During their last series against the Miami Marlins, the pitching was great but the Mets could not score at all.
In Milwaukee, the bats have woken up but the pitching (mostly the bullpen) has been god awful.
Basically, they are scoring just enough to lose.
Zack Wheeler got the start for the Mets in the series finale. Wheeler was coming off a start where he was good, but had some shoddy defense behind him. It was more of the same on Sunday.
In the bottom of the 1st, Lorenzo Cain reached on an infield single, and then Christian Yelich singled to right. Jesus Aguilar hit a ball in the right center gap that Conforto called for. Jay Bruce did hit give way and the ball landed on the warning track scoring Cain. More sloppy play from the Mets and they were trailing 1-0. Credit to Zack Wheeler for escaping the inning without further damage thanks to some impressive power pitching.
One positive development to take from these games lately is the Mets ability to answer scores from the opponent right away. That was their calling card during their run in April so it’s nice to see that again.
In the top of the 2nd, Jay Bruce singled, and then Adrian Gonzalez was hit by a pitch. Jose Bautista, who was playing for Nimmo, singled to center which loaded the bases.
Tomas Nido singled to bring Jay Bruce home and the game was tied. 1-1. Zack Wheeler was up next, and he helped his own cause, singling over the head of Domingo Santana in right field, scoring Gonzalez and Bautista. 3-1. Asdrubal Cabrera brought Nido home with a single and the Mets had a 4-1 advantage.
Unfortunately, Milwaukee likes immediately answering scores themselves.
Lorenzo Cain, who it feels like has been on base a hundred times this series, led off with a walk. Christian Yelich hit a ground ball to third base where Wilmer Flores was playing for some reason. Flores promptly picked up the ball and threw it in the stands. Jesus Aguilar followed with a homerun, and just like that the game was tied. 4-4.
The score would remain tied until the top of the 5th. Michael Conforto hit a ball that was originally called a homerun. Replays showed that the ball didn’t leave the park however, and he was sent back to second base. Jay Bruce singled him home, and the Mets were back on top 5-4.
Zack Wheeler was stretched to 110 pitches and he gave the Mets 6 innings of work. He allowed 4 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks. He also struck out 6. The defense didn’t do him any favors but he has to be better. The leadoff walks and hard hit balls can’t be blamed on the defense.
Wilmer Flores was removed from the game with lower back soreness around this time. Maybe that is the reason he’s been throwing balls all over Miller Park this series.
In the top of the 7th, Asdrubal Cabrera hit his 8th homerun of the year which extended the Met lead to 6-4. Milwaukee would answer right back. Obviously.
Robert Gsellman came in to pitch the bottom of the 7th. Ryan Braun led off and flew out for the first out. Lorenzo Cain reached on an infield single, despite a great effort from Luis Guillorme. Christian Yelich grounded into a fielders choice for the second out of the inning. Jesus Aguilar was then walked on a pitch that was right down the middle.
That brought up lefty Travis Shaw to the plate. Mickey Callaway decides to bring in Jerry Blevins. To add insult to injury, the hope plate umpire smirked at Gsellman as he exited the game. “Yeah I made an awful call. What are ya gonna do about it?”
Travis Shaw singles. 6-5. Paul Sewald was brought in to relieve Jerry Blevins. He surrendered a double to Domingo Santana. 7-6. Jonathan Villar followed with a double of his own. 8-6. Absolutely unbelievable.
In the top of the 9th Devin Mesoraco hit a solo homerun to cut the lead to 8-7. Amed Rosario got into scoring position, but Michael Conforto struck out to end the game.
The Mets could have easily swept Miami and then won a series in Milwaukee. Instead they have lost 5 of their last 6 games.
Mets will now travel to Atlanta to play a Memorial Day doubleheader. Jacob deGrom will pitch the first game. It’s up in the air who will pitch the second. This should be fun.
