After successfully lobbying to employ Rene Rivera‘s receiving services on Thursday afternoon in Denver, New York Mets right-hander Noah Syndergaard delivered alarmingly similar results to his last two starts with Wilson Ramos behind the plate.
Eventful frames inflated the 26-year-old’s pitch count and Syndergaard’s inability to keep his pitches off the plate allowed the Rockies to hit him hard and often.
Noah struck out Trevor Story and Ryan McMahon on perfect sliders to kick off his outing.
He left a hanger in Nolan Arenado‘s kitchen (low and away) for a single but got Charlie Blackmon swinging at high cheddar to leave him stranded. Nice start.
Sam Hilliard took Syndergaard deep with one out in the top of the second, sending a 98 MPH inside-half sinker 447 feet to right-center field, tying the game at one.
Noah worked around base hits from Rockies starter Jeff Hoffman, McMahon, and Arenado in a scoreless third, but left a slider, a curve, and a four-seamer, respectively, over the heart of the plate to each of them.
Hilliard added his second solo shot of the day in the fourth, taking a 98 MPH four-seamer (two inches outside, for what it’s worth) to left field, staking Colorado to a 2-1 lead.
Hoffman and Story singled to lead off the fifth on nearly identical high-zone sinkers and Syndergaard walked McMahon to load the bases with none out.
After inducing a big foul out from Arenado, Blackmon extended the Rockies’ lead to 3-1 with a sacrifice fly. Ian Desmond grounded out to Amed Rosario at shortstop to end the threat, which could have been much more damaging.
At 90 pitches heading into the sixth, Syndergaard (finally) retired Hilliard before allowing his ninth hit if the day, a single via Garrett Hampson, who swiped second and third base in the next at-bat.
Dom Nunez went down swinging at a 97 MPH four-seamer that sailed high out of the strike zone but Raimel Tapia laced a first-pitch, well-inside four-seamer into right field to make it a 4-2 game.
One would assume that after 102 pitches and Trevor Story at the plate with an important baserunner on first (then second; Tapia stole second), Syndergaard’s day would be done.
But, alas, with the Mets already two runs down and their postseason hopes dwindling with every out made, Mickey Callaway stuck with Noah, who walked Story then got the hook after allowing four earned runs for the third consecutive outing.
Tapia advanced to third on Jeurys Familia‘s first pitch of the game (Rivera dropped a called strike; it was scored a passed ball) and Story stole second (Colorado’s fourth swiped bag of the inning), but Familia struck out McMahon to leave two Rox stranded and limit the damage.
Syndergaard finished his day allowing four runs on ten hits over 5.2 innings of work, striking out six and walking two. His season ERA increased from 4.15 to 4.22.
Noah picked up 10 swings-and-misses (seven on 36 four-seamers) and 18 called strikes (seven on 37 sliders) on 108 pitches (76 strikes) with a 93.5 MPH average exit velocity.
Any way you’d like to slice it, this was not a great start for Noah Syndergaard.
