The Mets found out that it’s not so easy having multiple days off before the start of a playoff series, as after three full days off they were blanked by the Dodgers, 9-0, Sunday night in L.A. It’s the first time in these playoffs that the Mets have trailed in a series.
Kodai Senga got the start and simply could not throw strikes. He issued four walks and three of those came around to score. Senga was pulled after just four outs and he allowed three runs.
Many thought that David Peterson should have started this game. But he got hit hard in relief and allowed three runs, too. And Jose Butto completed the three runs allowed trifecta, as the Dodgers scored three times against him, too.
Meanwhile, the offense was held to just three hits. While there were many who struggled, Starling Marte had a particularly poor night. He struck out in the second, stranded two runners in the fourth, flied out in the seventh and struck out to end the game in the ninth. And he committed an error in the fourth that allowed a run to score.
There won’t be much time to dwell on the loss, as Game 2 comes with a 3:15 start time on Monday.
A good game to move on from. Offense stayed at home and that puts a lot of pressure on the pitchers who collectively stunk up the joint. Let’s get them tomorrow and steal a win in LA.
It’s pretty ironic that earlier today I was thinking about the 1060 World Series, where the juggernaut Yankees played a pretty good Pirates team. In the four Pirates wins, the average margin of victory was 1.5 runs and it was less than that twice. In the three Yankees wins, the margin of victory was 12 runs. But, the Pirates won the series. It’s how I expect the Mets to have to do it. The Mets have some nice starting pitching and bullpen that can hold its own. But their lineup features four black holes in Marte, CFers (whoever is there lately), Alvarez, Inglesias, and two guys not hitting well lately in Nimmo and Lindor. Match that against a Dodgers lineup that doesn’t chase and has power and no black holes, and we have a problem. Manaea tomorrow to handcuff them and even the series!
Mendoza is very proud of how smart his gut has been and he has listened to it. He should have showed his gut the stats. Tomorrow, put Nimmo in CF, McNeal in LF, Winker in RF, and DH Martinez. Also, maybe Torrens?
Lets hope this terminates the Senga as a starter plan. He’s not ready.
Did you read Andy Martino’s piece in SNY today? Two scouts told him Senga is afraid to throw his fastball.
He looked scared to me and I’m no scout. They tried…it kinda worked once, failed once…put Otto on the roster and we’ll see Senga in 2025 if he can get through a full spring training.
Time to focus on the bats, or lack there of, and the starters that helped get them to the NLCS.
Will be at the game tomorrow hopefully bringing some good luck to the boys. Mets will bounce back
A forfeit in MLB is scored as 9-0. That seems appropriate based on last night’s game. Let’s shake off the rust from the multi day layoff and go home with a split.
Gut Reaction: Senga had it in Philadelphia. He sure didn’t have it in Los Angeles.
It is one game in a series of games. On the September 20, 2024 they were beaten 12-2 and Peterson started. They won the series 3-1.
In hindsight, Manaea should have started and Senga should have started in Game #2 because the bullpen could have benefited with the off day Wednesday.
Let’s even the series today!
They were just not ready yesterday. I think they made a huge gaffe starting Senga. It should have been Manaea, Severino, Quintana in games 1,2,3.
The one thing that bothered me was Winkers bine headed base running. I havent seen anything like this since my kids were in T ball decades ago