BREWERS 4 - METS 3
18 INNINGS
It took 18 innings, and at the end of the day
the New York Mets are now under .500 for the first time this season following a
heartbreaking 4-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, Saturday night.
Having taken a 3-2 lead in the top of the 18th on Jeff
McNeil’s single to left that scored Andy Hechavarria from second base, reliever
Chris Flexen, with an assist from home plate umpire Angel Hernandez, gave it
right back to Milwaukee.
On a night where the Mets bullpen was truly phenomenal, Flexen was
the last guy out of the Mets bullpen as the game reached the 17th
and 18th innings. Blame Manager Mickey Callaway all you want, but
there was nowhere else to go, unless he was willing to warm up a starting
pitcher.
With the game still tied at two, Flexen impressively got out of
trouble in the 17th inning when he worked around a leadoff double by
Ryan Braun and an intentional walk to Ben Gamel.
However in the 18th, he completely lost the strike zone.
Flexen walked Eric Thames on five pitches, even tough there were two
pitches in the at bat that were clearly strikes that were clearly missed by
Angel Hernandez.
After jamming Mike Moustakas into a fly-out to center, Flexen walked
Yasmani Grandal on five pitches, and walked Travis Shaw on four pitches.
Ironically, all four pitches to Shaw were right on the corner of the
strike-zone, and could have been called. But don’t tell that to Herandez –
infamously baseball’s worst umpire.
Still, Flexen should have been more aggressive in the strike zone
and not left it up to Hernandez to decide what was and was not a strike. This
is now two uninspiring outings for Flexen this year, who now boasts an ERA of
11.12.
Finally, Braun made the Mets pay lining a singe down the right field
line scoring both Thames and Grandal to win in for Milwaukee.
The loss is a frustrating one for New York. The Mets offense was once again non-existent.
New York went a combined 1-for-3 with Runners In Scoring Position, and walked a
grand total of one time, which over the course of an 18-inning game is
inexcusable.
Outside of Pete Alonso, who remains hot, and tied this game at two
back in the ninth inning on a solo home runs, and McNeil, who broke out of his
slump with a three-hit performance, nobody else is hitting.
Robinson Cano went 0-for-7. Michael Conforto went 1-for-5, although
he showed a couple of good swings. Wilson Ramos was 1-for-6. Amed Rosario went
1-for-7.
Over the last four games, the Mets, as a team are hitting .170
(26-for-153) with five runs scored, five RBI, six walks, 48 strikeouts, and are
a measly 2-for-18 with RISP. Before Alonso’s homer on Saturday, the only other
Met to go long this week was Noah Syndergaard.
The Mets lack of offensive firepower spoiled a solid outing for Zach
Wheeler, who did well on Saturday allowing only two runs over seven innings
while striking out 10.
At 16-17, the Mets have to find a way to avoid a sweep at the hands
of the Brewers before flying to San Diego, Sunday night. New York will turn the
ball over to Jason Vargas on Sunday. You could say this is “must win” game for
the Mets and a “must impress” game for Vargas, who needs to give the Mets
better than four innings of work.
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