It's Sometimes Crappy in Philadelphia

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David Peterson had a nightmare of a fourth inning as the Mets woke up from their wondrous dream of Saturday night to a 7-1 loss. They’ve lost eight of their last nine games. 

The Mets just couldn’t get it done against Jesús Luzardo, even though he had an ERA of 16.20 in his last four starts. Francisco Lindor led off the game with a single to left center. He advanced to second on a wild pitch, and then to third on a Juan Soto fly out. But with two outs, Pete Alonso struck out looking at a sweeper to end the threat. The Mets drove up his pitch count to 26, but Luzardo retired the next seven batters he faced before walking Soto with one out in the fourth. Brandon Nimmo singled to move Soto to second with two outs, but Luis Torrens grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the fourth. The Mets went down 1-2-3 in the fifth and sixth. After Alonso struck out to start the seventh, Nimmo got his second hit of the night. Torrens lined out to center, and Luzardo’s night was mercifully done. Jordan Romano came in to get Tyrone Taylor to ground into a force out at second. 

Peterson was rolling along at first. He took care of the Phillies 1-2-3 in the first two innings. Edmundo Sosa reached on a broken bat infield single to start the third, then Buddy Kennedy walked on four pitches. Petey beared down and made an awesome pickoff throw to nab Sosa at second, then took care of Johan Rojas and Trea Turner to get out of trouble.

Then came the bottom of the fourth. Kyle Schwarber started things off with a home run to center off of a slider that was middle-middle. Alec Bohm sharply lined out to Nimmo in left. Nick Castellanos doubled to left. JT Realmuto walked on six pitches. Otto Kemp singled home Castellanos. Kennedy struck out on a curveball, but Sosa hit the baseball a really long way to right center field for a three-run dinger, making it 5-0 Phillies. It was the first time Peterson allowed five or more earned runs in over two years. 

Chris Devenski and Dedniel Nuñez took care of the fifth and sixth innings respectively with no incident. Tyler Zuber’s Met debut in the seventh on the other hand was messy. The first four batters he faced singled, singled, hit a sacrifice fly, and doubled to make it 7-0. (Zuber rebounded to get a 1-2-3 eighth.)

Lindor foolishly homered with two out and nobody on in the top of the eighth. The Mets had won the last 28 games in which Lindor had homered. There goes that fun streak. 

The bad news is the Mets lost a series to the Phillies. The good news is they are 4-2 against them for the season, which might come in handy for tiebreaking purposes. Let’s go home.

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Hayden Senger pinch hit for Juan Soto in the ninth with the game out of reach. Senger can now say he pinch hit for one of the greatest hitters to walk the Earth without lying.

Mendoza replacing the lefty Soto for the righty Senger with a lefty on the mound reminds me of Mr. Burns replacing Darryl Strawberry with Homer Simpson. Different game situations, thankfully.

Speaking of Senger: he was called up yesterday when the Mets kinda sorta shockingly sent Francisco Alvarez to Triple-A Syracuse. Carlos Mendoza said the problem with Alvy was a lack of consistency. "There were stretches where we felt, I felt like a couple of games where okay that’s what it’s supposed to look like,” he told the press before last night’s game. “But then he’ll go a couple of games where he’s late with the fastball and then he chases, so just looking for consistency here." Also, Luis Torrens getting more playing time doesn’t help Alvarez’s maturation. About that: I’m not as enamored with Torrens as the team seems to be: he’s hitting .227, man. And Will Sammon reported that the Mets are “comfortable” with riding or dying with Torrens and Senger for now. I’m betting that changes. 

Will Alvarez be okay? I’d say it’s more likely yes than no. He’s 23. He has time on his side. Was this the right move? Yes. He has a lot on his plate (including becoming a father), and it’s clearly been messing with his head a little bit. 

Mendoza was told that Kodai Senga (hamstring strain) is throwing, which of course is a good sign, if true. 

Mendy also said pregame they haven’t made a decision on Mark Vientos (hamstring) yet - he’ll have to talk with David Stearns, he said. Whether it’s a coincidence or not, the Mets had their big losing streak when Swaggy V wasn’t around. And as much as it pains me to say it, Ronny Mauricio needs more time in Triple-A. I hope Vientos, who seems healthy, is activated today.

What I suspected to be true turns out to in fact be fact: when the Mets wear their regular road jerseys they are under .500. In the cool alternate blue road jerseys? 4-2. Guess what they wore when they won on Saturday, and then take a stab at what they wore last night when they lost. The starting pitcher picks the uni when it isn’t a Friday (black jerseys) or Saturday (City Connect) home game. I thought players were a superstitious lot? 

Keith Raad worked solo tonight in the radio booth. Pat McCarthy's wife was in labor, so he had to leave before the game started. I thought he did a good job, all things considered. 

Infield prospect Colin Houck was promoted from Low-A St. Lucie to High-A Brooklyn. His manager delivered the news yesterday.

Daniel Wexler, who tends to get minor league scoops right, reported that righty pitchers Alex Carrillo and Luis Moreno were promoted to Triple-A Syracuse, and 3B Jacob Reimer and OF Carson Benge got called up to Double-A Binghamton.

The Triple-A Syracuse Mets (31-44) defeated the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Marlins affiliate) 6-4. The SMets were led by Donovan Walton, who went 2 for 5 with a home run, a double, a run scored and an RBI. Mark Vientos went 1 for 5 with a run scored. Brandon Sproat the GOAT had another not so great start, allowing four earned runs in three and one third innings. He walked five and struck out two while permitting four hits (two home runs.)

The Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies (45-22) handled the Harrisburg Senators (Nationals) 8-6. Alex Ramírez went 2 for 4 with a home run, two runs scored, an RBI,  a walk, and a stolen base. Ryan Clifford tripled for the first time this season. 

The High-A Brooklyn Cyclones (48-21) won a 1-0 pitchers duel against the Aberdeen IronBirds (Orioles). A Chris Suero homer in the eighth made all the difference. Lefty Jonathan Santucci started for Brooklyn. He allowed just one hit and one walk in five scoreless innings while striking out five. Noah Hall got the dub, throwing three innings of one hit ball.

The Low-A St. Lucie Mets (37-31) walked off the Palm Beach Cardinals in a thrilling 8-7 win in 11 innings. A bases loaded walk of Colin Houck won the game for St. Lucie. Nick Roselli had a multi-hit day. Juan Arnaud got the win by allowing one run in one and two thirds innings. 

Tonight the Mets start a new series with Atlanta. Spencer Schwellenbach (5-4, 3.26 ERA) will start for the Bravos. Paul Blackburn (0-1, 6.92 ERA) will climb the hill for New York (NL). First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 pm eastern. The game will air on PIX11.