Photo by Chris Simon
Carlos Carrasco took a step back from his great start to the season after experiencing a rough outing against the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday afternoon.
Coming into the game, Carrasco had a 1.47 ERA and 0.600 WHIP as he held opponents to nine hits, two walks, and three runs over 18 1/3 innings. Those numbers were all multiplied as he allowed eight hits, eight runs (seven earned), and two walks on Wednesday. It was the most runs he had given up since June 26, 2017.
Carrasco has had his fair share of trouble in the past during in the first inning. That issue came back up to the surface again in this start, but to a lesser extent.
He started the first inning off well by getting Tommy Edman to strike out swinging on an 88 MPH slider.
Carrasco followed that up by battling Paul Goldschmidt for eight pitches before getting him to line out to center on the ninth pitch of the at-bat. Carrasco nearly put together a 1-2-3 inning but was hurt by a ball put in play that was charged to Francisco Lindor as a fielding error. The next two batters recorded base hits to get St. Louis on the board 1-0. Carrasco limited the damage however, by getting Dylan Carlson to ground out to second base to end the inning.
The second inning was a rebound inning for Carrasco. It took him one pitch to get Paul DeJong to pop out, four pitches to get Yadier Molina to pop out, and four pitches to get Edmundo Sosa to strike out swinging.
In the third inning, Carrasco ran into a little more trouble. Edman and Goldschmidt led off the inning with back-to-back singles. Both runners advanced on a groundout by Tyler O’Neill and then came home on a base hit by Nolan Arenado. Carrasco was able to protect the Mets’ 4-3 lead by inducing a popup and a flyout in between a four-pitch walk.
The fourth inning is where the wheels came off for Carrasco. He was greeted by a double off the bat of Molina to start the inning and put Sosa on base by hitting him with a 93 MPH sinker. Edman tied the game by driving a ball to right field for an RBI double, prompting a visit to the mound.
Carrasco started to settle down by getting Goldschmidt to line out and by striking out O’Neill on three pitches for his third and final strikeout of the day. With runners at second and third, he intentionally walked Arenado to load the bases, but that plan quickly backfired as he threw a wild pitch that gave the Cardinals a 5-4 lead. Corey Dickerson extended that lead with an infield hit to plate another run.
After giving up his sixth run, Carrasco was pulled from the game in favor of Sean Reid-Foley. The book was not yet closed on him as he was still responsible for the runners on first and third. Carrasco ended up being charged for them both as Reid-Foley allowed a two-run triple to Carlson before getting out of the inning.
Not only was the performance Carrasco’s worst of the season so far, but it was the worst performance by a Mets starter in the young season. It also bumped the Mets from having the best rotation ERA in baseball (2.16) to having the fourth best (2.67).
“Carlos has been throwing the ball well,” Buck Showalter said after the game. “He’s healthy and he feels good, and today was one of those you just put behind you and move on to the next one.”
Carrasco will look to rebound when he takes the mound again next week in Queens when the Mets host the Atlanta Braves.
