BATS STRUGGLE AGAINST PHILLIES’ STARTER EICKHOFF

Phillies’ starter Jerad Eickhoff flummoxed the Mets over his final six innings of the season, much as he has done throughout his young career. New York’s bats came out swinging early and often, and Eickhoff was able to get through the first inning on only seven pitches, including a strikeout of Jay Bruce. He commanded his 90-91 mph fastball well, but his real out pitch is still his stellar curveball, on which he generated several strikeouts in this outing.

Curtis Granderson was the team’s first baserunner with a leadoff walk in the fourth, and he was replaced by pinch-hitter Juan Lagares. He was promptly thrown out by catcher Cameron Rupp, just before Bruce singled for the Mets’ first hit of the day. New York finally broke through in the sixth, as Matt Reynolds doubled on a well-placed ground ball and was brought home by an Alejandro De Aza single up the middle. Eickhoff’s day was done after the sixth, having accumulated eight strikeouts while only allowing one walk and one run.

Reliever Colton Murray came in in the seventh, and struggled some to command his 94-95 mph fastball. Kelly Johnson was able to single and steal second base, and was eventually brought home on Kevin Plawecki’s line-drive double. Murray would get through the inning, while Michael Mariot and Joely Rodriguez shared a clean eighth. De facto closer Hector Neris closed out the Phillies’ season while silencing the Mets, who probably spent most of this game trying to get back to New York as soon as possible.

GABRIEL YNOA IS HIS SERVICEABLE SELF

Ynoa did exactly exactly what he was asked to do today, with a little bit of fastball command shakiness for good measure. He allowed five hits (all singles, including two to Maikel Franco), but only allowed one hit. He managed to work an even faster first inning than Eickhoff (only requiring five pitches), and suffered no damage in the second inning.

In the third, three singles sequenced in such a way as to score the first run of the game on a Franco RBI, but that would be all of the damage Ynoa would allow. He got his final five outs efficiently and mostly without incident. On the day, 80 percent of his batted balls were ground balls, and threw only 52 pitches. It’s interesting that he didn’t even get to finish the fifth inning, but Terry Collins instead decided to go to the bullpen.

BULLPEN STRUGGLES TO RECORD OUTS IN THE SEVENTH

Jerry Blevins came in and got out Odubel Herrera to end the fifth, and that was all that was to be asked of him on the evening. Josh Smoker worked around a hit to get through the sixth cleanly. Erik Goeddel struggled in general, and failed to record an out. He gave up a walk and two hits, allowing one of the runs to score while he was on the mound. Josh Edgin’s line on the box score looks clean, but he allowed the sacrifice fly that scored the third run of the inning. In the eighth inning, Jim Henderson closed out the game for Mets’ pitching, but allowed an RBI single to Aaron Altherr before all was said and done. This was the final run scored in the game, and the Mets fell 5-2.

UP NEXT

With the regular season completed, the Mets await the San Francisco Giants in the NL Wild Card Game on Wednesday, at Citi Field. New York was able to line up their schedule to have Noah Syndergaard available to start, which is very good. However, the Giants were able to clinch their spot on the last day of the season AND have worked their schedule in such a way as to have Madison Bumgarner available to start – which is bad. It’s also an even year, which basically makes this game meaningless, but the Mets will give it their best shot regardless.

Photo credit: Bill Streicher – USA Today Sports

To keep the good times rolling, the Mets would have to crack Julio Teheran, who entered the game with 24 consecutive scoreless innings against them. Opposing him was Robert Gsellman, who has utilized his every-pitch-but-the-kitchen-sink arsenal to post a 2.87 ERA in his first 15.2 innings of major league action. His low strikeout rate, elevated walk rate and low HR/FB rate portend a rising ERA in the future, but for now the Mets need him to hold down a spot until other starters can hopefully get healthy.

