For the fifth time this season, the Mets played a rubber game. And for the fifth time, the Mets came out on the short end of the stick, this one by a 7-6 margin Thursday afternoon in Washington against the Nationals. It was the second time this year that the Mets dropped a series-deciding game against the Nats.
The Mets made it exciting in the ninth inning, as they scored two runs and had the bases loaded. But Keon Broxton, in the game as an injury replacement, struck out to end the game. Broxton now has a .143/.208/.163 line in 51 PA. Assuming that Jed Lowrie comes back sometime this year, it will be criminal if they keep Broxton and ship out J.D. Davis.
Zack Wheeler put the Mets in an early hole, as he gave up four runs in the first inning. But Nats starter Anibal Sanchez had to leave the game in the second inning with an injury and the Mets struck back to tie the game in the third thanks to an RBI double by Robinson Cano and a three-run homer by Michael Conforto against the Nats’ beleaguered bullpen.
Unfortunately, those two players would combine again, this time in a most painful way. Cano, known for his leisurely jogs to first base, decided to go hard after a ball down the right field line. Conforto went hard, too, and the two players collided, with Cano’s shoulder delivering a knockout blow to Conforto’s face.
Conforto got up and wanted to continue playing but was taken out for precautionary measures after an extended delay, with Broxton replacing him in right field. And that delay may have contributed to Wheeler serving up a gopher ball to the next hitter, Gerardo Parra.
Wheeler ended the day with 6 IP and 6 ER. In three starts against the Nats, he has allowed 17 ER in 15.2 IP for a 9.77 ERA. Against the rest of baseball this year, he has a 2.93 ERA.
And if you can handle one other piece of bad news, Jeff McNeil left the game early, too. He was shown in the dugout talking to the manager and the trainer after he slid into second to break up a potential double play and did not come back for the next inning due to abdominal tightness.
Finally, it had little bearing on the game but Laz Diaz’ strike zone was extremely poor, with players on both teams shaking their heads after missed calls throughout the day. Gary Cohen mentioned during the late innings that the Mets’ bench was riding Diaz hard all game. It’s hard to imagine it was any different with the Nats’ bench.
It is certainly time to DFA Keon Broxton. He cannot hit major league pitching.
Time to bring up Carlos Gomez
That seems to make perfect sense. Broxton is awful.
Right now this team shows all the hallmarks of a pretender. Yes, it is only one game, but their record in rubber games, and specifically midweek day games after night games, is lousy. And today, with the chance to bury a division rival off to a bad start, and with a very favorable pitching match up, and additionally into the Nat’s terrible bullpen, Wheeler was a huge disappointment.
It will take quite a while for me to regain some enthusiasm, even with a sweep over the minor league Marlins.
For the Metsies to play in the post season, this absolutely must end up being the low point of the season. If they encounter a lower point in the future, they’re dead meat
Gut Reaction: the Mets showed up at 1:30 p.m. for an important game that’s started at 1:05 p.m. Why? Were they were prepared for this game? Were they prepared for the four previous rubber games? The Nats came into this series reeling and the Mets could have buried them. Instead Mets were exposed to be imposters. Contenders you don’t have a record of 0-5 in rubber games. Another weekend is coming vs the Marlins and once again they have to sweep in to be above 500. Why?
Gut Reaction : disappointing and rudderless.
Hiw about – Callaway, + Girardi.
One positive takeaway from this game – we finally got to Sean Doolittle.
Usually, I’m pro-player when giving the benefit of the doubt, but this time I can’t be. I saw Broxton get overmatched by a very hittable fastball this afternoon. One he seemed ready for.
https://nypost.com/2019/05/16/slumping-keon-broxton-frustrated-over-lack-of-playing-time-with-mets/
And Mike Vaccaro gives us a dose of reality:
https://nypost.com/2019/05/16/mets-must-be-careful-or-this-season-will-get-away-from-them/
Seems a certain CarGo was removed from the game in Syracuse this afternoon for unexplained reasons, coincidentally right after Conforto got hurt.