Just Mets

In his previous nine starts, Noah Syndergaard ascended to the top of the National League Rookie of the Year race with a stellar 1.80 ERA, to lower his season ERA to 2.66.

But on Saturday, Syndergaard suffered a setback at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, when he coughed up a 3-0 in the first inning and went back to the dugout trailing 4-3 after the bottom of the first inning.

“The first inning I got a little too fastball-happy,” Syndergaard explained about his problems in the first inning. “It was just kind of a disappointing outing, because my arm felt so good out there.”

Indeed that was a part of his early problems, but he also lacked a lot of command of those fastballs and whatever other kinds of pitches he was throwing. He threw more balls than strikes with both his curveball and change-up not just in the first inning, but in all four of his innings on Saturday.

In a way, that forced him to come in with his fastball, which was just being centered way too often, especially in the first inning.

“I got a little tense out there, a little frustrated,” Syndergaard explained. “I wasn’t really sure what was going on in the first inning. It was just kind of like a merry-go-round. … If I get tense, I start trying to throw harder and harder.”

“The offense did their part. I just wasn’t able to uphold my end of the bargain,” the big right-hander said.

On the surface, it could be chalked up to a poor outing after a string of brilliant performances.

But Syndergaard has mostly struggled away from Citi Field in his first big league season, although up until Saturday, it began looked like he had found a way to get himself on-track on the road.

In his previous three starts away from Flushing – all against the Dodgers, Cardinals and Nationals – he had a 2.00 ERA despite going 0-1 with two no-decisions.

But then came Saturday night in St. Petersburg when he was just ineffective, falling to 0-5 with a 5.01 ERA in eight starts on the road, compared to 6-1 with a 1.57 ERA at Citi Field.

“When we go on the road, the command of [Syndergaard’s] pitches is not the same as it is at home,” Terry Collins explained. “Whether it’s the mound, the difference in mounds, it’s hard to say.”

Syndergaard doesn’t feel a difference away from New York, although he knows he needs to pitch better away from Citi Field and be more consistent in general.

“With the home crowd there, it’s a little bit easier to pitch,” Syndergaard said. It’s just something I’m going to have to learn to deal with.”

It’s something that will improve over time, although the Mets really need to be able to depend on him on the road down the stretch of the pennant race they’re currently leading.