The New York Mets (31-40) lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers (47-26) by a score of 8-2 on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. They are now nine games under .500 for the first time in 2017.

Pitching

Tyler Pill made his third start of the season for the Mets against Rich Hill of the Dodgers. Pill did not do well as he gave up five hits, three walks, two home runs, and six runs (five earned) in six innings while striking out six.

The turning point of Pill’s start was when Yasiel Puig unloaded for a three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth. To add insult to injury, Puig walked up the first base line and watched his ball fly before rounding the bases and recording the second-slowest home run trot this season.

Neil Ramirez pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning. He stayed in for the eighth, but did not fare as well. He only recorded two outs on 32 pitches and gave up two hits, two walks, and two runs. Erik Goeddel made his 2017 debut and recorded the final out of the ninth.

Offense

The Mets offense came off a night where they were held to four hits, two walks, and no runs. They started out promising as Curtis Granderson hit a solo homer to center field from the leadoff spot. Wilmer Flores then followed with a double, but Hill settled down to retire nine of the next 10 batters.

The Mets threatened in the top of the fourth as they loaded the bases with no outs. They failed to score however, as Hill struck out Jose Reyes, Gavin Cecchini, and Pill to get out of trouble.

Granderson drove in the Mets only other run of the game with a RBI double in the ninth.

On Deck

The Mets look to avoid the sweep on Thursday as they face lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu (3-6, 4.35 ERA). Steven Matz will toe the rubber for the Mets in opposition. First pitch is scheduled for 10:10 PM EST.

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The New York Mets (30-36) lost to the Washington Nationals (41-26) 7-2 on Friday night at Citi Field. The loss puts the Mets 10.5 games behind the Nationals in the National League East.

Pitching

Steven Matz (1-0, 1.29 ERA) took the mound for the Mets looking to continue the success he found in his first start of the season. Like his last start, he went seven innings, but unlike his last start he did not give up only one run. Matz gave up four runs, eight hits, and no walks while striking out four.

Matz struggled with the keeping the ball in the yard as all four runs he allowed scored on three homers.

Paul Sewald pitched the eighth inning and got out unscathed after allowing two baserunners with one out.

Fernando Salas came into the game for the ninth inning and gave up two runs on three hits and two walks. Salas loaded the bases before being replaced by Neil Ramirez. Ramirez immediately walked in a run with the bases loaded before getting the final out of the inning. All three runs were charged to Salas who now sports a 6.14 ERA on the season.

Offense

The Mets faced the reigning Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (7-4, 2.36 ERA) on Friday and were stifled by him. The offense only mustered one run and eight baserunners on four hits, two walks, and two hit batsmen against him.

The Mets’ first run came in the eighth inning on a Jose Reyes solo shot to right field.

Jay Bruce followed with a solo homer of his own in the ninth inning.

Matz, Reyes, and Bruce were the only Mets with hits. Bruce and Reyes led the offense with two hits, one home run, one run, and one RBI each.

On Deck

The Mets continue their four-game series with the Nationals on Saturday afternoon. Seth Lugo (1-0, 1.29 ERA) will make his second start of the season and will be opposed by Stephen Strasburg (7-2, 3.27 ERA) for the Nationals. The game will be televised on PIX 11 with first pitch scheduled for 4:10 PM.

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The New York Mets (23-28) lost to the Milwaukee Brewers (28-25) by a score of 7-1 on Wednesday night at Citi Field. The loss snapped the Mets three-game win streak.

Pitching

Jacob deGrom (4-1, 3.23 ERA) got the nod and had his worst start of the season. He gave up a two-run homer in the first inning to Eric Thames to hand the Mets an early deficit. He gave up another home run in the second inning to Keon Broxton to make it a 3-0 game. He blew up in the fourth with four more runs on two walks, three hits, and an RBI groundout.

Overall on the night, deGrom went four innings and gave up eight hits, seven runs, and five walks while striking out six.

Josh Edgin came into the game after deGrom and fired three scoreless innings. He gave up two hits, no walks, and struck out three. The solid outing lowered his season ERA from 2.66 to 2.31.

Neil Ramirez pitched two scoreless innings accompanied by three strikeouts.

Offense

The Mets squared off against Junior Guerra (0-0, 3.12 ERA) who dominated them in his third start of the season. He held them to four hits, three walks, and no runs in six innings.

The Mets had a chance to mount a comeback in the seventh as they had the bases loaded with one out. However, Jay Bruce grounded into a double play to end the inning.

The lone run of the game for the Mets came in the ninth when Juan Lagares beat out an infield single and Michael Conforto drove him in with a double.

Curtis Granderson was the only Met with a multi-hit game as he finished 2-for-3 with a walk.

On Deck

The Mets will look for the series win on Thursday as they send Zack Wheeler (3-2, 3.83 ERA) to the mound against Chase Anderson (3-1, 3.72 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 PM.

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Wednesday night was another chapter in Mets manager Terry Collins book of dubious bullpen decisions in NY’s 6-5 loss against the basement dwelling San Diego Padres.

Robert Gsellman, having his best start of the season, pitched a 1,2, 3 sixth, tossing a total of 84 pitches in the process. With a depleted and overworked roster of relief, why not take a gamble on the rookie in the seventh instead of not quitting while you’re ahead on Fernando Salas, who just so happened to have good fortune the night before?

After retiring the first two batters, Salas gave up a base hit to Travis d’Arnaud’s big brother, Chase, then loaded the bags on back to back walks. And in what has been an ongoing nightmare for Mets in relief, Neil Ramirez, replacing Salas, gave up a two-run tying single to deep left to Wil Myers, the only man he faced.

