3 Up, 3 Down: Senga, Carrasco Falter as Mets Drop Cardinals Series

Another series, another loss for the New York Mets. With a chance to right the ship against another underachieving team, the Mets instead became that get-right opponent for the Cardinals. The usual suspects showed up: the opposing home run ball, starting pitching ineptitude, struggles with runners in scoring position at the worst times, errors, controversial decision-making from the manager, and the bullpen inevitably proving those decisions to be questionable. Even the return of Pete Alonso could not get the Mets going. They are now as close to the bottom of the National League as they are to a playoff spot (5 1/2 games).

3 Up

Megill Masters Citi Field

Perhaps Tylor Megill‘s next start can truly be predicted by where he’s pitching. Another start at Citi Field yielded another strong start from the right-hander. Megill went six innings and gave up just four hits and one earned run with no walks and seven strikeouts. Naturally, the one run came on a homer, but the fact that it was solo was a big boon for Megill.

It certainly helped that he had a 3-0 lead after one and 5-0 after three, but the Mets have blown enough such leads in recent weeks for Megill’s ability to hold the lead to be notable. The biggest threat against him came in the fifth, when Willson Contreras homered to lead off the inning, followed by a double from Jordan Walker and a Dylan Carlson hit by pitch. This is when Megill often falls apart, but he bore down to strike out Paul DeJong. He was aided when Omar Narváez caught Walker stealing third and followed it up with a strikeout of Tommy Edman to end the inning.

The fact that Megill needed just 90 pitches to get through six was also encouraging. Laboring just to get through five has been a struggle throughout his career.

Megill now has a 2.79 ERA at home with a .216/.316/.328 slash line against him in 38 2/3 innings. He does have a 4.28 FIP and a 4.87 xFIP at Citi, which may suggest that some regression is coming. However, compared to his stats in 30 1/3 innings on the road—7.42 ERA, 6.00 FIP, 5.16 xFIP, .341/.420/.514—the Mets’ home ballpark has been a safe haven for Megill so far this season.

Pham-tastic

Tommy Pham continues to hit. With a 4-for-12 series including a homer and four RBIs, he is now up to .252 with an .809 OPS. His long ball tied a back-and-forth finale at seven in the fifth inning, making it a whole new game after the Mets’ pitching faltered early.

Over his last 15 games, Pham is hitting .340/.382/.740 with 17 hits, four home runs, four walks, 13 strikeouts, and three stolen bases. He has nine extra-base hits in 11 June starts (13 games played). On the season, Pham now has an .833 OPS in 75 plate appearances against lefties, which is one of the main reasons the Mets brought him in.

Pham’s play over the last month has been one of the few bright spots for the struggling Mets.

Baty Picks It Up

A hitter headed in the opposite direction has been Brett Baty, who is slashing just .222/.304/.323 over his last 30 games. A 3-for-8 slate in two games isn’t necessarily a major breakout, but Baty will take positives wherever he can find them. His key moment was a two-run double off Adam Wainwright in the bottom of the first in the series opener to give the Mets a 2-0 lead.

3 Down

Pitching to the Fences

The Mets continue to be victimized by the home run ball. Megill was able to limit the damage to one homer with no one on, but Kodai Senga gave up two homers scoring three runs, and Carlos Carrasco gave up another two to score three. The bullpen joined the fray in the finale, as John Curtiss gave up a solo homer and Adam Ottavino blew a tie game in the ninth by giving up a solo homer to Nolan Arenado.

Mets pitching has now allowed 100 long balls on the season, the third-most in baseball. Their 1.42 HR/9 ratio is the second-worst. Their rotation has allowed 1.46 HR/9, which is the sixth-most, while their relievers are the worst in baseball with 1.35 HR/9. It’s a collective effort of misery.

Why Ottavino?

Ottavino was the goat in the finale, surrendering that ninth-inning home run to Arenado. However, the question is why he was in the game in the first place. David Robertson had tossed a perfect eighth inning on just eight pitches. He is generally the pitcher the Mets turn to for the opponents’ big thumpers, in this case Paul Goldschmidt and Arenado.

Although Ottavino had struck out both players the day prior, that was exactly the point: it was the day prior. Ottavino often doesn’t pitch well on back-to-back days, while Robertson had not pitched in three days and was fresh. Buck Showalter once again pushed the wrong button in a perplexing way, and it came back to haunt him.

Catchers Circa 2022

Narváez started the first game of the series, while Francisco Álvarez caught the other two. They combined to go 1-for-11 in the series, the lone hit coming from Álvarez in the middle game. This looked like the 2022 catching tandem at the plate. Narváez is now just 2-for-14 since returning from the injured list, with both hits being singles. Álvarez, meanwhile, is hitting .167/.200/.417 in June, his four home runs the saving grace for his 8-for-48 showing so far.

The Mets travel to Houston for a three-game set beginning today (8:10 p.m. ET).