It was too much Freddy Peralta, as he combined with three relievers to one-hit the Mets for the first time ever on Opening Day, leading the Brewers to a 3-1 win Friday afternoon at Citi Field.
The Mets jumped on top early, as Starling Marte hit a homer to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. But Jose Quintana was unable to make it stand up, as he allowed a solo homer to Christian Yelich in the fourt inning to tie the game and then a scratch run in the fifth that proved to be the game-winner.
Quintana wasn’t awful but hopefully Mets starters can get out of the fifth inning starting tomorrow.
But awful might be a good word to describe the Mets’ offense. It’s tough to know if it’s more good pitching or bad hitting. Peralta had a good outing against the Mets last year, too, so let’s give him the credit here.
Marte had a couple of good swings, as did Brandon Nimmo, who hit two line drives but had nothing to show for it. Otherwise, the Mets looked pretty poor at the plate.
Outside of Jorge Lopez, the Mets’ relievers had a nice day, with Michael Tonkin going two full innings and Drew Smith getting four outs.
As Gary Cohen reminded us twice during the game, Harrison Bader doesn’t hit RHP. Carlos Mendoza did not pinch hit for him in the ninth inning and Bader tapped out to short to start the final inning. Nimmo’s liner to left center was caught for the second out and Francisco Lindor grounded out to short to end the game.
One last note was that there was a mini dustup when Rhys Hoskins purposely slid past the bag to crash into Jeff McNeil, who was none too pleased with the slide. McNeil immediately jawed with Hoskins and both benches cleared. Hoskins could later be seen from the safety of the bench giving a “crybaby” sign. Hoskins kept contact with the base, so there was nothing for the umps or replay to overturn. But there’s no doubt he was trying to make contact with McNeil.
It’s a play no one would bat an eye over, say, 30 years ago. But Chase Utley changed all of that forever with his slide back in 2015. it’s a different time now and this isn’t looked at with a shrug anymore. I detest throwing at players and the vigilante justice system that so many others lust for. But my advice to Hoskins is to expect some close pitches the rest of the series.
Kudos for the quick not happy recap. No
offense tends to usually lose. Nice to see Marte with a HR but now shocked that he needs a translator for postgame comments that he is now making. But that’s another story for a veteran who should be speaking English after a decade in the league. Nice relief work. Tomorrow’s another day-hopefully with a win.
Quintana is a #3 starter basically and that’s what we got from him today.
Marte for Comeback Player of the Year!! Seriously, I hope he does well this year. Marte and Martinez could really help this offense!
The Mets offense picked up where it left off…roaming around in the wilderness completely lost, without a compass, and low on water. Sure hope an S&R team finds them before too long. You cant make the post season April, but you sure can miss it when May rolls in. Mets starting pitching picked up in th esame place too, with Quintana going all of 4 2/3 — 14 outs — in what looked like a start clouded by butterflies as he couldnt find home plate if it was blinking neon pink. It sprt of got better, but only not really. Lets hope 5 IP is not the new 6 IP. Sadly Im needing to rethink what a quality start is. I used to laugh at the normal definition just a few years ago, but it seems like that might be a real limit now.
We are tied for second in our division – not concerned that it could change tomorrow. 🙂
Mets we’re due to drop an opening day game sooner or later. It may be just me, but it seems that when the Mets play a weekday day game at home, the offense is missing in action. This game reminded me of a July mid-week get away game.
Gut reaction: this was an uninspiring game. The offense was dominated by Peralta. Baty had a nice play to start the double play in the first inning. Morte showed life with a home run and a fence hugger later. It would have been nice to have Wendle leading off the 9th instead of Bader against the righty. I hope Tonkin will be used more in a significant role in the future like the fifth or 6th inning instead of the mop up in the 8th and 9th inning.
First, I did get thrown out of the chatter. I was posting for a while with no problem but after a few, I saw my comments come up for a second or two and then disappear. I had to get back to work anyway, but I don’t know what happened. We will find out tomorrow.
Speaking of finding out tomorrow, John Harper on SNY.tv pretty much wrote that the Mets have to hit Hoskins, and I agree. He wrote how Lindor commented last year that maybe they should get into a brawl just to awaken the team, so he didn’t write that for no reason. A Showalter response is the wrong sign for a team that was lifeless last year. Not the head, but the knee would be proper. McNeil was right, Hoskins is a prick.
As for the loss, a continuation of spring training’s sorry at bats. They hit some well, but enough of them. Hats off to Peralta, and tomorrow is a new day. There’s that word again…
Dear Mr. Harper,
Much like I don’t have to read anything you write, the Mets don’t have to hit Hoskins just because you say (or imply) so. Not everyone needs to act in this pseudo-macho way. I’d prefer my revenge to come from striking him out multiple times along with giving him the “crybaby” sign as we round first after hitting a homer, massively slowing down the HR trot while passing him for full effect.
Furthermore, Mr. Harper, if you simply must have an outlet for this infantile rage of yours, perhaps you can put on a Jean Claude Van Damme movie or something and get your gratuitous violence there.
*****
Gus, I was very pleased you were able to join us for the Game Chatter yesterday and I hope you don’t experience the issues you had yesterday.
Brian:
Who’s Mr. Harper?
Is this somebody’s alter ego?
Gus wrote: “Speaking of finding out tomorrow, John Harper on SNY.tv pretty much wrote that the Mets have to hit Hoskins”
It’s still the hitting! How many games will this team score 3:or fewer runs? It’s tough to win those games.
Just for some perspective, the 100-win Dodgers scored three runs or fewer last year 51 times
And how many of those 51 did they lose?
You can count them, if you’d like.
The point is that a 100-win team plays nearly a third of their games scoring three runs or fewer. It’s completely unrealistic to think that a 75-win team won’t play a bunch, too.