0-6.
That is the Mets record coming out of a six-game home-stand
as they were swept away by the Atlanta Braves and Colorado Rockies, two teams that looked
light-years ahead of where the Mets want to be at this point in the season.
All the good feeling that New York built up during an 11-1
start is now gone. The Mets are now just two games over .500 at 17-15, and look
more and more like a team in complete free-fall.
New York’s problems go well beyond Matt Harvey, who was
designated for assignment on Friday. The Mets problems are manifold. They can’t
hit, they fail at situational baseball, their starting pitching is erratic, the
bullpen is stretched out way too thin, and injuries are stacking up.
Sunday’s 3-2 loss to the Rockies was more of the same for
the Mets. Even when things appeared to be going right, they went terribly
wrong. A 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning became overshadowed by
Yoenis Cespedes’ apparent hip injury.
Cespedes clarified a
sore quadricep was the reason for his exit, but still, the news is not welcome
news for the Mets. Not on the same day the Mets placed Jacob deGrom on the
10-day DL as a precaution after the ace suffered a hyperextended right elbow
last week against Atlanta.
Thing went from bad to worse when Noah Syndergaard, once again,
labored through another start for the Mets. Syndergaard, who is the last man
standing in this once vaunted rotation, lasted only six innings, allowing two
runs on six hits. He walked four (a season high) and strikeout only five. It
was the seventh time this year that Syndergaard was well over 90 pitches after
six innings of work – a clear indication that he is trying too hard to strike
people out, and is not pitching to contact.
When he did pitch to contact, Ian Desmond launched a
Syndergaard fastball over the left field wall to bring the Rockies closer at
2-1 in the second inning.
In the top of the third, Syndergaard lost complete command,
surrendering singles to Charlie Blackman and David Dahl, and walking Nolan
Arenado to load the bases. Later, Syndergaard lost Gerardo Parra to a
four-pitch walk to drive in Blackman with the tying run.
There was nothing Syndergaard and the Mets could do but just
shake their head and move on.
Unfortunately for Thor there was no run support coming. After
scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning, the Mets never scored
again, managing only two hits for the rest of the afternoon. New York was
1-for-4 with RISP, stranded six men on base and struck out 13 times as a team.
That kind of production would actually be a good day for the
Mets offense of late. Since the calendar flipped to May, the Mets are hitting
.192 (38-for-197) as a team with a .243 on base percentage. Only three players
have hit home runs this month, and the Mets have combined to score only 11 runs
during the six game losing streak.
They just aren’t getting it done. Jay Bruce, Amed Rosario,
Todd Fraizer, and Adrian Gonzalez are all scuffling right now with the bats.
Michael Conforto is a man on his own island. Conforto is batting .128 in his
last 39 at bats dating back to April 19. Mickey Callaway gave him the past two
games off, but asked him to pinch hit on Sunday, only to strikeout swinging
with nobody on in a tied game.
In many ways it was fitting that the game would be decided
on Desmond’s second homer of the day, this time off Hansel Robels, the man the
Mets recalled after dumping Harvey.
As the slumping Mets hit the road for Cincinnati on Monday
night, they do so knowing they are behind both the Braves and Phillies in the
NL East, with the Nationals hot on their heels to knock them back down to
fourth place.
It just seems to be going from bad to worse everyday lately.
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