It was déjà vu all over again, as the Mets jumped out to a 4-1 lead, only to fall to the Braves, this time by a 7-5 score Wednesday night in Atlanta.
Max Scherzer was terrific the first four innings. He gave up a two-run homer in the fifth but Buck Showalter, who had the quick hook with Carlos Carrasco yesterday, allowed Scherzer to go out for the sixth. It didn’t work this time, either, as Scherzer allowed two runs and saw the Braves take the lead.
It’s hard to criticize Showalter for sticking with Scherzer. But taking out Brooks Raley to bring in Adam Ottavino, who pitched Tuesday night, and not very well, seemed questionable at the time and terrible in hindsight, as Ottavino served up a two-run homer to the lefty-hitting Michael Harris II for the game’s final runs.
The Mets showed a little more fight in this game than in the opener, as they rallied to tie it, 5-5, in the seventh inning. Tommy Pham, who came on in the first inning after Pete Alonso was hit by a pitch, came up with the bases loaded and hit a shot that had extra-bases written all over it. But Ronald Acuna Jr. made a terrific catch and turned a 3-run double into a sacrifice fly.
Earlier, Pham hit a two-run homer to put the Mets up by three runs. Francisco Alvarez also hit a solo shot.
The Mets have now lost five games in a row. Every team has losing streaks and it’s never a good idea to panic when things don’t go your way. Still, it’s hard to shake the feeling that this team is lacking fire. Last year, we saw Showalter run out of the dugout when Francisco Lindor was beaned. It seems to me we need to see that fire again. It doesn’t have to be Showalter.
But on this team of good guys, who’s going to provide the passion that it seems from afar that this team needs?
Gut Reaction: if a team is that is playing their chief competition and takes a 4-1 lead in the game, with their Ace pitcher the mound and he is cruising, then they should win the game. The Mets didn’t and that is very concerning. They are under .500 and it is the first week in June and 2.5 games behind a playoff spot. They need to focus on that playoff spot. The Braves aren’t going to fold. You could see that in the last two games. They need a shake up in the batting order and two good relief pitchers. Sit the underperforming. Play the players that are performing for the last two weeks. Call up Mauricio and make sure to play him. Move Alvarez up in the batting order.
They need Verlander to pitch well and win tonight.
Good news: Pham’s vision seems to have been corrected, and he and Alvarez can supply power.
Bad news: Just about everything else. The decision not to sign Andrew Chafin was a bad one (as some of us said at the time—actually for two years). His FIP is 2.53 and his K/9 is at 13.9. His fourth good year in a row. I did think staying with Vogelbach at the beginning of the year was a good decision, but now?! Why did they bring up Vientos again?
A 6 hit performance, which is quickly becoming the average.
That said, this one is on the $43 million starter, who melted down again and also cost a run and extended pitches by not knowing where his SS was playing.
The Mets are showing that they are far far behind the Braves in virtually all aspects of the game.
For sure T.J.
It shows that building a team systematically and with great couting will yeild consistent results. Cohen threw money at the Mets, but the fact is outside a few players ther rest are just so-so sunk costs. It was a honorable attempt to capture lightning in a bottle, but as always, its fleeting and unsuccessful.
It is also time to start throwing mud at Eppler for strings of what appear to be poor player personnel decisions as a contributing factor. Im not calling for his head, but given virutally unlimited resources, like with the Padres, the scent of failure is in the air.
Where we can be happy about, and a major turn of events for the team, is that in what is rapidly turning into a rebuilding season, the Mets have not parted with its youth core that *must* form the basis for the future. It is rapidly becoming time to get real big league playing time for the future when the stakes continue to drop for 2023.