Just Mets

The Mets dropped their third consecutive series this weekend to the Nationals, losing three out of four to their division rival at home.

The Mets have now lost seven of their last ten games since the conclusion of their 11-game winning streak. They stand at 16-10 and 3 1/2 games ahead of the Braves in first place in the National League East.

Here’s a breakdown of the series statistically.

• The Mets lost their second straight game to the Nationals by a 1-0 score, the first time they have lost consecutive 1-0 games since September 4-5, 1990, and the first time they’ve done so to the same team since April 17-18, 1973. It was the fourth time they’ve lost consecutive 1-0 games in their history.
• The series loss to the Nationals snapped a streak of four consecutive series wins at home.
• The Mets went 4-for-23 with runners in scoring position in the four games, and the Nationals went 8-for-40 with runners in scoring position in the four games.
• Overall, the Mets hit .205 with just seven walks, 39 strikeouts, and only eight extra-base hits.
• Kevin Plawecki hit in all three games he played in this series and has a four-game hitting streak – he’s 5-for-15 with two doubles during that stretch.
• Juan Lagares hit in all four games during this series, and had three multiple-hit games against the Nationals in the four games. He went 7-for-15 – all singles – during the series and is hitting .377 over his last 20 games.
• Dilson Herrera went 1-for-10 in the final three games of the series.
• Michael Cuddyer went just 2-for-11 with a home run and three strikeouts in three games played against the Nationals.
• Daniel Murphy went 3-for-12 with three RBI, the three runs coming on a double in the eighth inning on Friday night.
• Mets shortstops combined to go 2-for-14 at the plate with two errors in the field.
• With the two one-run losses this weekend, the Mets are 5-4 in one-run games, losers of three straight.
• Mets starting pitching posted a 1.85 ERA and averaged a shade over six innings per start in the four games, although they issued nine walks in 24 1/3 innings (five of those walks were issued by Dillon Gee on Sunday).
• The bullpen had a 2.32 ERA in the four games, allowing only two walks with 13 strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings pitched.

Defense, defense, defense.

That’s what the games both on Thursday and Saturday came down to, which was really the difference in the series. Because they couldn’t execute in the field, they lost. The error by Wilmer Flores on Thursday paved the way for three runs which wouldn’t have otherwise scored, and on Sunday in the first inning the Mets failed to turn two double plays, which forced Dillon Gee to throw extra pitches, face additional batters, and the Nationals didn’t hesitate to take advantage.

Like I said earlier, runs are at a premium when it comes to these games. The pitching is so good on both sides, that opportunities are going to be few and far between and the pitching seems to have a tendency to tighten things up in tough spots, evident by both club’s performance with runners in scoring position.

As such, these games are coming down to executing the little things, getting sac bunts down, moving runners over, and making routine, big league plays. Simply put, the Mets did not do that too many times during this series (and over the last ten days in general), and it’s the main reason they have struggled to win ballgames since their 13-3 start.

Mets pitching was great.

The Mets pitching was really outstanding in this series, and if not for the error on Thursday night by Wilmer Flores, it could’ve arguably been even better. They matched the Nationals pound-for-pound on the mound the entire weekend. Top to bottom, the staffers rose to the challenge and expectation against the Nationals, and while it wasn’t pretty at times, they deserved better than the 1-3 line they got. Poor defense behind them and lack of run support in the bottom of their innings left them on the short-end of this series.

In particular, Alex Torres could have been an unsung hero in this series, especially on Sunday when he bailed Gee out of a bases loaded, nobody out jam in the sixth inning. He has allowed only one run in his last 11 appearances and has done a great job limiting the walks during this run. He’s been a great find for Sandy Alderson and the Mets.

The bats, on the other hand…

The Mets have not scored a run since the eighth inning on Friday. They only reached base 33 times in the four game series. They struck out 39 times. And, when they did have run scoring opportunities, they basically did nothing with them.

A lot of it is a credit to the Nationals’ stellar pitching. They certainly got their act together this weekend in what was a really big series for them in a building they’ve dominated in for the last few years.

However, the Mets are now clearly feeling the effects of not having David Wright’s and Travis d’Arnaud’s bat in the lineup. They were alright for a while, and Kevin Plawecki has really done a fantastic job filling in for d’Arnaud in particular and proven he belongs here. But, eventually a team missing two core bats like this is going to start hurting. They can only hope Wright can return within a week, and d’Arnaud has no setbacks when he’s evaluated in a week.

A chance to make a statement, and the Mets failed.

This weekend was a big opportunity to show the Nationals and the industry overall they were going to be a serious threat in 2015. It was also a chance for the Mets to change some of the discussion about Washington owning them in their own building, but that ownership continued, which is really disappointing.

They’re still 16-10 and 3 1/2 games ahead in their division, but it feels like a very big missed opportunity by not coming out with at least a split of this series. But the energy that existed over the first 2 1/2 weeks of the season seems to be missing with this club right now. Losing does that of course, and the Mets have done plenty of that since they started their road trip in the Bronx last Friday.

The off-day tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough for this club. They get a day where they can zone out, refresh, and try and figure out how to get that mojo back that’s gone missing recently.