Josh Edgin took the hill to get the last out of the inning, and then Collins made another suspect switch replacing Edgin for Josh Smoker, who for the second consecutive game immediately gave up a home run to the first batter – only this time, it was of the go-ahead nature.

But, it’s tough to put all the blame on the men on the mound because the Mets had the best case scenario in the bottom of the ninth, loading the bases with no outs, only to be bitten by Padres closer Brad Hand and his bread and butter breaking ball.

Hand, who was Houdiniesque, took the ball from Brandon Maurer after he escaped with the tying run on second in the eighth. After surrendering a couple of singles and a walk to load the bases for the Mets, he then mowed down the Amazins with back to back strikeouts before retiring Juan Lagares serendipitously on a fly ball for the final out out of the game.

These types of losses are the ones a team loses sleep over at the end of the season when they look back at the games that got away. Leading 5-1 against a 17-31 ball club is bad for the postseason business. I know it’s premature to be so fatalistic, but with the Mets precarious pitching staff, they can’t afford to blow a four-run lead – especially when they’re getting decent results from their starters.

Not to be forgotten was Wilmer Flores clutch three-run double, Curtis Granderson’s RBI single, Lagares’ double and run saving golden glove grab, and Conforto’s continued Yoenis Cespedes-like offense – not bad for a kid who was sitting on the bench at the start of the season.

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The New York Mets dropped the second game of their three-game series with the San Diego Padres as they fell 6-5 on Wednesday night at Citi Field.

Pitching

Robert Gsellman (2-3, 6.75 ERA) started for the Mets after having his last start skipped. He made a quality start for the first time since April 19. Gsellman held the Padres to six hits, one walk, and three runs while striking out three on 84 pitches.

Gsellman left with a 5-3 lead, but received a no-decision after the Mets bullpen blew the lead. Fernando Salas came on in the seventh and retired the first two batters he faced before loading the bases. Terry Collins brought in Neil Ramirez, who carries a 10.32 ERA, to get the final out. Instead he gave up two runs on a Wil Myers‘ single to the right field wall. Josh Edgin replaced him and promptly got Ryan Schimpf to pop out on three pitches.

Instead of leaving Edgin out there, Collins brought in Josh Smoker who gave up a mammoth home run to Hunter Renfroe to give the Padres a 6-5 lead in the 8th and bring his season ERA to 8.00.

Offense

The Mets faced Jarred Cosart (0-1, 2.70 ERA) who struggled with a bad ankle throughout his start after getting hit by a comebacker from Michael Conforto in the first inning. Cosart blanked the Mets for the first two innings before imploding in the third. He loaded the bases by walking Conforto, Reyes, and Lucas Duda before allowing a bases-clearing double to Wilmer Flores. Curtis Granderson capped off the four-run inning with a RBI single scoring Flores.

The Mets extended their lead to 5-1 an inning later as Juan Lagares doubled and Michael Conforto drove him in on an RBI single.

The Mets entered the bottom of the ninth down 6-5 and were able to load the bases. They weren’t able to score however, as Brad Hand struck out Granderson and Rene Rivera, and got Lagares to fly out.

On Deck

The Mets will look to take the series on Thursday as they send Jacob deGrom (3-1, 3.56 ERA) to the mound against the Padres. Dinelson Lamet (0-0, -.–), the Padres tenth best prospect according to MLB.com, will make his MLB debut. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM.

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After taking the first two games of the series, the Mets quickly reverted back to the losing business as Mike Trout and company routed New York for a dozen runs – eight of which knocked starter Tommy Milone off the mound in the second.

Sunday at Citi Field the Angels literally walked all over Mets pitching, with five of the nine batters that had been gifted a free pass being driven to the plate.

Milone, in his second consecutive awful outing, had an ominous start surrendering back-to-back base hits, an intentional walk, an unintentional bases-loaded walk, and a grand slam before any outs were recorded.

The lit-up lefty returned to the rubber in the second looking to limit the damage to a five spot, only to be torched by Trout’s and Jefry Marte’s subsequent two-run and solo shots extending LA’s lead to eight before Mets fans had finished their first beer.

Despite his second consecutive awful outing, Milone will get another start according to manager Terry Collins.

“Right now, Tom’s going to go back out,” Collins said. “We think that’s our best option.”

Rafael Montero had the dubious honor of mopping up the mess, and despite continued command issues (three walks), he yielded only one run in 3.2 innings of work.

Rookie Matt Reynolds got the start at shortstop in lieu of Jose Reyes due to a late scratch because of left rib cage tightness. Reynolds gave his team a dose of dignity putting the Mets on the board in the third with his first home run of the season.

After Curtis Granderson led off the fifth with his fourth four-bagger of the season, consecutive hits in the sixth by Michael Conforto and Wilmer Flores set the stage for Jay Bruce to say, “So long” to his hitting slump by blasting a three-run shot, closing the gap to 9-5.

Just when hope filled the air in Flushing, the Angels took flight once again in the seventh off of the hapless Hansel Robles after a brief yet successful stint by Neil Ramirez. A walk to Luis Valbuena, a double by Cameron Maybin and a fly ball over the left field wall from Andrelton Simmons gave LA an even dozen runs, thrusting a dagger into the Mets futile attempt at procuring a sweep.

With an off day on Monday, Matt Harvey returns to the mound with his 2-3 record and bloated 5.56 ERA. It remains to be seen if the malcontent starter can find the means in his pitching toolbox to turn his sorry season around against the last place San Diego Padres.

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