In the first, the Mets finally seemed ready to break Teheran’s scoreless inning streak. With one out, Asdrubal Cabrera doubled and Yoenis Cespedes and Curtis Granderson followed with an infield single and a walk. That brought Wilmer Flores to the plate with the bases loaded and no outs. Unfortunately, Teheran is not a lefty and Flores grounded into an inning-ending double play. The Mets wouldn’t record another hit until the sixth inning, putting only one baserunner on in the interim (another walk to Granderson).

Gsellman, meanwhile, flashed some nastier pitches than he’s displayed thus far in the major leagues, but ultimately put up a sub-par performance. In the bottom of the second, Matt Kemp lined a solo home run over the left center field wall to put the Braves up 1-0. Gsellman bounced back and posted two scoreless innings, but the Braves got back on Gsellman in the fifth.

Dansby Swanson (who was on base four times in this game) led off with a single, then was sacrificed to second by Teheran. Ender Inciarte grounded out, but the next four Braves (Adonis Garcia, Freddie Freeman, Matt Kemp and Nick Markakis) recorded three hits and a walk, building a 4-0 lead for the Braves before Gsellman finally struck out Tyler Flowers to end the inning as well as his night. Gsellman finished with five innings pitched, allowing seven hits, walking two and striking out six, leaving the game in a 4-0 hole.

At this point, the Mets’ began working some of their late season magic. Granderson, revived after being a well-below average player for most of the season, launched a two-run homer in the top of the sixth, ending Teheran’s scoreless streak against the Mets at 29 innings and, more importantly, cutting the deficit to 4-2. Jim Henderson entered for the bottom of the sixth and didn’t record an out, but Josh Smoker came in and cleaned the mess, striking out A.J. Pierzynski and inducing a double-play ball to keep the game in reach.

The seventh inning was quiet on both sides, with Hansel Robles working around a couple of walks to keep the Braves off the board. Then the Braves fell apart in the eighth. Alejandro De Aza walked, Jose Reyes reached on an error and Cabrera walked to load the bases with no outs for Cespedes. Cespedes lofted a sacrifice fly to right field in front of an RBI single from Granderson that tied the game and put runners on the corners with one out. Kelly Johnson put the Mets ahead with another clutch hit, this one a double, and Michael Conforto drove in another when he was hit by a pitch. By the time De Aza struck out to end the inning, the Mets had batted around and turned a 4-2 deficit into a 6-4 lead.

Addison Reed entered for the eighth and, with the help of two stellar defensive plays from Eric Campbell at first base (who saw that coming?), preserved the Mets’ two-run lead for Jeurys Familia. Familia had to work around a really impressive bit of hitting from Adonis Garcia, who one-handed a ball 380 feet to left field for a leadoff double, but he was up to the task, inducing a ground out from Matt Kemp and striking out Freddie Freeman and Tyler Flowers to cap cap the win.

The Mets have now won six straight games and 15 of their last 19 to storm their way back into a playoff spot. With both the Cardinals and Giants winning, the Mets remain half a game back of the Giants for the first wild card and half a game ahead of the Cardinals for the second. Last night was certainly an excellent way to kick of the final series for the team at Turner Field, which has long been a place of nightmares for the Mets. Bartolo Colon squares off against former Met prospect John Gant as the Mets look to keep the wins coming on Saturday.

Photo credit: Jason Getz – USA Today Sports

The Mets’ veteran manager seems to be reacting the way that novice gamblers react: treating bad information like good information. If a hitter gets hot, they keep playing. If someone has “success” against a pitcher, they get in. That’s how Granderson got to hit cleanup yesterday. He hit .300/.333/.500 in 21 prior plate appearances vs. Nationals’ starter Tanner Roark. That’s hardly enough plate appearances to make a well informed decision, but it’s the kind of bet that old-school managers make.

