It was hoped that the Mets’ day off on Thursday would allow the Mets to regroup from a two-game series loss to the Red Sox on Tuesday and Wednesday, but the Mets’ offense continued to stay quiet, negating another strong pitching performance, this one by starter Marcus Stroman, who left the game with an apparent hamstring injury.
The Mets fell to the Phillies 2-1 even though they out-hit their NL East rivals. (box score)
Chase Anderson (1-3) was credited with the win for the Phillies (13-13), and Marcus Stroman (3-2) took the loss for the Mets, who fall to 9-11. Sam Coonrod (1) collected his first save of the season for the Phillies.
The Mets scored just one run on six hits and one error. The Phillies collected two runs on three hits and no errors. Their two runs came on a pass ball by Mets catcher James McCann in the second.
Pitching
Marcus Stroman took the ball for the Mets on Friday to kick off a 7-game road trip that starts with three games in Philadelphia. Stroman threw five strong innings, giving up just three hits, two runs (none earned), and a walk. He struck out eight over the course of 64 pitches thrown (47 strikes) on Friday.
Stroman would have a rocky second inning, giving up two singles and a walk, but he would strike out three (two after the second single and walk) to get out of the inning in true Stroman fashion.
He would settle down in the third inning, striking out the side to quickly bring the Mets back to the plate after throwing just 13 pitches in the third. He would then strike out two in the fourth. Stroman’s night would end after the fifth inning. He was relieved by Aaron Loup in the sixth, who struck out two in a hitless inning for the Mets. Stroman left the game with an apparent hamstring injury.
Loup was then relieved by Jeurys Familia in the seventh inning. Familia had a rough seventh inning, giving up two walks and having to make up for a Mets fielding error by Alonso at first base. He would get out of the inning with a big strikeout of Andrew McCutchen.
Right-handed pitcher Miguel Castro replaced Jeurys Familia on the mound for the Mets in the eighth.
Offense
Slow offense is something that Mets fans are being forced to unfortunately get used to, and the theme was similar on Friday night. The Mets drove in just one run over six hits against the Phillies
In the top of the second, Michael Conforto walked as the second batter of the night and then J.D. Davis singled to left field. The Mets would have two on with one out, but would not be able to produce with a runner in scoring position as Dominic Smith popped out and James McCann flied out to end the top of the second inning.
The Phillies would strike first in the second, with Brad Miller and Andrew Knapp scoring on a passed ball by James McCann with two outs.
Marcus Stroman led off the third inning with a double to left field, adding some offensive pop to a strong outing on the mound. Later in the inning Jeff McNeil walked to put two-on with two outs, but Alonso would come up and strikeout to end the inning.
The only offense produced in the fourth inning for the Mets was a one-out double by J.D. Davis for his second hit of the night. He would be 2-2 on the night with his fourth inning double.
Brandon Nimmo hit a one-out double in the fifth after a strikeout by Stroman, but the Mets would continue to struggle with runners in scoring position, leaving Nimmo stranded by a flyout and a groundout.
The top of the sixth is where the Mets got some offensive juices to start flowing. The inning started with a Pete Alonso single to left field, which would knock the Phillies’ Chase Anderson out of the game. He would be relieved by JoJo Romero.
With a runner on, Romero walked Michael Conforto to put runners on first and second. J.D. Davis would follow with a groundout, but would do his job and move Alonso to third and Conforto to second.
Following Davis’ ground out, Dominic Smith singled to left field, scoring Alonso and moving Conforto to third.
That would be all the Mets could muster in the sixth as McCann grounded into a double play to end the inning.
The Phillies would then make another pitching change in the seventh. It would be Brandon Kintzler replacing JoJo Romero. Kintzler would strike out two in a perfect inning for the Philllies as he sat down Jonathan Villar, Nimmo and Lindor in order.
In the eighth inning, the Mets would again continue to struggle with runners in scoring position. Jeff McNeil was hit by a pitch and Jose Alvarado intentionally walked J.D. Davis to put two runners on. A wild pitch by Alvarado following the intentional walk would move McNeil to third and Davis to second. However, Dominic Smith would come up and strikeout to end the inning and move the game to the bottom of the eighth with the Mets still trailing the Phillies 2-1 in the eighth.
The Mets would show some life in the ninth inning. It started with a two-out walk by Brandon Nimmo. Francisco Lindor would then ground out. He was 0-5 on the night and is batting under .200 on the season as his slow start continues.
It was a rough night for the Mets offense. As mentioned above, scoring with runners in scoring position is a challenge for the Mets. They were just 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position on Friday night.
The Mets’ defensive woes continued on Friday night. James McCann had a rough night behind the plate, giving up two runs on a passed ball in the second inning. In the eighth he would over-throw second base, but it would end up not costing the Mets as they were able to get out of the inning.
Pete Alonso also suffered an error at first on Friday night. The Mets just can’t get into a groove offensively or defensively. The defensive struggles are something that Luis Rojas has said needs to improve, but the Mets continue to find themselves in a slump at the plate and in the field.
On Deck
The Mets closed the month of April on a rough note. They will look to turn the page in May as they continue their series against the Phillies in Philadelphia on Saturday at 6:05 PM EDT. It will be Taijuan Walker (1-1, 2.14 ERA) taking the mound for the Mets against Zack Wheeler (2-2, 3.13 ERA) for the Phillies.
The Mets and their fans are sure happy the month of April is over. The hope is that May will be magic for the Mets as they look to turn things around and get back on track.
