Even with a splendid seat ten rows from the first baseline, the twenty-six dollars I paid was not worth the price of admission having to suffer through a poor outing by a Mets pitcher in person.
A day after the wheels came off of Mets starter Zack Wheeler, it was déjà vu all over again when fellow righty Robert Gsellman was equally ineffective against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The LA native, making his first career start at the Ravine, had a horrible homecoming in front of family and friends, including his poor grandmother, who watched him implode for eight runs, seven earned, on nine hits, four of which left the park, in 4.1 brutal innings work.
“I’ve just been getting my butt kicked out there,” said Gsellman, who has allowed 14 earned runs in his last two starts. “I haven’t been executing pitches. Batters are too comfortable up there.”
Having to yank starters early and often has wreaked havoc on a Mets bullpen that can’t catch a break. Even though NY was down by eight and listless at the plate by the time Josh Edgin took the mound, getting rocked for five runs in the fifth can’t be the new normal. Mets starters need to continue to get deeper into games.
“We’ve got to get him back,” Collins said regarding Gsellman. “We’ve got to continue to coach and continue to get better. This is what the game is about right now. When you got a down time, you’ve got to get back to the drawing board and start over and do a better job coaching.”
While the Dodgers made a mockery out of the Mets, Cody Bellinger made the record books becoming the first rookie to hit 10 home runs in 10 games in baseball’s modern era. But it was shortstop sensation Corey Seager who stole the show crushing three home runs and a double, accounting for half of the Dodgers dozen runs.
Aside from their deficient offense, New York displayed some sloppy defense in the first from T.J. Rivera whose errant throw to Lucas Duda allowed Justin Turner to reach base, making way for another monumental moment for Cody Bellinger. His two-run shot gave him a National League-leading 22 home runs, reaching this feat faster than any player in history (52 games).
“It’s tough to sit here night after night and look up we’re just not making pitches,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “And if you are going to battle back, you’ve got to make pitches.”
Brandon McCarthy kept the Mets scoreless through six, scattering four hits and a walk. Reliever Brock Stewart shined in his first outing of the season delivering three hitless innings for his first career save.
Tonight the Mets hope to stop the bleeding with another Southern California native, rookie Tyler Pill, who will face the blister prone lefty Rich Hill, trying to bounce back from his seven-run debacle in Cleveland.