Collins’ bets paid off all game long. In the bottom of the third, the Mets got runners on second and third with Cespedes up. Roark threw two balls out of the zone before Dusty Baker put him on intentionally. Wouldn’t you rather face Granderson, who is hitting .116/.231/.151 with runners in scoring position this season? If you throw hanging sliders like Roark did, it may not matter. Granderson singled through the shift to score two runs, giving the Mets a lead they would never surrender.

Robert Gsellman did his best to keep the ball low and give the Mets infield a chance to get outs. It wasn’t always pretty, but he kept the Nationals to one run through five innings. In the top of the sixth, Gsellman gave up a leadoff double when a curveball caught too much of the plate, then walked Wilson Ramos after getting up in the count 0-2. Collins bet his young starter could escape another jam, and once again his bet paid off with two weak grounders and a clutch strikeout.

James Loney appears to be one of the few constants in the Mets lineup, no matter how cold his bat is. Collins finally demoted him to eighth in the batting order. In the bottom of the sixth, Collins’ bet on Loney as a major leaguer paid off with an RBI double down the line. Loney now has as many extra base hits in September as he did in August: one.

With a 3-1 lead in the top of the seventh, Collins continued to roll the dice against the top of the Nationals’ batting order. Jim Henderson started the inning despite his struggles since returning from the disabled list. Trea Turner just missed a home run, then Jayson Werth singled to bring up Daniel Murphy as the tying run. Here comes Josh Smoker – last seen serving up a big home run to Christian Yelich. Murphy smoked a line drive to short center field. Michael Conforto broke in on the ball and sold out to make a diving catch. Harper chased a slider to end the threat. Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia each threw clean innings to end the game.

What’s Next?

Sunday Night baseball on ESPN. Max Scherzer is pushed back a day. The Mets pulled to within a game of the Cardinals for the second wild card spot.

Photo credit: USA Today Sports

It should be noted, though, that Matz is not just the latest Mets pitcher to succumb to an injury—he’s one of several pitchers from last year’s playoff teams to be taken out of action; the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw has spent the entire season out of play with a herniated disc, and his scheduled return for the season’s final games is still in question, while the Cubs’ John Lackey (of the Cardinals in 2015) and Héctor Rondon were both deactivated Friday for shoulder and triceps soreness, respectively. The Nationals, near contenders in 2015, also lost Stephen Strasburg to the DL Monday with a sore elbow. (RIP my fantasy baseball team.)

Like my colleague Andrew Mearns, I’m not one to argue that the occasional high pitch count is career-destroying. But a look at this list of pitchers, all of whom who played hard, high-pressure seasons and all but Strasburg who pitched into the postseason, does smack of fatigue. The subject has been hot on the BP Mets site of late, with writers calling for Matz’s shutdown, weighing the same question with respect to Syndergaard, and making the broader argument against ruining the Mets’ 2017 for the sake of the fiery remains of this season.

For the Mets, losing Matz from the starting rotation—one already weakened by a broken, then really broken Harvey—might just be the death rattle of the team’s playoff bid. The only hope now is (1.) Céspedes hits a home run in every at bat and/or (2.) the bullpen X-Men morphs into an amazing starting rotation. Of course the bullpen is also tired, with a collective 8.02 ERA for the past 10 games. Still, if a come-from-behind Mets miracle is going to clinch the wild card race, it’s going to have to come from these guys, who, increasingly as they approach the plate, I don’t recognize at all. So, for my own education’s sake, here’s a look at the few of the Mets’ less-than-star pitchers, who are—no pressure—responsible for carrying our 2016 hopes and dreams. To start:

Jonathon Niese

How has this happened!? you despair. We all know Niese, much as many of us may wish to un-know him. Seeing his name kind of makes me want to cry. Seeing his face under a Mets hat again kind of makes me want to punch it. But as of this writing (Tuesday afternoon) he is tonight’s starting pitcher, so it’s worth taking a look at his work in 2016. Niese, who spent most of the season in Pittsburg after being traded for Neil Walker, has pitched 28 games with 19 starts for a total of 120.7 innings. He’s 8-7 with zero saves and an ERA of 5.30. Sigh.

