After multiple starts in which he did not allow an earned run, Mets starter Christian Scott finally came back down to earth Wednesday afternoon against the Brewers.
The 27-year-old right-hander surrendered three runs over 3.2 innings as the Mets fell 4-3, snapping what had been an impressive stretch of dominance.
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Scott entered the game riding one of the best runs of his young season. Across his previous two starts, he had not allowed a run, worked at least five innings in both outings, and recorded five or more strikeouts each time. The surge had lowered his ERA to an excellent 2.87 entering Wednesday’s matchup.
Still, his final line does not tell the full story.
Scott worked through a scoreless first inning; however, high pitch counts continued to plague him, needing 21 pitches to get out of the first. He appeared on the verge of escaping trouble in the second. After allowing the first two batters of the frame to reach, he retired the next two hitters and got within one strike of ending the inning unscathed.
Instead, Joey Ortiz lifted a fly ball into right field that should have been the third out. Brett Baty, playing out of position in right, took a poor route to the ball, allowing it to drop near the warning track and bring home two runs. Moments later, Christian Yelich lined a single to score another, turning what could have been a scoreless inning into a three-run rally.
“It’s part of the game; it happens,” Scott said of the play postgame. “I know he’s going to pick me up next time, too.”
To Scott’s credit, he settled down immediately. The right-hander retired the Brewers in order in the third and recorded two more outs in the fourth before his afternoon came to an end due to a rising pitch count. He finished with four hits allowed, three walks, and three earned runs on 89 pitches.
The command was not as sharp as it had been in recent outings, and the walks certainly did not help. But Scott was also one defensive play away from escaping his biggest jam with minimal damage.
More importantly, there is little reason to believe one rough inning changes the bigger picture.
The underlying metrics continue to paint the picture of a pitcher finding his footing at the major league level. Scott’sfastball run value ranks among the top quarter of qualified pitchers, and his strikeout numbers place him among some of baseball’s most effective.
For a Mets team whose 2026 season has long since drifted off course, the emergence of young arms has become one of the few reasons to keep watching. Scott, alongside Nolan McLean and Zac Thornton, has helped inject a much-needed sense of optimism into the fanbase.
Wednesday may not have been his sharpest outing, but it did little to diminish what has been an encouraging breakout season so far.
