Seth Lugo did everything he could to stave off the Mets’ death spiral, but his teammates ran and threw their way to an 8-1 loss.

One Foot Forward…

If you missed last night’s game and just saw the score, your first guess would probably be Seth Lugo let the Mets down in his first major league start. After all, he had a 6.93 ERA in 14 AAA starts to open the season. Terry Collins had already turned to Logan Verrett and Jon Niese before going to Lugo out of necessity when Steven Matz was scratched with shoulder soreness.

After the team gave up 38 runs on the first four games of their toad trip, Lugo gave the Mets everything they could hope for in the first six innings. He mixed up his 93-94 mph fastball, sinker and offspeed pitches. He moved the ball up and down, pounded the strike zone and didn’t hang any breaking pitches over the middle of the plate. San Francisco has been one of baseball’s most aggressive teams swinging at pitches in the zone; mix in a few double plays and Lugo had thrown six innings of one run ball before he hit the 60-pitch mark.

…One Foot Back

Jose Reyes led off the game with a single to center. Four pitches later, he foreshadowed how Friday night would turn out for the Mets. Johnny Cueto’s pitch was in the dirt. Reyes tried to take second, but he broke late and had no chance to beat the throw. Reyes knew he was out and didn’t even slide.

All game long the Mets showed flashes of greatness, only to be dashed when those same players made grievous mistakes. They turned 11 hits into one run. Reyes went 4-for-4 but helped kill the Mets’ biggest rally with another baserunning blunder. James Loney went 2-for-4 and turned a great double play, but he also made multiple defensive miscues that led to three runs. Curtis Granderson hit a home run in to the Bay, but left Asdrubal Cabrera hanging on a fly ball to short center that fell for a double. The Mets only went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position, but that stat doesn’t stand out amid all the other mistakes.

Then the Bullpen Breaks

Lugo got the first two outs in the seventh before Eduardo Nunez doubled off the wall in center. Collins could either trust a 26-year-old rookie having the best game of his short big league career or turn to the bullpen. He chose door number two and got a stream of sad trombone music instead of a prize. Joe Panik was intentionally walked. Jerry Blevins came in to face a lefty pinch hitter, but Bruce Bochy turned to switch hitter Ehire Adrianza instead. He and Denard Span both singled to make it a 3-1 game.

Hard throwing lefty Josh Smoker finally got a big league appearance, but only retired one of the first three Giants’ hitters to open the eighth. Collins then turned to Jeurys Familia to try and keep the Mets in striking distance. Unfortunately, Familia was wild in the non-save situation, giving up a single and RBI groundout. He got another ground ball to get out of the inning, but Cabrera threw wide and Loney showed his lack of range stretching for grounders. Two runs scored and Erik Goeddel was charged with ending the inning. After four batters and two more runs scoring, Goeddel eventually got his out. By this point the game was over – the Mets bullpen gave up eight hits while only getting four outs.

More Starts For Lugo?

Lugo pitched better than his line score suggests. He was pulled after 69 pitches (including the intentional walk) and had gas left in the tank. After the struggles of Verrett and Niese, some fans will certainly call for Lugo to get another start. Baseball is full of pitchers who have one great start and never match it – think back to Verrett in Colorado last year. That being said, it would probably be good for the Mets to see what Lugo can do starting a game in a balanced park instead of Las Vegas or San Francisco.

What’s Next:

The Mets play their only day game of the week. Based on how this trip has gone, New York fans may regret a game that ends before bedtime.

Photo credit: Lance Iversen – USA Today Sports

Instead of making the most of his extended rotation opportunity, Verrett deposited a foul smelling substance in the Mets’ bed. After a single and two walks loaded the bases for the Padres with no outs in the first, Ryan Schimpf launched a grand slam to put the Padres up 4-0. Jabari Blash followed that with a home run of his own, and the Mets were down 5-0 before they even came to bat.

Thankfully, the Met offense managed to do at least a little bit of damage against the truly awful Clemens. After a quiet first inning, James Loney singled to start the bottom of the second and Travis d’Arnaud followed with a line drive home run to left field to bring the Mets back within three. Alejandro De Aza lined out and Matt Reynolds and Verrett both struck out to end the frame.

Alas, Verrett wasn’t done being a bad pitcher. After striking out Yangervis Solarte to start the third, Verrett allowed an Alex Dickerson double ahead of Ryan Schimpf’s second homer of the night, re-extending the Padres lead to five. Two batters later, Christian Bethancourt went deep as well, putting the Padres up 8-2 and ending Verrett’s night, as well as his time in the Mets rotation (though it seems he’s going to be replaced with Jonathon Niese, which might somehow be just as bad).

The Mets mustered a walk and a hit in the third and fourth innings respectively, but the deficit remained at six runs. In the fifth, Curtis Granderson ground a single into center field with one out, then advanced to second on a slow ground out. Neil Walker worked his third walk of the game, before Jay Bruce singled on a ground ball to right field, scoring Granderson from second and cutting the Padre lead to 8-3. Loney was called out on strikes to end the threat.

In the sixth, the Mets continued to inch closer. d’Arnaud led off with a single and De Aza reached base on a scary hit-by-pitch that seemed to catch him in the face (he remained in the game). Reynolds then doubled to score d’Arnaud and put runners on second and third with none out. Ty Kelly followed with a single to score De Aza from third and put runners at the corners. Unfortunately, the Mets only got one more run, as Granderson struck out, Wilmer Flores drove in a run with a ground out, and Walker grounded out. Still, the Mets were back in the game with the score at 8-6.

Meanwhile, the Met bullpen was doing a fantastic job of keeping the Mets in the game. Seth Lugo (2.1 IP), Erik Goeddel (1 IP) and Hansel Robles (3 IP) retired all 19 Padres they faced after relieving Verrett, striking out eight in the process. If Goeddel and Lugo continue to perform at this level (and their uptick in stuff upon moving to the bullpen gives some hope that they can), they could both earn significant roles in the 2017 bullpen. It’s telling that we’ve reached the point of the season where one of the few positive comments is about potential 2017 bullpen pieces.

Unfortunately, the Mets wasted the bullpen’s herculean effort. After cutting the deficit to two by the end of the sixth, the Mets were retired in order in the seventh, eighth, and ninth by Brad Hand, Ryan Buchter and Brandon Maurer respectively. No ball was struck particularly well as the Mets, who continue to play without any apparent energy or urgency, went quietly into the night.

The loss drops the Mets’ record below .500 at 57-58, and they now have a negative run differential (-1). Miami and St. Louis both lost thankfully, keeping the gap for the second wild card at three games, but the Mets’ hopes for October baseball continue to fade with 47 games to play and three teams to leapfrog to gain the second wild card. Jacob deGrom takes the mound opposite Jarred Cosart Saturday as the Mets attempt to end their four game skid.

Photo credit: Noah K. Murray – USA Today Sports