Zack Wheeler held the Cincinnati Reds to just one run in six frames on Tuesday, but the Mets couldn’t pick up the slack offensively as they lost 2-1 in extra innings.
Felt good. Got control of the strike zone and pounded the zone,” Wheeler said.
“(Catcher Devin Mesoraco) called a nice game back there and I felt like I’ve thrown to him a few times now. Always good when you have that camaraderie with somebody. Nice game and was able to hit my spot today and go from there.”
New York had an early chance to fire the first salvo, but after Asdrubal Cabrera doubled, it was revealed that the Mets batted out of order and he was called out.
“It was a frustrating day. There’s no magic potion or anything that’s going to make it come,” outfielder Jay Bruce said. “You can hope all you want, but you have to work and you have to continue to work. … I’m still completely on board with what this team is capable of doing, and what we’re going to end up doing.”
The game remained scoreless until the third where the Mets got on the scoreboard first with a groundout from the aforementioned Cabrera.
The first two trips through the order, Wheeler was dominant. The third, however, he ran into a bit of trouble. Joey Votto singled to tie the game and the Reds put runners on the corners, threatening to take the lead.
Wheeler tight-roped out of danger, however, as the game remained scoreless. He was pulled from the game after the inning, after which Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo combined for three clean frames.
AJ Ramos surrendered the decisive blow in the tenth as the Reds walked-off to victory.
“We dig and dig and dig and try to figure out what’s going on exactly,” manager Mickey Callaway said. “We’re going to continue to grind. We’re going to figure out what’s going on, and work on it diligently to right the ship. Because we’re better than this, and we’re going to start figuring it out.”
For Wheeler, minus a horrendous start against the Rockies the last time out, he has overall been solid. With the state of the Mets rotation uncertain beyond Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard, it’s positive to see good recent starts from Wheeler and Matz.
Hopefully, the Mets offense can pick it up and Wheeler can build off this outing in his next start.
This article will be updated with quotes.