(Editor’s Note: Welp. That didn’t last long.)

Robert Gsellman

The 23-year-old righty was called up from Triple-A after Matz was sent to the DL. This year, Gsellman was 3-4 in 11 starts at Binghamton with 66.3 innings pitched and an ERA of 2.71; in Las Vegas he struggled, going 1-5 in 9 starts and 48.7 innings pitched with an ERA of 5.73. On the bright side, he’s used to those starting nerves, and his combined 2016 ERA of 4.22 is better than Niese’s.

Seth Lugo

Hey, so this isn’t so bad! Lugo pitched a solid six innings on August 19 in San Francisco, his first start in the majors. Sure, the rest of the team flushed that good start down the toilet, but it was still a pleasant surprise to see Lugo outkick his statistical coverage. In Triple-A Vegas this year, Lugo went 3-4 in 14 starts with an ERA of 6.50. But, that combined with last week’s start and his 9 other major league outings put him at a 2016 ERA of 4.77, which is still better than Niese’s.

Josh Smoker

Speaking of guys who messed up Lugo’s good start—Josh Smoker made his major league debut in the third of an inning in which he gave up two runs to San Francisco that night. The 27-year-old lefty, the Nationals’ first-round draft pick in 2007, fared better in Vegas, where he was 3-2 with three saves over 52 games and 57 innings pitched. Given his rocky foray into the majors last week, his ERA is not better than Niese’s, but the Mets are expected to give Smoker another shot tonight, so redemption is near.

Gabriel Ynoa

This 23-year-old righty is another pitcher to make his debut in the majors this August. Ynoa pitched three innings in three games and struggled, giving up four runs, but his overall performance for the year has been much stronger; In Vegas he started 24 games and went 11-5. Because he’s so young and has been such a promising starter in the minors, I’d be keen to see Collins take another chance with Ynoa on the mound.

Erik Goeddel

I must have blinked and missed this guy (a few times), because the Mets have been calling Goeddel up since 2014. This year he pitched 28 games for the Mets and 21 for Triple-A Vegas, actually faring slightly better in the majors than he did out west (4.18 vs 4.94 ERA). He pitched well for the Mets in 2015, going 1-1 in 35 games with a 2.43 ERA. Also, talk about sibling rivalry—Erik is the brother of Tyler Goeddel, the 23-year-old left fielder who debuted with the Phillies this year.

Sean Gilmartin

Gilmartin pitched well as a Met last year—he went 3-2 and posted a 2.67 ERA over 50 games. In 2016, he struggled, giving up 11 hits over nine innings in the five games he played in the majors. He fared better later in the season in Triple-A, going 9-7 in 18 starts. Fingers crossed he’s ready to come back and crush it?

Jim Henderson

After a stint in the minors in 2015, Henderson joined the Mets to go 1-2 across 31 games (25.3 innings) this year. Every time I turn around Henderson is either being called up or sent down to Vegas, but I for one am happy to see him on the 25-man roster. The 33-year-old was originally drafted by the Expos, traditionally a team from which many great Mets have come, so I’ll take it as a good omen. Plus, his ERA for 2016—4.50 in the minors and 4.26 in the majors—is better than Niese’s.

Here’s hoping to a speedy recovery for Matz, and that the young talent can pick up at least some of the slack in the final games of the season. Meanwhile, I’ll be watching with one eye shut as #49 takes the mound tonight.

Photo Credit: Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports

Yoenis Cespedes and Neil Walker showed what the Mets have been missing on their awful road trip, and the Mets win 9-5.

Mets Offense Shows Potential

Friday night’s 8-1 loss looked like the nail in the coffin of the Mets’ season. Multiple throwing errors, baserunning blunders and a leaky bullpen sent the Mets two games below .500 and 5.5 games out of the second wild card spot. On Saturday, the Mets finally rolled out a lineup with five opening day starters as Walker returned to the lineup. If they can stay healthy, they may have a (slim) chance of making the playoffs.

