in the game.

Jacob Barnes relieved Gsellman, and he imploded in the fifth. Like Lucchesi, the Rockies jumped all over him.

With runners at the corners, the Mets couldn’t turn a double play on a weakly hit Charlie Blackmon grounder. That allowed a run to score, and it extended the inning.

After Cron walked, Josh Fuentes hit a three run homer to expand the Rockies lead to 7-2. That put the game out of reach and allowed Luis Rojas to continue using his not often used relievers.

In addition to Gsellman and Barnes, Trevor Hildenberger would appear in this game. In his Mets and season debut, he pitched a scoreless inning. However, it was too little too late.

Marquez pitched a seven inning complete game. There are a few reasons we can pinpoint, but the Mets didn’t have it in the second game. That means a runner game tomorrow.

Game Notes: Brandon Nimmo extended his on-base streak to 23 games (dating back to last year)

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Michael Conforto Elbows Out A Win

Being a starting pitcher isn’t always fair. You can have a great outing like Taijuan Walker and still not get the win.

Walker came out throwing heat hitting 97 MPH on his fastball. With a little help from Francisco Lindor, he’d keep the Miami Marlins hitless through 4.1 innings.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lindofr01.shtml

The problem for Walker was the Mets offense was non-existent. Well, their offense with runners in scoring position.

Brandon Nimmo led off the bottom of the first with a double, and he was stranded. In the third, Lindor and Michael Conforto drew a pair of two out walks only for Pete Alonso to foul out.

In the fourth, the Mets loaded the bases with one out, but Walker couldn’t help his own cause hitting into the inning ending double play. Finally, the Mets would break through in the fifth, but they were unlucky.

The Mets loaded the bases with one out with Dominic Smith at the plate. Smith hit a long fly to center which looked like it would clear the bases one way or another. Instead, Starling Marte would make a great read and play limiting Smith to a sacrifice fly.

Unfortunately, Walker gave the lead right back. Mets killer Jon Berti singled to lead off the inning. Walker came very close to picking him off, and it would cost him.

Corey Dickerson hit a double to right, and when Conforto fumbled with the ball which bounced off the wall towards center, Berti scored easily. Marte would later move Dickerson to third on a fielder’s choice.

Walker then battled Jesus Aguilar. Aguilar had a great at-bat battling back from 0-2, checking his swing on a nasty pitch, and then singling home the go-ahead run on a full count.

On the bright side, the Mets bullpen, who struggled in Philadelphia, was excellent. Miguel Castro, Trevor May, and Edwin Diaz combined for three scoreless innings which gave the Mets a chance in the bottom of the ninth.

Jeff McNeil, who for reasons beyond comprehension is only batting seventh in the lineup, led off the ninth after starting the season 0-for-10. Actually, make that, 1-for-11.

That homer off Marlins closer Anthony Bass tied the score at 2-2. The Mets weren’t done.

Luis Guillorme pinch hit for Diaz, and he hit an infield single to second. After Nimmo doubled, the Marlins walked Lindor to load the bases to put the pressure on Conforto who has been struggling at the plate.

What looked like strike three nicked Conforto’s shoulder forcing home the winning run. Conforto successfully stuck his elbow out to get the win.

It was quite the redemption story for Conforto who needed that hit. It was also a great start to the season for Diaz getting that win. It’s even better the Mets won their first game of the season.

Game Notes: Dellin Betances was put on the IL with a shoulder impingement. Trevor Hildenberger was called up to join the bullpen.

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