There may be worse ways to lose a doubleheader but none jump immediately to mind. The Tigers came into these games 10-17 and near the bottom, if not dead last, in virtually every offensive category. So, they earn a come-from behind victory in Game 1 and then ambush Max Scherzer in Game 2 to sweep the Mets Wednesday in a day-night doubleheader in Detroit.
The Mets rallied back from 3-0 and 4-2 deficits in the first game to take a 5-4 lead, with the big blow being a 2-run homer by Francisco Lindor. The game seemed to be a foregone conclusion at that point, with the only question being who would pitch the ninth for the Mets. Adam Ottavino came on in the eighth and the booth was speculating if Buck Showalter would have Ottavino pitch two innings in order to save David Robertson for the nightcap.
But Ottavino put two runners on base and both came home on a single by Eric Haase, who was having a career day. Earlier, Haase hit a three-run homer to give the Tigers the early lead. He also doubled and homered in the second game.
Max Scherzer started for the Mets in the nightcap and he wasn’t good at all. He topped out at 93 .9 and his command wasn’t sharp at all. Perhaps he would have benefited from a rehab start, after only pitching three innings in three weeks. Regardless, he allowed 6 ER in 3.1 IP and gave up two homers.
There was not much in the way of good news despite playing two games. Tommy Pham had three hits in the first game and while one was a semi-gift from the official scorer, the others were a double and a home run. Mark Canha also went deep in the first game, in the same inning as Pham. The odds against that had to have been astronomical. Yet they still lost.
Middle relief came up strong in both games. Jimmy Yacabonis retired all nine batters he faced in the opener, while Zack Muckenhirn and Jose Butto allowed just 1 R in 4 IP in the second game. Meanwhile, the two SP combined to allow 10 ER in 7.1 IP.
The Mets desperately need some good work from their starters. Justin Verlander is slated to make his Mets debut Thursday afternoon and let’s hope he can give the team a Quality Start.
The starting pitching has been completely unreliable and the offense inconsistent. They look old and slow. And the Braves look like a well-oiled machine with plug and play backups at seemingly every position. Not the start to the season we wanted.
Yikes. Not sure there’s much else to say. Thought we had the first game so was thinking we would drop the night cap as sweeps hardly ever happen. Spoke to soon.