In the first inning it looked like the Mets were going to squander another opportunity. Jose Reyes doubled to deep center and Asdrubal Cabrera singled. Just like last night, a Met runner tried doing too much – Cabrera tried taking second on a ball in the dirt to Cespedes and had no chance as the ball bounced right in to Buster Posey’s glove. Cespedes eventually doubled down the line for the Mets’ first run. Walker walked, but the Mets couldn’t get another run.

The Mets did most of their damage in the sixth inning. Jake Peavy came out of the bullpen and showed why the Giants demoted him. Five consecutive Mets hit the ball hard, capped by Alejandro De Aza pulling a home run down the right field line after a long at-bat. Cespedes drove a mistake well past the left field wall in the seventh for his second home run of the game.

Colon Contains Giants

After giving up over one run per inning on this road trip, the Mets were desperate for a pitcher to limit the damage. Bartolo Colon did what he does best, pound the strike zone. Home plate umpire Mark Carlson had a consistently small strike zone, so Colon left a number of pitches in hittable zones and gave up nine hits. San Francisco tested the Mets’ infielders in the fifth as Gregor Blanco bunted to Reyes for a single and then Wilmer Flores misplayed a sharp grounder to put the go-ahead run on in the fifth. Posey grounded sharply to the right side but Walker stabbed the ball to prevent a big inning.

Bullpen Shaky Again

Colon was pulled with one out in the seventh after completing his third time through the order. Josh Smoker fared much better in his second career outing, retiring both hitters to end the inning. Terry Collins had Jim Henderson warming up in the fifth and sixth inning, but he turned to Hansel Robles in the eighth with an 8-2 lead. Robles gave up a walk, line out and walk. Addison Reed came in and promptly walked Hunter Pence to load the bases. Eduardo Nunez doubled and Joe Panik hit an RBI groundout to make it 8-5 before Reed could end the inning. After the Mets added a run in the top of the ninth, Reed stayed in to work a relatively clean bottom of the inning. It wasn’t the most inspiring relief appearances, but it was still a vast improvement on the previous night.

What’s Next?

The Mets try to salvage a series split on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. Noah Syndergaard may take aim at the San Francisco Bay.

Photo credit: Lance Iversen – USA Today Sports

After a painful 5-1 loss on Friday, the Mets and Steven Matz squared off against Aaron Blair and the Braves on Saturday night. Matz’s last few starts had been mediocre, largely due to his struggles to command his fastballs making him more hittable. Blair, meanwhile, had been horrible for the Braves, pitching to a 7.59 ERA and a 5.68 FIP. 

The Mets barely got the ball out of the infield against rookie Jameson Taillon, losing 4-0.

Taillon Chews Up Mets Lineup

The Pirates had to scramble their rotation after Gerrit Cole went down with a triceps injury. Taillon played the part of an ace today in his second big league start. He stuck almost exclusively with his 95 mph fastball, sinker and a change-of-pace curveball. Terry Collins had to use five players who did not start Opening Day due to all the injuries. The replace-Mets lineup seemed to have a very simple game plan: Take the curveball – even when Taillon started throwing it for strikes early in the count – and attack the fastball.

