It’s a rare game when you fall behind by six runs and feel like you let one get away but that’s exactly what happened to the Mets on Monday, as they let a 7-6 lead in the eighth inning evaporate before falling, 9-8, in 10 innings. The two teams split the four-game series.
David Peterson didn’t have it today but Erasmo Ramirez made his Mets’ debut and kept the game close, as he allowed just one run in five innings. He was in line for the win, too, before the rest of the pen let him down.
Jeurys Familia gave up the tying run in the eighth and Miguel Castro gave up two runs in the 10th to take the loss. In between, Edwin Diaz pitched a scoreless ninth but was not brought back for another two-inning outing. Castro throws hard but he hasn’t done much in his MLB career to distinguish himself as a high-leverage reliever. It’s just too bad that the Mets used Chasen Shreve in a mop-up role Sunday. They could have used him today. Shreve hasn’t seen a ton of big spots but with the way he’s pitched, the Mets should given him that promotion.
Justin Wilson has been used a lot lately but they missed a chance to give him a one-out appearance today. In the 10th inning, the Phillies had a runner on second and two outs, with the righty Jean Segura up, with lefty Didi Gregorius on deck. The Mets opted for the righty-righty matchup with Castro facing Segura. After hitting a three-run double in the first inning, Segura tacked on a two-run homer for the game-winner. Segura finished with a four-hit day and Gregorius’ only hit of the game came off a tiring Castro in the 10th.
It was all set up for Jeff McNeil to be the hero, after he hit a three-run homer to give the Mets the lead. He was one of five guys with multi-hit games for the Mets today but it just wasn’t enough to overcome the pitching.
Loss on Rojas, Brodie(for trading for a crappy reliever), and Castro and Familia. Where was Justin Wilson in the eighth or tenth? Why leave Familia in vs a dead low ball hitter? Why no walk to Segura? Rojas is clueless and Brodie is brainless
Gut reaction? What a shame it was to lose this game. And, the person calling pitches should be executed, not fired. It’s a five or six year run of throwing away, away, away, and never throwing in tight because God forbid the ball hits the batter. But who leads “the world” in getting hit by pitches, as Gary Cohen put it? Our guys.
What a shame.
I was so proud of our hitters. They never gave up. They even fought in the tenth, but that bad swing by Conforto changed the at bat. But still, Davis hit a screamer to the wall in center. We love you guys, you deserve better. Pathetic that that moron GM for two years has been trading left and right and ruining the minors to add pitching, and guess what they don’t have… pitching.
There are 18 games to go, and this loss was a killer. 3 of 4 vs. Philly was as close to a must as you can have, as the prior poor play left virtually no margin for much losing. The pen is simply unreliable in big spots, which will be hard to overcome. I heard Rojas on the postgame touting Castro’s “electric” stuff, but how many times have we heard that. The Mets will need to dominate some tough competition to be a top half team when the games end.
Brodie is basically 1-10 in trades please fire him Steve Cohen
BVW cannot return next year. He cannot touch more prospects this winter.
Gut Reaction: this type of win could have build momentum but instead a wrench was thrown into the machinery.
Castro shouldn’t have been pitching because Shreve, Brach and Hughes are statistically better pitchers but Shreve and Brach were foolishly used in yesterday’s blow out. Rojas needs to utilized his bullpen better.
The Phillies played poorly but still got a series split. Very disappointing.
Brian,
Thoughts on bringing in Diaz for a second inning?
Very low pitch count for the one he pitched.
To use Diaz in the 10th after 12 pitches in the ninth is something that this generation of managers frowned on. That would have been my move, Diaz to start the 10th.
The other day Porcello retired his last 11 batters but was removed because he had thrown 100 pitches. He should have started the 7th inning.
Removing effective pitchers taxes the bullpen.
Using Shreve and Brach in a blow out was wasteful.
Not using your best reliever in a must game is something that the manager should be accountable for.
A good manager manages what he sees . Anyone can count pitches.
I rarely comment on a post just to like it, but this post was awesome and i especially loved your last statement!
“A good manager manages what he sees . Anyone can count pitches.”
I expected him to be back. I didn’t know the pitch count but it “felt” low and he just seemed like the best option.
In hindsight, I guess it’s not too surprising, given how hesitant they were to use him for more than one inning last year. And they had just recently used for a second inning and I guess they didn’t want to establish any patterns.
But if they were going to the pen, they should have brought in Jared Hughes. He was better rested and he’s a ground ball pitcher.