The Mets jumped out to a 5-1 lead but ended up losing to the Cubs, 6-5, Thursday afternoon. The loss meant a four-game sweep by the Cubs, who also swept the Mets in Wrigley in 2014.
- Coming into this game, the Mets were struggling offensively. So they go out and hit three homers and the pitching can’t hold the lead. But let’s not blame it all on the pitching, as two of the runs were unearned, including the last one which scored thanks to a passed ball. Anthony Recker had two homers; he also allowed the winning run to score.
- Michael Cuddyer was 0-4 and is now batting .173 (13-75) since Travis d’Arnuad hit the DL. Ruben Tejada made his first start at 3B in this game and made a couple of nice defensive plays. Maybe he can make his first start in the outfield, next.
- Lucas Duda picked up two more hits against LHP today. At some point, teams will have to become reluctant to send any lefty to the mound to face him.
- After newly-recalled Jack Leathersich allowed the only batter he faced to reach base with a walk, Erik Goeddel came on to pitch a scoreless eighth inning. Goeddel now has 9.1 scoreless innings in 2015. Too bad Terry Collins didn’t use him in the ninth inning yesterday.
Ugh.
Yup.
Whether Tejada can play 3B isn’t the question. Why Murphy was rested when this team has been desperate for any offense, and he’s hitting .343 over his last 10 is mind-boggling to me. Is he hurt that I don’t know of? Was it just a normal rest day? If so, then nice timing Collins. This losing phase is certainly not Collins fault, but these moves are very confusing to me. Bench Cuddyer for a couple games.