Despite the Mets 2-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday, there was one bright spot worth noting, and surprisingly it came from the bullpen.
After a solid start by Jon Niese who tossed 6.2 innings in his return to the mound, the Mets bullpen took over with Gonzalez Germen, Kyle Farnsworth, and Jose Valverde combining to throw 3.1 scoreless innings.
Gonzalez Germen came on in the 6th inning with two outs and men on 2nd and 3rd. He walked the first batter on four pitches, but after that he was perfect. Germen got a groundout from Zack Cozart with the bases loaded to get out of the jam, and then stayed in for the 7th. He coaxed a pop out and two strikeouts, and his stat line for the day: 1.1 IP, 0 R, 0 Hits, 1 BB, 2 Ks.
Kyle Farnsworth came in to pitch the 8th inning and while he did give up a hit to Ryan Ludwick and a walk to Jay Bruce, he also got three big outs from some threatening Reds. He struck out Brandon Phillips, got Joey Votto to fly out and finally Todd Frazier to ground out. Farnsworth, who was called up when Bobby Parnell went on the DL, ended up with the following stat line for the day: 1 IP, 0 R, 1 Hit, 1 BB, 1 K.
Jose Valverde was the third Mets reliever to deliver the goods, and he has yet to allow a run in three appearances this season spanning 3.1 innings pitched. Valverde, like Farnsworth, assumed a new role when Parnell got injured, taking over as the team’s closer. His only blunder was a harmless single to Brayan Pena. Other than that, Papa Grande got Cozart to fly out, and then struck out Chris Heisey and Roger Bernadina. His stat line for the day: 1 IP, 0 R, 1 Hits, 0 BB, 2 Ks.
With the way the Mets bullpen has been struggling to begin the season, it was nice to see some solid performances as the Mets closed out their homestand. Just taking a positive out of a Mets loss.
