I’d like to wrap my arms around the Mets and tell them things will get better, but that would be akin to delivering false hope that a D student is getting into Harvard.
When another player not going on the DL determines a good day, it’s a very sad state of affairs. And when your starting pitching can’t string together consecutive strong outings, your inconsistent offense won’t always be there to bail you out.
I’m not a “sky is falling” kind of girl, but the injuries that have beset the Mets have made it impossible for them to be competitive – especially against teams like the Nationals who own them even when they’re healthy.
New York had a chance to make some noise against Washington starter Max Scherzer in the third when he put the first two batters on base via a walk and a hit by pitch. But Travis d’Arnaud hit into a double play, and Jose Reyes, who was 2-for-3 at the wrong time, flied out to right.
Meanwhile, Steven Matz, who was dominant over the Atlanta Braves in his season debut, gave up four runs on eight hits, striking out four without giving up a walk.
Matz looked sharp retiring the first six batters he faced, then in the third, he allowed back-to-back home runs by the seven-and-eight-hitting duo of Matt Wieters and Michael Taylor, who have been wreaking havoc on Mets pitching.
In the bottom frame, the Long Island lefty led off with a single but was erased from the base path after the struggling Michael Conforto hit into a double play.
Jay Bruce and Jose Reyes put the Mets on the scoreboard with a couple of solo shots, but another night of too little too late put Terry Collins cast of pieced-together players 10.5 games behind Dusty Baker’s hot hitting brood – not what New York had hoped for against the team they’re chasing in the National League East.
Saturday Seth Lugo will attempt to recapture his seven inning one run dynamic debut of the season and shed some consistency to the Mets inconsistent starting rotation.
