Mets Limp into All Star Break After collapse vs. Pirates

 PIRATES 6 - METS 5 

This is not the way the Mets wanted to go into the All Star Break. When the Mets saw they had the Pittsburgh Pirates for four games at Citi Field to precede the halfway point of the season, one could only help but think the Mets had a chance to roll into the break. 

Three wins? Maybe a four-game sweep?

2-2? To the lowly Pirates? Now that is inexcusable. And the way the Mets lost on Sunday was equally inexcusable. 

A five-run lead, thanks to home runs by Fransisco Lindor and Michael Conforto in the bottom of the first inning was not enough. Not enough when the Mets decided instead of pitching Jacob deGrom on short rest, opting to go with a bullpen game. As a result, the already overworked pen got lit up like a Christmas tree against Pittsburgh's young stars. 

Rodolfo Castro and Michael Perez both went yard off of Jared Eickhoff in the top of the fifth. Then Castro decided to do it again, this time crushing a pitch from Jeyrus Familia the opposite way to left for a two-run homer that cut the Mets lead to 5-4. 

Then after Miguel Castro struggled to get out of the eighth inning, Luis Rojas rolled the dice and brought in his closer Edwin Diaz into the game for a five-out save. Diaz walked  Rodolfo Castro to load the bases and worked extra hard to strikeout both Michael Perez and Ke'Bryan Hayes to get out of the inning. It was no surprise that come the ninth inning he had nothing left. 

Adam Fraizer hit a hard liner to left for the first out. Then Kevin Newman doubled and moved over to third on a ground out. Facing their last out, John Nogowski singled up the middle, scoring the game-tying run. Two batters later Wilmer Difo reached on an infield single that brought in the lead run to give the Pirates a 6-5 advantage. Diaz was finally done, but the facts are he should have never been allowed to pitch two innings to begin with. That is on the manager. 

As a result, the Mets turned what should have been an easy victory, a waltz to the All Star Break, turned into the Mets' worst nightmare. If that is a preview of coming attractions of the second half, the Mets are in big trouble. They can't continue to burn the bullpen the way they do if they hope to challenge for a World Series. Losing games like this to the Pirates is disturbing enough.