The New York Mets (7-7) were defeated by the Philadelphia Phillies (5-8) by a score of 6-2 at Citi Field Tuesday evening.
Pitching:
Zack Wheeler was on the mound for the Mets tonight and he struggled a bit early on but was able to battle his way through five innings and leave with the lead. Wheeler went five innings allowing one run while walking two and striking out seven.
In the top of the first inning, Wheeler quickly retired the first two batters but allowed a home run to Odubel Herrera to give the Phillies the early 1-0 lead. It wasn’t a bad pitch, a curveball at the knees, but Herrera did a nice job driving the ball anyways.
Hansel Robles came in for the Mets in the top of the 6th inning and it was a bit of an adventure. Robles recorded two outs but also put two runners on. Terry Collins went to Josh Smoker who was able to clean up the mess, striking out the lefty Brock Stassi.
Josh Smoker and Fernando Salas were able to combine to pitch a scoreless seventh inning.
Fernando Salas came on again in the top of the eighth inning and things didn’t go as well this time around. After recording two quick outs, Salas allowed a walk to Cameron Rupp to put a runner on base. Fernando Salas followed by getting Freddy Galvis to pop up in the infield but Jose Reyes inexplicably dropped the ball putting runners on the corners still with two out.
Terry Collins then took a chance and went to Jerry Blevins against the righty Andres Blanco. Blanco made him pay by lacing a ground rule double to score Cameron Rupp and tie the game.
Addison Reed came in and pitched a one-two-three inning in the top of the ninth.
Rafael Montero came in for the Mets in the top of the tenth inning and simply pitched batting practice. Montero allowed a leadoff single to Michael Saunders that actually deflected off himself to kick off the inning. Tommy Joseph followed with a single to right field to put runners on the corners with nobody out.
Cameron Rupp the hit a sacrifice fly to give the Phillies the lead and bring home Saunders. Freddy Galvis then followed with a single to put two runners on. Aaron Altherr followed with yet another single that would score Joseph and give the Phillies the 4-2 lead.
Sean Gilmartin then came in to try and somehow finish the inning. After striking out Cesar Hernandez on three pitches, Gilmartin would allow a single to Daniel Nava that would bring home two more and put the nail in the coffin giving the Phillies a 6-2 lead.
Offense:
In the bottom of the first inning, Michael Conforto got things started with a leadoff walk for the Mets. After Asdrubal Cabrera flied out to center field, Yoenis Cespedes was also able to follow with a walk putting two runners on. Jay Bruce then smacked a single to right field to score Conforto and tie the game. With Neil Walker batting, Zach Eflin threw a wild pitch that brought Cespedes home to give the Mets the early 2-1 lead.
Outside of a Jose Reyes double in the bottom of the fourth inning, there wasn’t much of a scoring threat for most of the night as the Mets were only able to record four hits.
Notes:
This was the Mets fourth loss in a row, all of which were excruciating.
24 of 42 batters have reached base against Rafael Montero this year.
Jerry Blevins, Hansel Robles, and Fernando Salas are now all tied for the Major League lead in appearances.
JZ Goat of the game: Jose Reyes. On top of the horrific offensive slump Reyes has been mired in to start the season, you just can’t drop an infield fly in a game the Mets had sewn up and had to win.
On Deck:
The Mets will play their second game of a three-game set with the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field tomorrow evening. The game has a start time of 7:10 PM. Robert Gsellman (0-1, 9.28 ERA), will look to get his season on track and get the Mets rolling against Vince Velasquez (0-2, 9.00 ERA).
