Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
While the New York Mets’ rubber game loss in Philadelphia was not pretty from a pitching standpoint, they did not help themselves out offensively either.
On the mound, left-handed starter David Peterson had a rough day and was charged with six earned runs as the losing pitcher in this matchup — while at the plate, Mets’ batters went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left 14 men on base.
This has been an issue for the Amazins’ dating back to last season, where they had one of the league’s highest batting averages, but were ranked 12th with a .245 average with runners in scoring position.
After the game, Mets manager Luis Rojas summed it up plain and simple. They just weren’t able to come through in big spots when the opportunities were presented.
“I thought we had plenty of chances to comeback. We just didn’t get the big hits,” said Rojas.
Phillies ace Aaron Nola was not necessarily on his A game either, but battled through four innings and escaped trouble time-and-again only allowing one run despite dealing with heavy traffic on the base paths all afternoon.
“We expanded too much,” added Rojas. “Especially early with a guy like Nola.”
One silver lining for Rojas was the resiliency the team showed given their ability to battle in at-bats. They were able to chase Nola from the game after just four innings of work due to his high pitch count.
However, Rojas went on to acknowledge their continued struggles hitting with runners in scoring position, which has carried over from a season ago thus far.
One player, who particularly had a rough day was right fielder Michael Conforto, who went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts while leaving nine men on base. Conforto was also caught looking by Nola in a big spot with the bases loaded.
“I thought it was outside. Looking back on the video, it was a perfect pitch. Just one of those, where it is never a strike until it crosses the plate,” said Conforto.
Conforto entered the day 7-for-39 against Nola in his career (most at-bats against any pitcher he has faced in MLB) before going hitless this afternoon. The slugger went on to praise Nola’s great command and mentioned the addition of his cutter this year as something that gave him trouble.
“I take a look around at all of our guys. I have endless faith in all of them. We have a great team. But, we are well aware we didn’t play well enough top-to-bottom. So far, we haven’t done a good enough job. Myself included,” said Conforto.
The Mets offense was unable to come through in big spots in both losses of their opening series. And while Conforto went 3-for-15 out of the No. 3 hole, Rojas says they intend on keeping him there despite his 1-for-10 stretch over the past two games.
“It’s something that you don’t expect,” said Rojas on Conforto’s rough day with men on base. “But it happens in this game. Michael is a guy who we want in that situation. That’s why he is consistently hitting in the first three of the lineup.”
Now, Conforto and the Mets head back to Queens to face the Miami Marlins in their home opener. The lineup will look to break free from their struggles with runners in scoring position and provide run support for Taijuan Walker, who is set to make his Mets debut.
