Game recap June 7 (Game 1): Neil Walker’s homecoming spoiled by Jon Niese (and no offense, but it’s more fun to blame Niese)

What Happened, In One Sentence:

Jonathon Niese got his revenge against the Mets with seven shutout innings as the Mets lost 3-1.

Niese Rolls Over Struggling Mets Lineup

When the Mets traded Niese away after last season, he went out of his way to criticize the Mets infield. Sure, the Mets allowed 12 unearned runs while he was on the mound, but it’s hard to pin Niese’s struggles from last year on the defense. Niese had a career low in strikeout rate while his walks went up. Blaming the defense seemed like an excuse for Niese’s 2015 performance that was 2.3 wins below replacement level.

Niese had been better so far this year, by which I mean he was only slightly below replacement level. On the other hand, the Mets lineup has struggled as of late with a series of injuries. Niese kept the Mets off the board for seven innings. It’s hard to say whether Niese was particularly good or the Mets were particularly bad as they pounded the ball in to the dirt for one weak ground ball after the next. Yoenis Cespedes was back in the starting lineup but went 0-for-3 with a walk.

The Mets only got two chances off Niese and the Pirates. The first came in the fourth inning when Neil Walker hit a two out single, Wilmer Flores continued his hot streak with another single and James Loney drew a four pitch walk. Mets fans may have expected Niese to lose concentration – he struggled in these situations last year – but he managed to strike out Michael Conforto to end the threat. Steven Matz drove a ball down the right field line in the fifth and extended it to a triple when the ball bounced off the wall past Gregory Polanco. The Pirates brought in their infield with one out and Curtis Granderson couldn’t elevate the ball for a sacrifice fly. Asdrubal Cabrera grounded out to end the threat. Things looked better for the Mets as soon as Niese left. Granderson homered and Cabrera dropped a great drag bunt only to be thrown out since he got out of the box slowly. Cespedes walked but the Mets couldn’t put together a rally.

Matz Grinds Through Five

Josh Harrison set the tone for the Pirates, tripling over Cespedes to lead off the game and scoring on a David Freese single. Jung Ho Kang got another single but Matz got a ground ball and strikeout to limit the damage. In the third, Harrison led off with another single and got in to scoring position before a strikeout and double play ended the threat. Harrison led off the fifth with his third single, stole second on a huge lead and came around to score. Matz only threw 11 first pitch strikes to the 24 batters he faced. Pittsburgh took advantage and pounded him for eight hits in five innings. Matz’s stuff wasn’t bad by any stretch – he got eight strikeouts and 14 swinging strikes – but he couldn’t locate strike one. Antonio Bastardo threw 20 pitches in the sixth and Logan Verrett pitched the seventh and eighth, throwing 34 pitches. With no off day before the Mets’ next series, Verrett will be used as a spot starter, so the early game may be his only work out of the bullpen for a while.

Homecoming for Walker

Neil Walker was born in Pittsburgh and played six seasons for his hometown team before being traded to the Mets. The Pirates played a short tribute video and their fans gave a minute-long standing ovation. Walker tipped his helmet to the crowd before taking his first at-bat and was cheered throughout the game.

Photo credit: Charles LeClaire – USA Today Sports