The Mets lost to the Diamondbacks by the score of 2-1 on Saturday night in Phoenix. Here are my takeaways from the loss…
One bad pitch…
Bartolo Colon was great tonight, and once again very entertaining with his antics at the plate. He was cruising for 6 2/3 innings tonight before allowing a single to Chris Owings and a two-run home run to Wellington Castillo.
Just like that, a slim 1-0 lead turned into a 2-1 deficit, seemingly more than enough for the Diamondbacks pitching staff against what the Mets are putting on the field at this point.
What else can be said about the offense?
Station-to-station, runners left on-base, too many hits needed to score a single run. It must be Saturday, right?
The sad part about the offense is they’re not underperforming or underachieving at this point. It’s not even a team wide slump anymore. They simply do not have enough big league players and/or quality hitters on the field at this point in time. This is what they are, and this is what they have been for most of the season, injuries not withstanding.
The pitchers simply cannot pitch well enough to put the rest of the roster on their backs. In tonight’s case, Colon needs to be able to allow a couple of runs in seven innings and still win a game. Period. And, he can’t, not with this group.
It’s obvious what needs to happen. It’s obvious to the team, it’s obvious to the league, it’s obvious to the entire industry. Now, it’s up to the front office to get it done and save the season.
Hat tip to Juan Lagares, Ruben Tejada and Michael Cuddyer.
They’re pretty much the only two position players actually playing well right now, and they put together solid nights at the plate on Saturday. Tejada went 1-for-3 to improve to 16-for-his-last-36, and Cuddyer had two hits to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. Lagares also has five hits in this series.
But in regards to Tejada, right now, he is the best second baseman, shortstop and third baseman on the Mets at the moment. That represents what is a real sad state of affairs for the Mets, but it is not bad for a guy in Terry Collins’ doghouse ten days ago. He has simply been outstanding since Collins gave him this opportunity.
The Mets grounded into 4 double plays on Saturday – they’ve grounded into 54 double plays in 57 games this year.
The Mets managed only one run despite nine singles and a home run on Saturday night.
New York had base runners in all nine innings of Saturday’s game, but only one of them scored.
Just Mets 