The New York Mets (13-12) fell to the Milwaukee Brewers (14-13) by a final of 10-2 in a contest that spanned three hours and twenty minutes on top of a two-hour, forty-minute rain delay. Jacob deGrom got the loss in his first start back from the 10-day injured list, moving to 2-3 on the season.

Pitching

The Mets opted to start Jacob deGrom despite the prolonged wait, and the results were not pretty. In his first start back following complaints of elbow soreness, the ace allowed five earned runs on five hits and three walks over four innings, raising his ERA to 4.85.

DeGrom navigated the first inning just fine, working around a one-out walk and stolen base from Christian Yelich by striking out Yasmani Grandal and forcing a weak popout from Mike Moustakas to get out unharmed. He kept a lid on the second inning as well, striking out the side to evade a bases-loaded jam brought on by a Ryan Braun single, Eric Thames hit-by-pitch, and Orlando Arcia base on balls (on four pitches, no less).

The wheels ultimately came off the bus in the top of the third, however, as the turn of the order quickly wrought havoc on deGrom. Yelich singled and again swiped second before Moustakas smashed a single off the right field wall to plate the game’s first run. DeGrom proceeded to hit Braun with a fastball before walking Travis Shaw to load the bases. On the first pitch following a meeting with pitching coach Dave Eiland, deGrom surrendered a two-run double to Thames. Arcia singled in two more in the next at-bat before deGrom notched back-to-back strikeouts to wrap up a 30-pitch inning.

New York batted deGrom in the bottom of the third, and ultimately gave him the fourth inning. To his credit, the righty made sure to leave on better terms, striking out Moustakas to cap off a much more encouraging three-up, three-down frame. In total, deGrom struck out seven batters, but threw only 55 of his 89 pitches for strikes.

In deGrom’s place, the recently-called up Corey Oswalt took up three innings of long relief. He issued a double in-between a pair of walks before Lorenzo Cain cleared the bases with a two-bagger of his own. Cain scored on another Yelich hit to add another four runs to the deficit. Oswalt retired his next seven batters in order (two via strikeout) to limit the carnage, though he still owns a 12.15 ERA through his first six and two-thirds innings.

Luis Avilan got the ball for the eighth, allowing a run on two hits in another trying inning – this one lasting 31 pitches. The effort nonetheless brought his ERA down ten points, albeit to a ghastly 9.90 on the season.

Fellow lefty Daniel Zamora made his second appearance in three games, striking out the side in order. The Mets threw 181 pitches on the night, combining for 14 strikeouts.

Offense

At the plate, the Mets amassed seven hits, but also left nine on base as Chase Anderson got off the hook with just two earned runs allowed on three walks and five hits in four and two-thirds innings. The first such run came across on a pair of two-out hits, the first a double off the bat of Brandon Nimmo and the second a single into left from Todd Frazier to make it 5-1. Frazier’s RBI could have been his second had it not been for a remarkable catch by Cain in the second – one that likely cost him his second homer of the season.

The fifth inning saw an almost identical sequence, as a Jeff McNeil double and two-out base hit from Robinson Cano pulled the Mets to within seven. After the fifth, the Mets hashed out just one hit – another double off the bat of McNeil, who is  now hitting .365 with a .944 OPS. Cano and Nimmo each pulled out multi-hit games of their own – with Cano now 18 for his last 45.

Pete Alonso, Wilson Ramos, Michael Conforto, and Amed Rosario all went hitless in the loss. Alonso’s average has now dipped below .300 for the first time since Opening Day, while Ramos’ diminished .653 OPS remains a concern.

On Deck

The New York Mets will be playing the second game of this series tomorrow night at Citi. Noah Syndergaard will be on the mound for the Mets looking to bounce back to form, while the Brew Crew’s Brandon Woodruff will be the opposing pitcher. Game time will be at 7:10 EST.