The Mets dropped the rubber game of the series to the Phillies, 4-0, Wednesday night. It was the 12th time this season that the Mets have been shut out.
Noah Syndergaard was victimized by the gopher ball, as he allowed two homers in his four innings of work. Neither one seemed to be particularly well struck and both landed in the first row of the right field stands. A high pitch count led the Mets to pinch hit for Syndergaard in the top of the fifth inning. In 20.1 IP against the Phillies this year, Syndergaard allowed 13 ER for a 5.75 ERA. Against the rest of baseball, he has a 2.95 ERA.
The less said about the Mets’ offense tonight the better. Six pitchers combined on the shutout. Starter Zach Eflin was pulled after five innings because he, too, had a high pitch count thanks to three walks and nine strikeouts. Mets batters could not lay off his offspeed stuff and consistently went down swinging on pitches out of the strike zone.
Amed Rosario, with three hits and two stolen bases, was the lone bright spot for the offense.
That sucked.
The game swung in the second inning, when Eflin hadn’t settled in quite yet and had first and second with no one out. Jackson struck out on a 3-2 pitch middle of the plate at the knees (actually he struck out on the 2-2 pitch also) and Nido hit a 4-6-3; he couldn’t even get around on the pitch. After that, tip your cap to him, he did well.
The Phillies take alot of pitches and foul off alot of pitches. With the Mets having a weak bullpen, this team is a bad matchup for them because they have a good lineup that will knock out the starter early and deal with the underbelly of the bullpen. And while the Mets have several “hitters” in the lineup that really are #8 hitters, the Phillies lineup is much more balanced and deeper.
Drafting tenth, one game ahead of Minnesota and 1.5 ahead of the Giants. Looks like 12th would be the worst the Mets can be. That’s the only scorecard that matters once the game is over. Until then, we do play to win.
My gut reaction: Effen Eflin!!!
Is it a true statement that as Michael Conforto goes, so go the Mets? They sure miss Cespedes. Frasier and Bruce are just pieces at their stage of their careers. 12 shutouts ,as Chris says, make 12 times that watching the Mets suck .
Rosario has finished strong but he doesn’t have a OBP over 300. He doesn’t belong as the lead off hitter especially when they have a 400 OBP player on the roster.
It was disappointing to lose the series when they could have done damage to the Phillies. Let’s split the National series. LGM
Nimmo leadoff
McNeil number 2
Conforto 3
No way with his OBP, Rosario should not be a leadoff hitter.