The Mets (36-32) fell 7-1 to the Blue Jays (36-32) on Thursday night in Toronto.
Bartolo Colon pitched for the Mets and got knocked around, allowing seven runs (six earned, although it should have been less) on nine hits (see above) and a walk in 4.1 innings, striking out four.
RA Dickey, the only other active starting pitcher over the age of 40, opposed Bartolo in the first matchup of 40+ pitchers since 2008 and the first meeting between 40+ Cy Young Winners since 2006. The knuckleballer stifled his former team, allowing just one run three hits in 7.1 innings, striking out seven (although he did walk five).
Dickey was wild, but the Mets failed to make him pay, leaving the bases loaded in the top of the second after three walks, not getting a hit until Juan Lagares‘ double with two outs in the fifth, and not scoring until Lucas Duda hit a solo shot in the seventh.
Toronto got out in front in the bottom of the second when Dilson Herrera‘s error opened the door for Kevin Pillar‘s RBI single.
The Jays did most of their damage in the fourth. With two on and one out, Wilmer Flores failed to make a clean play on a ball he certainly should have had, loading the bases. After one run scored on a fielder’s choice (featuring a great takeout slide by Pillar) that led to the second out, Toronto got RBI hits from José Reyes, Josh Donaldson, and José Bautista to take a 6-0 lead.
Colon allowed a solo shot to Chris Colabello in the fifth inning, and turned the ball over to the bullpen after recording just one out in the frame. Alex Torres (1.2 innings) and Logan Verrett (2 innings) kept Toronto off the board the rest of the way, but the Mets were unable to rally, settling for a split in their four-game, two-country series with the Blue Jays.
Colon did not look sharp at all today. That being said, a few more of those runs should have been unearned thanks to Flores, and this is a tough park to pitch in, especially with that ridiculous artificial turf and that stacked Jays lineup.
The Met offense was pretty quiet all series, and while they squeaked out wins in the two games at home, they had no such luck north of the border.
Verrett looked pretty good. It’s a good thing we got him back after losing him in the Rule 5 Draft. I’m surprised we even left him unprotected in the first place, while giving Akeel Morris (who is clearly not MLB ready) a spot on the 40-man roster.
Flores had made some strides on defense since the first couple weeks of the season, but has looked sloppy the past few games, and his range has looked pretty poor (although again, part of that can be attributed to the fake turf).
It was nice to see Dickey put together a solid outing, even if it came at our expense. I’m not one to keep rooting for players after my favorite team ships them off, but considering how fun Dickey was to watch as a Met, how much we got for him, and the fact that we’ll only see him once in a purple moon, it’s pretty hard to root against him.
It didn’t cost the Mets in this game, but it was once again visible: Juan Lagares’ arm is completely shot— the elbow injury he had late last season did not heal with time. The man needs repairs, it’s only a question of when he should get them. Does he get a procedure now and miss serious time right in the thick of this hopefully-meaningful campaign, or do the Mets wait until winter and hope it doesn’t cost him part of the 2016 season?
The Mets are in first place and just split four games with the hottest team in the league. This is not a disaster. But we have to get back to our winning ways tomorrow against the Braves.
Up Next: The Mets will travel to Turner Field on Friday night to face the Braves at 7:30 PM. Jacob deGrom (7-4, 2.33 ERA) will pitch for New York. Matt Wisler will make his MLB debut for Atlanta.
