In his first start with his former team, Jon Niese appeared to be the antidote missing from the Mets pitching rotation, until the 4th inning reared it’s ugly head.
Sailing through the first three innings, Niese stifled the D’backs with cutters in the 80’s until Rickie Weeks, Jr. and Yasmany Tomas took him back-to-back deep, resulting in a 13-5 crushing defeat in the desert.
In the bottom of the 5th, opposing pitcher, Zack Godley, who was godlike, (7.1 innings, 5 hits, 2 runs) slapped a single up the middle, ending Niese’s unfortunate outing with 4 runs on 4 hits in 4.2 innings.
So what does that mean for Niese’s future in the rotation? It doesn’t appear to be in any jeopardy.
“I told him, even on the mound, for a guy who hadn’t pitched in six weeks, I thought he threw the ball great,” manager Terry Collins said after the game. “I was very happy with the way he pitched.”
With the day off on Monday, it’s likely they’ll just skip the fifth starter’s spot unless they opt to give one of the young arms extra rest. “We don’t make those decisions this far in advance,” Collins continued. “We’ve got to wait to see what happens in the next couple of days.”
Looking for some heat in relief after an early shower for Niese, Collins brought in Erik Goeddel, who had trouble with the curve, and more issues finding the plate. After a series of balls landed in the dirt, far from d’Arnaud’s glove, Paul Goldschmidt drew a walk, then Weeks unloaded his second HR, a three run blast, to extend Arizona’s lead 6-1.
Seth Lugo held the Diamondback’s in check for an inning and a third, then 3 additional runs rained on rookie Gabriel Ynoa in the bottom of the 7th.
Josh Edgin was brought in to stop the bleeding in the 8th, but there was no tourniquet tight enough to tame the Diamondback’s bats. Jean Segura singled to center, Mitch Haniger and Goldschmidt both got free passes on four pitches, and Segura scored a run courtesy of a wild pitch. Then Tomas cranked a 2-0 pitch to center for a 3 run HR, his second of the game, and just like that, Arizona had themselves a baker’s dozen.
The Mets, cramming for exams in the top of the 9th, tried to stage an improbable comeback against Dominic Leone, scoring 3 runs off of a Curtis Granderson solo shot, and a pitch hit 2 run HR by Rene Rivera. With one out, a Ty Kelly double and Kelly Johnson single was titillating, but too little too late, as the door was slammed shut by Randall Delgago, who left them out to dry.
Another night of the same old same old with men in scoring position. The Mets were 2-15, with 8 men LOB. Their hunt for October still has some life, but with the Pirates and Cardinals pulling away from the pack, they’re making a tough case for fans to believe.
