The Mets loaded the bases in the ninth inning but could not complete the comeback, as the top two hitters both failed to come through with a clutch hit, leading to a 3-1 loss to the Cubs Tuesday night in Chicago.
Two walks surrounding an out brought Luis Guillorme up as a pinch-hitter and he promptly singled to load the bases, the first hit this year given up by Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel. But Brandon Nimmo struck out for the third time and Francisco Lindor hit a weak groundout to end the game.
The star of the game for the Mets was their bullpen, which delivered 4.1 scoreless innings after Taijuan Walker was unable to get through the fourth inning. All of the guys who hadn’t worked much each got an appearance and while Aaron Loup didn’t get in the game, he threw enough in the bullpen to consider it an outing.
Walker fell apart in the fourth inning, done in by his inability to throw strikes and a few missed calls by the ump didn’t help any, either. After he was removed, Walker was thrown out of the game for arguing with the home plate ump. A few innings later, Luis Rojas, too, was ejected by the home plate ump after heckling the ump from the bench.
The Mets’ only run came thanks to a homer by J.D. Davis. But Davis also made a couple of errors in the field, one which led to a run for Chicago.
The Mets had a chance in the ninth inning and the guys at the plate to make it happen. They failed. We must be reminded that baseball is a game of failure. All you hope for is a chance.
Hard to explain the Davis pumping on his throws. Get it and sling it dude. Alonso has not been as good with the scoop this year as in the past, and I wonder why he thinks he needs to stretch on every play to his fullest extent. It is so hard to keep your balance and have soft hands on such extension.
Walker is throwing harder than ever, and we learned that Matz got velocity happy last year. Hope Walker can control his new found velocity. Tomorrow is a new day.
I admit some concern about the Mets’ alarmingly sluggish offense.
They made Arrieta look like the pitcher from five years ago… the one who competed with Kershaw and Greinke for the title of best pitcher in all of BB, instead of the pitcher who has steadily declined since his peak
Yesterday’s game was an all-around bummer. I was encouraged to see Taijuan throw so well in the early going. JD’s first error started the unravelling.
I believe Walker will be an effective starter.
Luis needs to find sparks for the offense. Lindor, Conforto, McNeil causing some worry.