The Mets lost 5-4 to the Blue Jays, who got the win in walk-off fashion Friday night in Montreal.
Jenrry Mejia got the start for the Mets and was solid, giving up only 1 run in 4 innings. However, Mejia had to leave the game early with an injury after being struck by a ball.
Carlos Torres pitched well after coming in for Mejia, tossing 2 innings and giving up just 1 run on a sacrifice fly. Gonzalez Germen came in after Torres, and he struggled, giving up 2 runs on 3 hits in just 1 inning of work.
Up next for the Mets was Scott Rice, of course. Rice did his job, retiring a couple batters before turning the ball over to Bobby Parnell.
Parnell looked pretty good closing out the eighth, but struggled with his command in the final inning, and the Blue Jays were ultimately able to capitalize: Jonathan Diaz cracked a walk-off single up the middle with 2 out to send the local fans home happy.
The Mets had a pretty solid day with the bats. Chris Young opened the scoring in the fourth with a two-run double to score David Wright and Curtis Granderson (more of that, please). Daniel Murphy followed up with an RBI double of his own in the next inning. Travis d’Arnaud sent a shot over the left-field wall in the seventh against the team that traded him in 2012 to give the Mets 4 runs on the night.
Our bullpen is a real concern. Torres looks pretty good, and if Parnell can stay healthy, he’ll find his form eventually. But there are just so many question marks in this area of the roster…
Mejia just can’t catch a break. He is always finding some way to get hurt. Daisuke Matsuzaka was probably going to get the 5th starter job anyway, but hopefully Mejia is OK so he can continue to develop. His career has already had so many interruptions…
Chris Young has looked solid this spring. He can field, he can run, and most importantly, he can HIT. The Mets could have a very productive middle of the order.
Hopefully, part of that production will come from Travis d’Arnaud. TDA had a rough start to the spring, but he has hit 3 long balls in the past week. Ignoring that one month last season when John Buck was good, the Mets have basically gotten zero offensive production from their catchers since… well… since the days when they were a winning team. So d’Arnaud could very well be an X-factor going forward.
Tonight’s game felt like a real baseball game. The Mets were playing in a real stadium, with a big crowd, and both teams were playing to win, not to try out minor leaguers with high uniform numbers no names on the backs of their jerseys. We’re almost there, guys…
The Mets will wrap up their preseason tomorrow against the Jays in Montreal before heading to Queens to open their season against Washington on Monday.
