Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
The New York Mets recalled southpaw Joey Lucchesi Monday afternoon to take the mound as they sought to fill their fifth-starter spot in the rotation. However, Lucchesi’s time on the mound did not last as long as the Mets had hoped and his start paved the way for a 6-5 St. Louis Cardinals victory Monday night.
Lucchesi, who last pitched three innings against the Chicago Cubs on April 22, could not make it out of the third inning against the Cardinals. The 27-year-old thew 63 pitches over 2 2/3 innings and allowed six runs on seven hits, two home runs and a walk.
Trouble brewed for Lucchesi from the beginning of the game as Tommy Edman ripped a triple off him to start the game. Dylan Carlson then hit a sacrifice fly to give the Cardinals an early 1-0 lead. While Paul Goldschmidt walked, Lucchesi was able to limit the damage in the inning as he got Nolan Arenado to ground into a double play.
The Mets took a 2-1 lead in the top of the second to give Lucchesi some early run support. While he responded by retiring the first two batters to start off bottom half of the second, the Cardinals were able to tie things up on a Harrison Bader home run to left center field. He then got out of the inning as he struck out Andrew Knizner for his only strikeout of the game.
The Mets offense went back to work in the top of the third and produced him three more runs of support. Despite the 5-2 cushion, Lucchesi could not keep the Cardinals off the board. Like in the second inning, Lucchesi started off the third by retiring the first two batters. However, after that he proceeded to give up two singles, a home run, and two doubles to relinquish the lead by a run.
Robert Gsellman was called upon with two outs in the third to finish off the inning. He did so on six pitches by getting Bader to fly out in foul territory.
Gsellman stayed in to pitch the fourth and fifth innings and responded with two perfect innings. He helped keep the Mets in the game and lowered his season ERA to 2.35 in the process.
Sean Reid-Foley came into the game in the sixth and picked up where Gsellman left off. He kept the Cardinals off the board for two innings and struck out three in the process. Although he has only been limited to two outings so far this season, Reid-Foley has struck out seven batters in five scoreless innings.
Jacob Barnes contributed as well in the eighth with a scoreless inning of his own.
While the Mets’ starting pitching has been their strength throughout the early portion of the season, it was the bullpen that shined in this one.
Both Gsellman and Reid-Foley could have been the ones to open things up against the Cardinals, as Luis Rojas mentioned both their names yesterday as being in the mix. In the end he opted to make a roster move to recall Lucchesi who has now struggled in all three starts he has made this season.
