The Mets lost the second game of their four-game series against the Diamondbacks 7-2 tonight in Arizona. Here are my takeaways from the loss…
An embarrassing offensive performance.
The Mets offense hasn’t been performing for the majority of this season and as they continue to get decimated by injuries–Daniel Murphy being the latest victim to the disabled list–it becomes more and more of a focal point.
The offense seemed to get off to a quick start tonight when Michael Cuddyer blasted his 6th home run of the season in the top of the 2nd inning, but it was tough sledding for the team after that. In the 4th, Eric Campbell broke out of his woeful 0-for-28 stretch at the plate, delivering an RBI single to give the Mets a 2-1, and that was it.
After Jon Niese walked, Curtis Granderson had a chance to do some major damage with the bases loaded and two outs, but he was unable to do so as he struck out. That RBI hit by Campbell was the last hit the Mets recorded in the game, as they were completely stymied in the final five innings of this game.
Jeremy Hellickson, who’s ERA went down to 4.88 after tonight’s game, was able to stagger through six quality innings, and the Diamondbacks relievers took care of the rest. The Mets, facing a D-backs bullpen that leads the National League in innings pitched–a mark you obviously do not want to have–were completely hapless, as they failed to get a single runner on base in the three innings against them.
The wheels came off in the 8th.
As the Mets continued to get mowed down at the plate, they still had a chance in this game, trailing 3-2 entering the bottom of the 8th. This, however, is where the game completely got away from them.
In that half inning the Mets bullpen imploded, allowing three hits, three walks (one intentional), four runs and a wild pitch, and a 3-2 game quickly became a 7-2 blowout. With the Mets offense going the way it had been for the first eight innings of this game, I wouldn’t have expected them to comeback in the 9th down one, but at least they would’ve had a chance. This disaster of an inning took them out of this game and decided their fates prior to the 27th out being recorded.
Jon Niese pitched well enough to win.
It’s easy to get on Jon Niese, and I’ve been publicly critical of him (and rightly so) over the past month, but he pitched well enough to win on Friday night. Some people will choose to remember Niese’s error–on a play where the run would have scored no matter what–and him allowing two RBI hits to give up the lead in the 6th inning, but if you actually watched the game, you’ll know there was a lot more to that.
The hits allowed to Paul Goldschmidt and Yasmani Tomas by Niese in the 6th turned a 2-1 Mets lead into a 3-2 deficit, but both of these hits came on pitches that you wouldn’t even think were hittable. Sometimes, you just have to chalk it up to good hitting, and this is one of those cases.
On the night as a whole, Niese pitched pretty damn well, going six innings and allowing six hits, three earned runs and a walk while striking out eight. Tonight’s starters, Niese and Hellickson, finished with identical game scores of 55.
Other notes from Friday:
Ruben Tejada went 1-for-4 at the plate and extended his 8-game hitting streak.
Jon Niese was charged with his 4th consecutive loss tonight.
Carlos Torres allowed three earned runs, two hits and a walk in the 8th inning, increasing his ERA to 3.91.
The NL East standings continue to change on a nightly basis, as with their loss and the Nationals win, the Mets fell to a half a game out of first place.
Just Mets 