When Taillon only needed six pitches to get through the first inning, it was an omen of things to come. Taillon retired the first seven batters before hitting Kevin Plawecki with a pitch. He kept plowing through the Mets lineup getting ground ball after ground ball, like Jon Niese did last week. A frustrated home crowd started booing Alejandro De Aza and Asdrubal Cabrera after weak ground ball outs in the sixth. They wanted to see Mets hits and had yet to see any. Curtis Granderson got the first hit to lead off the seventh. Yoenis Cespedes followed up with two quick strikes and a double play to end the threat. Taillon was pulled for a pinch hitter after the eighth, allowing two hits and no runs while striking out five in only 91 pitches. Tony Watson entered the ninth and surrendered a leadoff double to pinch hitter Matt Reynolds, but the Mets couldn’t get him home.

deGrom Makes One Mistake

Because of the double-header last week and Monday’s off day, Jacob deGrom was able to get a full week of rest before last night’s start. He came out with good command of the low fastball – his bread and butter pitch from the last two seasons. deGrom approached the game like a power pitcher trying to strike everyone out. He got nine strikeouts, but he was also over 90 pitches and starting to tire with two outs in the sixth inning. Starling Marte singled through the 5.5 hole and Jung Ho Kang crushed a mistake fastball over the original Citi Field wall in left center. Josh Harrison bunted for a single on the next pitch, stole second and advanced to third on Kevin Plawecki’s wild throw, but deGrom struck out Jordy Mercer to end the threat.

Henderson Proves He’s a One-Inning Reliever

Jim Henderson came in and only needed five pitches to get through the seventh. The only way to know whether he’s a one-inning pitcher regardless of the pitch count is to test him out. Henderson immediately failed the test, walking Polanco to lead off the eighth and giving up a two-run homer to Marte on the next pitch. He got through the rest of the inning with some good defense by Cespedes and Erik Goeddel mopped up with a clean ninth inning.

Injury Updates:

Granderson, Cabrera and Cespedes were the only regulars in the Mets starting lineup last night. Neil Walker is continuing to recover from back tightness in Saturday’s game. Michael Conforto got a cortisone shot for a cartilage problem in his wrist and was limited to pinch hitting. Juan Lagares was initially going to start in his place, but was scratched due to a sore tooth. Terry Collins was given a clean bill of health and managed today. After the game he told beat reporters “If you think I’m going to criticize my lineup, you’re talking to the wrong guy.”

In longer-term injury news, the Mets announced they plan to bring Travis d’Arnaud back from the disabled list next Tuesday. d’Arnaud is beginning to catch in rehab assignments. Early reports are that the Mets plan to keep Rene Rivera and demote Plawecki, who had two errors today. David Wright is considering surgery for the herniated disk in his neck. Zack Wheeler will start pitching off the mound next week.

Other News & Notes

• The Mets played a video tribute for Niese on his return to Citi Field, despite his acrimonious exit.
• Both the Mets and Pirates wore silver ribbons on their chest in memory of the mass shooting at an Orlando gay nightclub over the weekend.
• Citi Field has a noticeable seam in the outfield where the groundscrew had to re-sod the grass after Beyonce’s concert last week. It didn’t affect play today.

What’s Next?

Noah Syndergaard looks to snap the Mets three-game losing streak.

Photo credit: Adam Hunger – USA Today Sports

After a truly horrendous start to the season, Matt Harvey bounced back with a 0.64 ERA in his past two starts and looked to extend his recent resurgence against the Brewers. Junior Guerra, a 31-year-old rookie with a 3.61 ERA claimed off waivers from the White Sox this offseason, started for the Brewers. Alejandro De Aza started in left field in place of the struggling Michael Conforto, and the newly acquired Kelly Johnson made his 2016 Met debut at second base. 

• Reynolds hit a line drive to shortstop Jonathan Villar, who knocked it down. 

• Wilmer Flores, standing at second at the start of the play, returned to the bag. 

• Villar flipped to second baseman Scooter Gennett for a force out on Johnson, who started the play at first. 

• Wilmer Flores came off the bag and began running towards third. 

• Scooter Gennett chases down Johnson in a run down, even though Johnson was already out. 

• The final result: Reynolds safe at first, Flores safe at third, Cabrera scores, two outs. 

