PHILADELPHIA – The Mets hit a big slam of sorts on Sunday with poor offense, pitching, defense and base pitch.
Otherwise, it was a strong performance by the beleagured bundle of manager Luis Rojas.
Six weeks remain in the regular season, but the Mets already appear infected, tired and overweight. Their last stink, a 6-2 loss at Citizens Bank Park that completed a Phillies three-game sweep, was rated among the Mets’ least inspired performances of the season.
“Is it bitter that we were just swept away?” JD Davis asked rhetoric. ‘Absolutely, it’s not acceptable. I hate to lose and everyone in that locker room has lost it and is being beaten down especially by the Phillies, it’s not acceptable.
‘I know there are 60 games and everyone loves this feeling of urgency. But at the end of the day, we stand a lot in front of our division, so our future, our destiny is in our hands and we can really change it. ”
Included in the carnage were Andres Gimenez and Wilson Ramos who ran the Mets out of innings and errors from Davis and Dominic Smith who helped the Phillies gain their lead after Rick Porcello became the last starting pitcher for the team to enter ‘ to reach the middle innings. On Friday and Saturday, it was Walker Lockett and Steven Matz, respectively, who got a fifth final beatdowns. Porcello’s turn came Sunday in the sixth, when Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run homer that put the Phillies ahead to stay.
“One night it’s pitching, one night it’s hitting. We have not been able to shoot everything on all cylinders consistently,” said Porcello, whose Mets (9-14) opened a Miami series in four games on Monday. ‘That’s really something we need to tackle. We have a few games where we look out as we roll and then we get a few twigs and we are back in that position again. ”
Zack Wheeler, in his first appearance against his former team, left two deserved runs on six hits over seven innings with four strikeouts and one walk for the win.
Porcello rolled in sixth, but suffered an unfortunate interruption when the founder of JT Realmuto struck on third base and passed Davis for a leadoff double-header. Porcello retired Didi Gregorius, but then handed over an RBI single to Alec Bohm who tied it at 2-2. With Jared Hughes warming up in the ballpoint pen, Rojas pitched with Porcello, who handed over the explosion of two runes to McCutchen.
Overall, the right hand lasted six innings and allowed four deserved runs on 10 hits with six strikeouts. It was the third straight start on which Porcello did not run bats.
Luis Guillorme’s cutting single just finished third in the fourth two runs in the fourth, giving the Mets a 2-1 lead. But a chance for a bigger inning was missed when Ramos was thrown on third base by Jay Bruce (who had the ball field with field) to finish the inning. Wheeler had drilled Ramos to load the bases after Davis and Robinson Cano singled in the inning.
Jean Segura hit a shot to the right field in the first inning where Michael Conforto jumped in, but saw the ball hit behind him. Segura rode to third for a three-point lead and scored on Rhys Hoskins’ ensuite single to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead.
Gimenez was thrown to the plate to finish the second inning, after attempting to score on a wild throw from Bohm on Ramos’ infield single. Hoskins shot a strike on the plate to nail Gimenez.
Rojas was asked if the loss felt more deflating due to the Mets’ base-running and defensive miss.
“I think we did a good job on the bases, bases steels and going first-to-third,” Rojas said. ‘But on defense, that’s something that haunted us before, early in the season. It forces pitchers to make extra pitches. It was like that game today where a few mistakes can really haunt us to try and get that extra out. “
.
