The Mets tried to use the same formula as last night and it worked almost as well: a couple of runs in the first, leave it to your starter to hold it, add some insurance later. This time, it was Seth Lugo carrying the load.
The normally solid Jose Urena started for Miami, but Curtis Granderson got things going again from the leadoff spot as he laced a double to the left centerfield warning track to start the game. He crossed to third on a line drive to right by Asdrubal Cabrera, daring the shotgun arm of Giancarlo Stanton. After Yoenis Cespedes flied out to shallow left, Jay Bruce lined a base hit to center on an 0-2 pitch. T. J. Rivera followed with another double to center and the Mets had a 2-0 lead. They upholstered their lead nicely in the third, when Granderson reached on a challenged play that was called a throwing error on shortstop J. T. Riddle. After an out, Cespedes notched an infield hit to third. Bruce then hit a bloop to the opposite field that eluded the venerable Ichiro Suzuki. T. J. Rivera tested Ichiro again, lining a base hit for another RBI. Jose Reyes hit laser to Stanton in right and Bruce boldly raced home against Stanton’s cannon. It was 5-0, New York. They would need every last run, as it turned out.
For his part, Lugo looked smooth and sharp for five innings, yielding only three hits, one of them a Stanton homer in the fourth. In the sixth, though, he wobbled. With one out, Dee Gordon walked, but was gunned down by catcher Rene Rivera when he inexplicably tried to steal second. Stanton singled and Christian Yelich did the same. Third baseman Martin Prado hit line single to left, where Cespedes unleashed his own cannon arm, just missing nailing Stanton at the plate. The ball kicked away from Rene Rivera and runners ended up on second and third. Lugo then uncorked a wild pitch to make it a 5-3 ballgame. Mercifully, Justin Bour lifted a soft fly to Granderson to end the inning.
That was enough for Terry Collins, who turned this fragile game over to his shaky bullpen. Those relievers seemed to have their appearances on a loop. Jerry Blevins gave up a leadoff hit in the seventh, but held them off with a strikeout. Josh Edgin gave up a leadoff hit in the eighth, but held them off with a strikeout. Addison Reed gave up a leadoff hit in the ninth, but held them off with two strikeouts.
After a dreadful 0-4 start to the road trip, the Mets finished their travels 5-5.
Back home to phace the Phillies tomorrow night.
Reed looked very sharp tonight.
Nine games before the break, including three against Washington. Nats bullpen blew another one tonight and they lost Trea Turner with a broken wrist. Hopefully we take care of business against Philly and have a better showing against Washington this time around.
“phace the Phillies”? LOL.
Wins are a beautiful thing. And although the heavyweights are slapping the Mets around now, I always felt the players to win are there. How they are used is a different story.
I would not abandon the plan to sell, but I’d make it a soft sell. The Mets are redundant in many areas: outfield, second base and first base. Bruce, Duda, and Walker are three good pieces to move. You can leave Flores at first, Cabrera at second, bring up Rosario, and let Reyes/Rivera figure out third base. There’s enough on this team. The trick will be how to sell Reed and replace him. He is harder to replace. Is Familia coming back? Can you sign a Bartolo Colon and move a starter to closer, say Wheeler? Also, Robles has stopped getting knocked around in Vegas and may be back after the all-star break.
Edit: Robles just gave up the tying run in the eighth on 2 BB and a hit, with 0 K’s. What happened to this guy? He should be back in the second half, but I think this guy may be one hard headed pitcher.
Lugo turned in another quality start which minimizes the use of the bullpen. Reed has been the only reliable relief pitcher the past month with Blevins and Edgin having ERA’s over 4.66 and WHIPS over 1.66. Lugo is having trouble going further into games having not broken 100 pitches in any start. Hopefully he can increase his stamina while maintaining his effectiveness as the season progresses. This is not a complaint, just an observation.
The reality of the standings tells the story of this very good offensive team that is injury stricken that has had their pitching collapse. Dismantling the offense would be a mistake. Bruce, Walker (if he can play 3B) and Reed should be kept and resigned. Restructuring the pitching staff is where the hard decisions need to be made.
A series win and moving ahead of the Marlins was positive but being throttled in Los Angeles for four games should remind the fans the reality of the season.