THE RUNDOWN
After an ugly start, the Mets give the Brewers a late scare, but it wasn’t enough to overcome two critical errors and Steven Matz’s worst outing since his first game of the season.
A SLOPPY BEGINNING
After Curtis Granderson grounded out to second to start the game, the Mets got their first baserunner tellingly when Aaron Hill chucked the ball past first base on a Matt Reynolds ground ball, the first of five errors that the teams would commit during the game. Yoenis Cespedes took a ball up the middle and Kelly Johnson walked to load the bases for James Loney with one out. Loney couldn’t make it happen against Zach Davies, the Brewers’ tiny right-hander, who struck out the first baseman on three pitches. That left Wilmer Flores with a chance to capitalize. Flores, after collecting only one multi-hit game through his first 22 contests in April and May, has put up three three-hit games in June, but this would not be one of them, as the third baseman flew out in the first of his four hitless at-bats.
Matz, coming off of a lackluster start against Pittsburgh in which he struck out eight batters but also gave up eight hits and two walks in five innings, would face a middle-of-the-pack Brewers lineup that ranks 17th in TAv. Matz struck out Jonathan Villar and then induced Hernan Perez to fly out before the Mets made their first of three errors when Alejandro De Aza threw the ball past second base on a Ryan Braun double, allowing the left fielder to advance to third. Matz ended the threat with a Jonathan Lucroy liner to Cespedes.
The Mets had squandered their best chance in the first until the seventh inning, as Davies would roll through the lineup for the next five innings. Davies came into the game strong, coming off of starts in which he went seven innings giving up one run and eight innings giving up two runs. Davies began a streak in which he would put down 15 consecutive batters by inducing De Aza to fly out and Kevin Plawecki and Matz to ground out.
Matz got into trouble in the second inning. With one out, Aaron Hill singled, and Scooter Gennett followed with a double. The Brewers took the lead when Keon Broxton took a changeup up the middle to drive in Hill, and promptly stole second base.
That’s when the Mets made the first of their two critical errors, as Matz chucked the ball past Johnson, who was covering first base on a Davies sacrifice bunt, and allowed not only Gennett but also Broxton to score. Matz retired Villar and Perez, but the Mets were left in a 3-0 hole.
Granderson and Cespedes put solid wood on the ball, but neither was able to reach base as Davies logged his second one-two-three inning. Matz returned the favor, setting down the heart of the Brewers’ lineup in order. The same was true in the fourth inning, as Matz quietly retired Hill, Gennett and Broxton, three of the culprits from the second inning.
DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN
After another easy inning for Davies, the fireworks started again in the bottom of the fifth. Davies reached base again with a single to right field on the first pitch he saw. Then, the Mets relived their familiar nightmare, as Villar bunted to third base. The speedy shortstop would’ve been safe even with a great throw, but Flores tossed it past Johnson again to allow Davies to advance to third. Davies would score on a Braun sacrifice fly. After a Villar stolen base—his 23rd of the season—Lucroy doubled to score Villar and extend the lead to 5-0. The Mets countered in the top of the sixth with a feeble effort from the top of the lineup, in which Granderson, Reynolds and Cespedes all struck out swinging.
THIRD TIME’S A CHARM
Matz continued to struggle, giving up singles to Gennett and Broxton with one out. With runners on first and third, Broxton swiped second base, setting the stage for yet another replay of the second and fifth innings. This appeared to be so when the Brewers tested the Mets’ infield again with a Davies bunt back to Matz, but Matz held Villar at third and threw to first base for the out. Villar flew out to end the threat, and momentum was on the Mets’ side.
Davies began to tire, as Johnson broke his streak by doubling to right field on an 0-2 count. Loney followed with a hard single to left field, giving the Mets their best chance to score since the first inning.
A SEA OF FORMER METS
The Brewers promptly removed Davies and inserted former Met Blaine Boyer—who pitched a grand total of 6.2 innings in which he gave up 13 hits and 8 runs for the Amazins’ in the dark days of 2011. Boyer has been substantially more effective this season, pitching to a 2.10 ERA for the Brewers in 30 innings. Boyer did his part, escaping the inning without giving up a hit, but the Mets managed to squeeze a run home on a De Aza force out to put them on the board. Erik Goeddel, pitching his first game for the Mets in 2016 after starting the season in Las Vegas, pitched a flawless seventh inning.
In the top of the eighth inning, the Mets got cracking once again against another and somewhat more substantial former Met, Carlos Torres. Juan Lagares made it all the way to second after Villar turned what could’ve been a great play into a double for the pinch hitter after he booted the ball into right field. Granderson promptly knocked Lagares in on a single to right fielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis—yet another former Met—to close the gap to 5-2. After a Reynolds strikeout, Cespedes went fishing for a ball on the outside corner, driving it out to the deepest part of Miller Park for a double. Granderson hustled all the way around to score from first.
But that was all the Mets would get, as Will Smith, who hasn’t given up a run in six appearances since returning from the disabled list, managed to sneak out of the inning despite a walk to Asdrubal Cabrera with a Johnson groundout and a Flores lineout. The Mets went down quietly in the ninth against the Brewers’ flamethrowing closer Jeremy Jeffress, and the game ended the same way it began: a Granderson groundout.
NOTES
-Cespedes has really been hit-or-miss: he’s 9 for his last 22 but has struck out 7 times over that span and walked just once.
-With the Nationals’ win over the Phillies, Mets are now 4.5 games behind Washington in the NL East.
-The Mets are off tomorrow, but will resume on Tuesday against Pittsburgh at home. Jacob deGrom will take the mound against an as yet unnamed Pirate starter.
Photo credit: Benny Sieu – USA Today Sports