Syndergaard started the night strong, setting the Marlins down in order in the first on only nine pitches. The second inning was much harder, however. Marcell Ozuna led off with a homer, giving the Marlins a 1-0 lead. Two batters later, a Justin Bour double and a fielding error on Syndergaard put runners on the corners with two outs. Unphased, Syndergaard bore down to strike out Jeff Mathis and the pitcher Koehler and keep the deficit at one.

On the other end, the Mets’s offense was quiet out of the gate. Yoenis Cespedes had the only hit the first time through the order against Koehler, a two-out double in the first. In the fourth, Asdrubal Cabrera led off with a booming home run to right field to tie the game. Cespedes followed with a single and Neil Walker took a slider off the foot to put runners on first and second and no out. A slumping Michael Conforto grounded into a double play that seemed to end the threat, but Wilmer Flores came through with a broken bat RBI single to score Cespedes from third, Flores’s first hit with a RISP this season.

With the lead, Syndergaard was on cruise control. He struck out five consecutive Marlins batters at one part during a string of 13 consecutive Marlins retired. In the sixth, the BABIP fairy got back at Thor, as he allowed a weak single to Martin Prado and a ground ball deflected by Cabrera at short turned into a double to put runners at second and third with one out. Marcell Ozuna followed with a sac fly to tie the game at two.

Don Mattingly left Koehler out for the top of the seventh, an odd decision given Koehler’s spotty control and high pitch count. Indeed, the decision was short lived, as Koehler was pulled in favor of lefty Mike Dunn after issuing a four pitch walk to Wilmer Flores. Dunn, brought in to face the lefty-hitting James Loney, promptly served up a middle-middle fastball that the first baseman launched off the facing of the second deck in right field, a two-run shot that gave the lead right back to the Mets.

Syndergaard also got to stay in for the seventh inning, though he fared much better than Koehler. Despite allowing a single, a walk and three steals (two to the ageless Ichiro), Syndergaard was able to escape the inning by striking out Derek Dietrich on a 3-2 slider. Thor allowed six hits, two runs, one walk and struck out nine in his seven innings of work, another extremely impressive outing despite his early shakiness.

The eighth inning was quiet on both sides, as Cody Hall set the Mets down in order and Addison Reed worked around a single from Christian Yelich to keep the Marlins off the board. In the ninth, Flores lead off with a double and moved to third on a fly out before Rene Rivera hit a long home run to left field to extend the Met lead to 6-2. No longer a save situation, Jeurys Familia got the night off in favor of Jim Henderson, who set down the Marlins in order to end the game.

The replacement Mets were the heroes of this game; Flores, Loney and Rivera, filling in for David Wright, Lucas Duda and Travis d’Arnaud respectively, went a combined 4-for-11 with a walk, a home run and five RBI. All three Met homers came from former Rays: Cabrera, Loney and Rivera. The win, along with the Nationals’ loss to the Reds, puts the Mets two games back of Washington for first place in the NL East. Bartolo Colon opposes Justin Nicolino in game two of the series on Saturday.

Photo credit: Steve Mitchell-USA Today Sports

Noah Syndergaard was ejected without warning for throwing behind Chase Utley in the third inning. Utley retaliated with two home runs – including a grand slam – as the Dodgers won 9-1.

Mets Finally Retaliate Against Utley

After Chase Utley slid past the base and broke Ruben Tejada’s leg in last year’s playoffs, people wondered when the Mets would retaliate against Utley. The Dodgers used Utley as a pinch hitter for the rest of the playoffs and to start the 2016 season series. Jacob deGrom didn’t retaliate in Los Angeles. Neither did Syndergaard the next night. Instead of asking when, Mets fans started asking if the team would retaliate. Then came Saturday, the on-field reunion for the 1986 World Series championship team. Citi Field rocked with chants of “Utley sucks!” once again as he stepped in to lead off the game. Some fans were clearly hoping for a throwback approach to Utley and Syndergaard came out firing a series of 99-100 mph fastballs and hard sliders. It looked like he was going to “retaliate” by overpowering the Dodgers. Then he started Utley’s second at bat with a 99 mile per hour fastball behind the butt.

