Mets Unable To Overcome Pitching Woes, Lose Series To Struggling Cardinals

Entering the eighth inning, the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets were knotted up at eight. Manager Buck Showalter opted to go with closer David Robertson who pitched a 1-2-3 inning throwing only eight pitches. Showalter then chose to go with Adam Ottavino for the ninth Sunday afternoon at Citi Field and he gave up the game-winning home run.

As a result, the Mets lost the contest 8-7 and the series against the Cardinals who owned the second-worst record in the National League before Sunday’s contest. New York now sits at five games under .500 and 5.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot.

Once again, bad starting pitching was the theme of the game. Mets’ starter Carlos Carrasco allowed six runs (five earned) through only three innings as he threw a staggering 61 pitches. As a result, New York needed to go to the bullpen very early (as has been the case several times this season) and got six innings of two-run ball from their relievers. Carrasco’s ERA now sits at 6.34 on the season.

Offensively, the team showed up in a big way. They had to play virtually the whole game from behind before finally knotting things up at seven in the fifth inning. Leading the way were Brandon Nimmo (2 RBIs), Francisco Lindor (HR), and Tommy Pham (HR, 2 RBIs). Eduardo Escobar and Mark Canha also added RBI hits while Pete Alonso was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in his return to the lineup.

It was Pham’s two-run home run in the fifth inning that finally got the Mets tied. Pham, who once again hit the ball hard all day, is 17-for-50 (.340) over his last 15 games. He has 11 extra-base hits and 17 RBIs over that time period. The veteran has certainly emerged as one of the team’s top offensive players (.818 OPS).

Despite the good offense, the above mentioned woeful start from Carrasco was just too much to overcome. This has been a theme for way too many games this year. Before Sunday, Mets’ starting pitching owned a 4.94 ERA (26th in the majors), 4.93 FIP (27th in the majors), and on average were only lasting 5 1/3 innings (22nd in the majors). All these figures continued to get worse today.

Bottom line, if the Mets want to turn this season around, they need better starting pitching. Something they have not gotten all season long. Coincidentally enough, after the game, Showalter was asked if the Mets will ever get to the point that they fell like they cannot get out of this rut if it continues. He replied,”No not at all. I prefer everybody else to weigh in with that mindset, but out guys don’t have that.”

Statistics of the Game: 100 Home Runs Allowed

The Cardinals hit four home runs Sunday afternoon against the Mets. Two came off Carrasco, and the other two came off relievers, the last of which ended up being the game-winning run. These four long balls Sunday brought the home run total the Mets have allowed this season to an even 100. This figure is the fourth-most in Major League Baseball. It only trails the Oakland Athletics, Colorado Rockies, and Toronto Blue Jays.

The Mets’ pitching, mainly the starters, have struggled all season long. A big part of the reason why is the inability to prevent the long ball.

Player of the Game: Francisco Lindor

In his return to the lineup, Lindor put a very strong game together on Father’s Day. He went 1-for-3 with a solo home run. He also scored two runs and drew a walk. Blended in there was a warning track fly ball as well. He was seeing and driving the ball well.

It certainly has not been the season everyone has hoped for the Mets’ big-money man. Though, hopefully Sunday’s game can be a building block.

On Deck

The Mets will travel right to Houston to begin a three-game set against the defending World Series champion Astros (39-33). Game one will take place on Monday at 8:10 pm ET. The probable pitching matchup in that one is Max Scherzer versus Hunter Brown.