Once again the Mets bullpen cost the team another game, but this time it really stung because with the Nationals winning on Wednesday night, the Mets’ 4.5 game first place hold shrunk to 3.5.
The Mets had a 4-3 lead entering the bottom of the seventh, but Hansel Robles struggled again, surrendering a game-tying solo home run to Adam Jones.
But after the Mets came back to tie it, Carlos Torres threw a first-pitch fastball to Henry Urrutia (who?) in the bottom of the ninth which he blasted over the left field wall to give the Baltimore Orioles a 5-4 walk-off win.
Perhaps all of this could have been avoided had the Mets left Logan Verrett in the game after he pitched a clean sixth inning in relief of Noah Syndergaard. Verrett, who was called up before the game, needed just six pitches to get three outs, but didn’t come out for the seventh because he was being reserved for a possible start on Sunday.
Having been responsible for 4 losses in the last 5 games (almost 5 losses), the Mets’ bullpen continues to be very shaky and ineffective. The level of carnage in those last five games is easy to see, having allowed 15 runs (13 earned) in 18 1/3 innings against the Pirates and Orioles.
Bobby Parnell was already dispatched to the disabled list with some sort of phantom injury which Parnell disputes. Alex Torres was also designated for assignment two weeks ago when the Mets acquired Tyler Clippard. But several big concerns remain.
Clippard has pitched very well since assuming the set up role and he pitched a scoreless eighth against the O’s, but Terry Collins opted not to stick with his veteran reliever for the ninth even though the Mets had the next day off giving Clippard plenty of time to recover for the Colorado Rockies series.
“I’m not going to use them except in the situation they are supposed to be used,” Collins said. “In a tie game in the eighth inning, you have to get to the ninth inning and Tyler did that. We’re not going to use this guy in the seventh inning. He’s going to pitch the eighth and we’re going to find somebody to bridge that gap.”
I wonder how things would’ve turned out had Logan Verrett pitch the seventh while Tyler Clippard pitched the final two innings to preserve the Mets win. It’s all hindsight now, I’m fully aware of that, but it makes me wonder about Collins’ judgment as the team fights for a playoff spot?
Judging by his response to reporters last night, he seems to be saying that he would do the same exact thing in the same exact situation going forward which confuses me.
Maybe I’m just looking too deep into the situation. But it bugs me that Collins doesn’t realize his two fatal decisions were largely responsible for yesterday’s loss.
The Mets should get some kind of a boost once September 1st comes around, but there’s a lot of games between now and then and that worries me.
Sandy Alderson has already said that there will be no trades for relievers during the August waiver period, and that he’s very confident in our internal options… And I agree. But one of those internal options was just called up, performed excellent, and was pulled from the game after tossing only six pitches.
So it doesn’t matter how effective our options are or can be if they are not used appropriately. Execution is one thing, performance is another, but that’s not just on the player, it’s on the manager too.