Syndergaard was immediately ejected by home plate umpire Adam Hamari. Terry Collins bolted out of the dugout to argue and was ejected himself. People will certainly debate whether or not Syndergaard’s pitch and ejection were warranted. It’s not clear whether the Mets received a special pregame warning about throwing at Utley or whether Hamari was using his jurisdiction more aggressively than most baseball umpires.

Still a Game to Play

Syndergaard was ejected with one out and no score in the third inning. After all the emotions of the 1986 reunion and then the ejection, the Mets had to find a way to keep the crowd in the game. But first they had to find a pitcher. Collins’ long argument helped buy enough time for Logan Verrett to warm up. He stepped in to a 1-0 count and threw three strikes past Utley, then retired Corey Seager to end the inning. The umpires warned Dodgers’ starter Kenta Maeda before the bottom of the inning. He had a quick inning striking out Verrett and then getting two groundouts. Los Angeles came close to getting action on the scoreboard in the fourth inning as former Met Justin Turner hit a leadoff double and advanced to third. Verrett made a snap throw back to third on a comebacker to catch Turner in a rundown. Joc Pederson then lined out to Neil Walker who was playing in short right field on a shift (Walker had several great defensive plays from this position).

Utley Gets His Revenge

When Utley came up for his next at bat in the sixth inning, everyone wondered what would happen: Would Verrett finish the job and actually hit Utley? This time Utley did the hitting, driving the first pitch over the right-center field wall for the first run of the game. Verrett was in his fourth inning of relief and the Dodgers began to tee off on location mistakes. Yasiel Puig (entering after a back injury to Trayce Thompson) hit a single and then got in a rundown to help Adrian Gonzalez chug around the bases for the Dodgers’ second run.

The Mets turned to Antonio Bastardo for the seventh inning and it quickly got out of hand. Pederson hit a leadoff double. Howie Kendrick singled and stole second after being completely ignored. Yasmani Grandal walked. Hansel Robles came in to strike out Kiké Hernandez. Utley stepped up to the plate. Before the first Dodgers-Mets game of the season we offered many options for the biggest Mets villain. Utley did his best to try and end the debate about Mets history’s greatest monster, hitting a grand slam to make it 6-0. The sellout crowd was completely deflated by the stoic Utley and the Mets largely went through the motions for the rest of the game. Los Angeles hit two more home runs against Robles in the eighth and one against Jim Herderson in the ninth, becoming the second team to ever hit five home runs in Citi Field. Juan Lagares provided the Mets one bright spot in the eighth with a pinch-hit home run.

Mets Baffled by Maeda

After one inning, it looked like Maeda would be the pitcher leaving the game early. Michael Conforto hit a line drive up the middle and Maeda put his pitching hand down instinctually to protect himself. It bounced hard off the back of his hand for an infield hit, but the pitcher stayed in the game for 75 pitches, going just long enough to qualify for a win. The Mets couldn’t manage another hit as the Japanese right-hander kept throwing first pitch curveballs that dropped in to the strike zone. Curtis Granderson and Conforto both hit balls sharply off of Adam Liberatore in the sixth but couldn’t get them to fall.

Trade For James Loney

The Mets traded for veteran first baseman James Loney before yesterday’s game, giving cash to San Diego. Loney had an opt-out clause in his contract if the Padres didn’t promote him to the majors by June 1. The Rays are still paying most of Loney’s salary after releasing him at the end of Spring Training, making it a “nothing to lose” trade for the Mets. Loney and Wilmer Flores will probably platoon at first base while Lucas Duda is out. On more on what Loney could bring to the Mets, see fearless leader Bryan Grosnick’s in-depth piece from earlier this week.

What’s Next?

The Mets play Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN2, with Bartolo Colon facing Clayton Kershaw.

Photo credit: Andy Marlin – USA Today Sports