It was an even game until the bullpen got involved. But Sean Reid-Foley and Grant Hartwig combined to give up three runs in the seventh inning and the end result was a 5-2 loss to the Twins in the opener of a three-game set in Minnesota Friday night.
Kodai Senga started for the Mets and didn’t have his best stuff. He really needed a lot of pitches to get thru the first two innings but settled in to give a full six frames. Along the way, he passed Jerry Koosman for second place for most strikeouts by a rookie pitcher for the club.
Veteran Dallas Keuchel, who was released three times last season, which had me thinking he was no longer in baseball, handcuffed the Mets the first time thru the order. But it was different in the second go-round, with Francisco Lindor hitting a two-run, rulebook double to give the Mets a 2-1 lead.
But potential Met Carlos Correa tied the game with a monster homer.
And then the wheels fell off once Senga left the game. The relievers didn’t pitch well but that’s hardly a surprise. What really made you roll your eyes was that the Twins tried a double steal with runners on first and second. The pitch was in the dirt and got away from Francisco Alvarez. But he recovered quickly and had the runner at third dead to rights with a good throw. Instead, it went into the outfield. The runner didn’t immediately head home, so when Tim Locastro picked up the ball in shallow LF, an accurate throw gets him by at least five feet. Instead, the throw was up the line and the run scored.
It was just pitiful.
Locastro’s throw looked like he shot-put it to the plate. In fact, Darling was very critical of that misplay and Darling hardly ever says anything negative about the team. In this instance he said that a simple one hopper gets the runner by ten to twelve feet and Locastro’s throw was inexcusable. I agreed, but I am way more critical of the fellas. Can’t excuse Alvarez for such a bad throw either, as he held the ball too long and it really sailed to the left.
If that play is made – and it should be – Reid-Foley doesn’t allow a run as he struck out the next two guys. But instead, it was just two outs and he throws a meatball hanging slider to Lewis that he just smashed and the ball may have broke the top of the fence in dead center. Again, Darling was critical – in a subtle way this time – by saying that Nimmo plays a deep center field and still had no shot at getting close to it.
Mets remain in the seventh draft position and will be penalized 10 spots unless they get to sixth.
Hard not to play for draft position these days even if I am a fan of not dumping. Play the kids every night. Mauricio took his first 0-for but looked good in the field. He along with Baty and Vientos need to play everyday even they contributed nothing to the offense last night. Alvarez can go the rest of the year without a day off because he is 21. I like his aggressiveness when he throws behind the runner at first but clearly they still need to work with him to sharpen the basic skills he has. This group is the future either on the field o to up their value as trade chips. Another quality start from Senga who gave us six without his best stuff. That’s what a pro does. Even with a good inning it is odd to think of bringing in Coonrod with his plus 7 ERA. How can a team have so many relief pitchers with ERAs that look like bad earthquake numbers? Somewhere there must be a stat of how many games were blown by the pen, not just at the end of the game but by the clowns who threw in the 5-6-7 innings. Not sure how to pluck out that stat but Brian you probably could. Peterson and Megill up next in two day games against a team rushing toward a division title and then the DBacks trying to hang on to the 3rd WC spot in the NL. These games could be ugly. Giants -Cowboys up Sunday night which will prob be another crappy start to a Big Blue season. No rest in sight for us New Yorkers.
” How can a team have so many relief pitchers with ERA’s that look like bad earthquake numbers?”. Simple……Eppler’s “Fault”.
First off – “bad earthquake numbers” is a great line.
Secondly, the “fault” pun was very-well played!