The White Sox (29-25) defeated the Mets (29-23) by a score of 2-1 in 13 innings Wednesday afternoon at Citi Field.
Pitching:
Jacob deGrom started for the Mets and was solid early, striking out 5 the first time through the order, including striking out the side in the 3rd inning. He was throwing 93-95, however many of those fastballs were two-seamers.
DeGrom was phenomenal for six innings, until Todd Frazier took him deep to left-center field to lead off the 7th and tie the game at 1-1. After a Melky Cabrera groundout, Brett Lawrie knocked an infield double, then walked J.B. Shuck on five pitches to put runners on first and second with one out. However, deGrom toughed it out and worked out of the jam. including striking out Alex Avila with his 110th pitch of the day. His final line: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 10 Ks, 110 pitches (71 for strikes)
Addison Reed came in to pitch the 8th inning, and was greeted by Jimmy Rollins, who he struck out with four fastballs. Adam Eaton then walked to bring Jose Abreu to the plate, who flew out for the second out, before Todd Frazier grounded out to second base.
Jeurys Familia came in to pitch the 9th with a tie score. He was greeted by a line shot to the right center field gap, however Curtis Granderson was up to the task and made a terrific catch for the first out. He then retired the next two batters easily with a flyout and a ground out to preserve the 1-1 tie.
Antonio Bastardo and Jim Henderson kept the Sox scoreless. But Hansel Robles then came in to pitch the 12th with a lot to prove. He was greeted by Tyler Saladino who took him deep the previous night, but today all he could muster was a foul pop behind third base for the first out. After falling behind 3-1 against Alex Avila, Robles sizzled a 96 mph fastball over the outside corner for the full count. However, Robles tweaked something, prompting a visit from Terry Collins and trainer Ray Ramirez. After throwing a couple test pitches, he was removed from the game.
Logan Verrett came in with nobody on, one out, and a full count on Alex Avila. He induced a ground ball to the third baseman playing to the right of second base for the second out. Avisail Garcia then grounded out to the shortstop to end the inning.
Relief pitcher Matt Albers led off the 13th inning with a double to left center field, just out of the reach of Juan Lagares, his first hit since 2007. A wild pitch then advanced Albers to third base with nobody out, and Jose Abreu at the plate. Abreu then hit a deep fly ball to center field, leaving little to no chance Lagares could throw out the lead-footed Albers at the plate.
Offense:
The Mets got runners to first and third with nobody out in the first inning with a Curtis Granderson walk and Asdrubal Cabrera single, but could not score.
However, their fortunes changed in the second inning. Newest Met James Loney worked a leadoff walk, and the Juan Lagares bunted him over to second base. After a Ty Kelly flyout, Rene Rivera lined a single up the middle to score Loney from second base and give the Mets a 1-0 lead.
And that was all the Mets would muster in today’s rubber match. The Mets just did not capitalize today, it’s as simple as that. White Sox pitchers walked an incredible 13 batters in 13 innings and the Mets could only muster one run. Adding in the Mets’ seven hits, that’s 20 base runners and just one run. Just terrible.
Notes:
DeGrom didn’t get the run support despite pitching his best game of the season. He registered his first double-digit strikeout performance of the season today and the 10th of his career.
Curtis Granderson, Asdrubal Cabrera and Michael Conforto combined to go 1-for-15 with five strikeouts batting 1-2-3 in the order. The Mets grounded into five double plays, one short of their record high.
Today is the 4 year anniversary of Johan Santana‘s no hitter. I liked that day better.
Former Mets outfielder Marlon Byrd, 38, has been suspended for 162 games for a positive PED test. Byrd had served a 50-game suspension for the same reason in 2012.
On Deck:
The Mets will send Noah Syndergaard (5-2, 1.84 ERA) to put the hammer down against Tom Koehler (3-5, 4.50 ERA) and the Marlins on Friday at 7:10 pm in Miami.
