Just Mets

The Mets were shutout by the Nationals by the score of 1-0 at Citi Field on Saturday night. Here are my takeaways from the loss…

A well played loss.

The Mets played well, but the bats were completely flat against Gio Gonzalez on Saturday night. They had a good chance to score in the first inning but Tim Teufel was a bit over-aggressive sending Juan Lagares on a Lucas Duda double to left. The Mets really only had one other chance to score tonight, which was the fifth inning when Lagares singled Anthony Recker to third with two outs, but Duda grounded out and that was basically that for the Mets.

The Mets did record two outs on the bases tonight thanks to that tough send by Teufel as well as an over-aggressive base running mistake by Dilson Herrera in the sixth inning, which was frustrating. But, they clearly recognized it would be difficult to score runs and were trying to take advantage. Unfortunately, neither play worked out for them…

Jon Niese had a gritty effort on the mound.

Niese allowed ten baserunners in seven innings tonight, but most of those came in the early innings. He only had two 1-2-3 innings tonight and worked in and out of trouble, but was blessed with some good defense by Daniel Murphy, Lucas Duda and Dilson Herrera to help him out in the sixth to bail him out of a big mess. For the most part, he finds a way thanks in large measure to his ability to throw strikes and not allow walks.

Gonzalez was just a couple of pitches better than Niese, but his effort was still commendable.

Terry Collins played the matchups, and it didn’t work.

Collins designed his lineup tonight to take advantage of Gonzalez from the right side. John Mayberry Jr. has excellent historical numbers against Gonzalez, as does Murphy and Michael Cuddyer. But, they didn’t do a thing against Gonzalez tonight – they went a combined 1-for-8 against him tonight. It happens, but with David Wright and Travis d’Arnaud out, it’s hard to succeed when those other guys don’t hit.

Simply put, the Mets are feeling the effects of not having David Wright and Travis d’Arnaud in the lineup. Their fill-ins have done an admirable job, but there’s only so long they can be without two of their primary players in the lineup. Unfortunately, in this situation it makes it difficult for Collins to rest other players, but he needs to ensure they stay strong both mentally and physically as well. The cost, of course, is a weakened lineup and difficulties in scoring runs…

Other notes from Saturday:

The Mets have lost 16 of their last 18 games against the Nationals at Citi Field.

Carlos Torres worked two perfect innings out of the bullpen in relief of Niese.

The Mets drew only two walks on Saturday – they’ve drawn only 13 walks in their last nine games.