Meyered in Failure

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The homestand is over, and so is the winning streak. The Mets lost to the Miami Marlins 5-0. Their offense was virtually non-existent. A key error and a rare mistake by the bullpen proved to be the difference.

Tylor Megill’s ERA currently sits at a microscopic 0.63 after giving up no earned runs, but he got the loss. He started things off terribly, throwing eight consecutive balls. After a chat with Jeremy Hefner, Big Drip struck out the next two batters. After Dane Myers beat out a throw from Francisco Lindor, Megill struck out Griffin Conine to get out of the first inning unscathed, albeit having thrown 28 pitches already. Megill faced four batters in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th innings. Incredibly, the same pattern emerged each time: he got the first two batters out, allowed a single to the third guy, then got the fourth guy out to end the frame. Megill started the 5th inning at 81 pitches, and it was predictably his downfall, but not in the exact way one would expect. Kyle Stowers singled, then Jonah Bride hit a bouncer to second baseman Brett Baty, where maybe Baty’s inexperience at the position revealed itself at an inopportune time. 

Looking at it over, and over, and over again, Baty’s mistake was not getting in front of the ball. Someone with better range would have been able to do this. In any case, instead of two outs and nobody on, runners were on 1st and 2nd with nobody out. On the first pitch he saw, a slider, Matt Mervis stroked a single to center field, scoring Stowers. It was time to RELEASE THE KRANICK. Fantastic Max Kranick struck out Dane Myers and got Griffin Conine to fly out ot left, but Nick Fortes managed to hit a ball that landed in front of Brandon Nimmo, who was playing deep, scoring Jonah Bride. That made it 2-0 Marlins. Kranick, Ryne Stanek, and Huascar Brazobán kept it that way up until the 9th, when Edwin Díaz came in. Sugar hadn’t pitched since Sunday, and today’s an off day, so it made sense on paper. But Díaz in non-save situations is always a dicey proposition. His velocity was down overall - Díaz would later say it was so cold that the baseball was too slick for him to grip properly, but the scenario probably played a factor as well. He managed to get two outs, but with runners on 1st and 3rd he served up a single to Bride, then a two-run homer by Mervis off of a slider, putting the game out of reach at 5-0 Miami. Danny Young had to come in for the third day in a row to get the final out.

Max Meyer was dominant for the Marlins. He went 6.1 innings and only allowed two hits, walking two and striking out four. The Mets didn’t record a hit until one out in the bottom of the 6th, when who else, Francisco Lindor broke up the party with a single to right center. Unfortunately, Juan Soto’s 11-game hit streak ended, in part because he grounded into a 5-6-3 double play right after to end the inning. The only time the Mets had a runner in scoring position was in the 7th., when Starling Marte’s ground out moved Pete Alonso, who had the other hit of the day, to second. So I guess the good news is, the Mets only went 0 for 1 with RISP on the afternoon. The game ended on a long fly to center by Alonso that was caught by a diving Dane Myers. 

Despite the loss, the Mets went 5-1 on their homestand and are 8-4 on the year. It’s a game to flush away. Nothing more, nothing less.

It’s funny: Mark Vientos and Brett Baty came into the day with the same batting average (.125). Swaggy V though drew far more walks than his friend and so his OPS was something like 150 points higher. Vientos went 0 for 2 with a walk. He was the only Met to have a plate appearance with a runner in scoring position - He flew out to center. Swaggy V is 1 for 16 with RISP on the season. Baty made that big error and went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts. He was booed. It’s almost impressive how much different he’s been from spring training. I feel bad for him, but the alternative - starting Luisangel Acuña every day, probably isn’t the answer either. (In case you’re wondering like I was: Jose Iglesias is hitting .200 in 15 at-bats for the Padres. Neither Donovan Walton nor Luis De Los Santos are hitting well in Triple-A.) Besides, Andy Martino wrote that Baty is not close to getting demoted.

Baty’s error was only the fifth committed by the Mets this season (12 games). 

Starling Marte comes out to "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (to Party)" by Beastie Boys. Don’t know if that’s new or not. Marte went 0 for 3 as the designated hitter. He struck out looking at a fastball right down the middle in the 4th.

After Jose Siri got all three starts in center field against Toronto, Tyrone Taylor got all three against Miami. Taylor went 2 for 12 for the series. Siri went 0 for 8 with two walks in the Blue Jay series. 

Members of the St. John’s men’s basketball team and head coach Rick Pitino were on hand (so I guess we can blame them for the loss.) Zuby Ejiofor, who claimed he had never played baseball before, threw the ceremonial first pitch for a strike. 

The game time temperature was 43 degrees. But sunny!

Luis Torrens (bruised forearm) is a “day-to-day situation.” Hayden Senger started for the fifth game in a row. 

Francisco Alvarez (fractured hamate) caught five innings for the Low-A St. Lucie Mets, going 1 for 3 on the night. His one hit was a 108.1 mph shot to right center. The bad news is four different baserunners stole a base off of him. Alvy will need to play nine innings on back-to-back nights before he’s activated.

Paul Blackburn (right knee inflammation) will throw a live BP in High-A Brooklyn on Friday. After a second live BP session he’ll start a rehab assignment. So the chances he’ll be activated in time to be the necessary sixth starter in the rotation are at something like 0 percent.

As we figured here when the five-borough race was first introduced, the Bronx Giraffe has yet to win a single time, and we’re betting it’ll stay that way for awhile.

The Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Phillies affiliate) defeated the Triple-A Syracuse Mets 4-2. Blade Tidwell was the losing pitcher, going 4.2 innings, allowing four earned runs and five hits, but striking out six and walking nobody.

The Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies lost both games of their home opener doubleheader to the Hartford Yard Goats (Rockies). They lost Game 1 by a score of 4-0 in seven innings. They lost Game 2 by a score of 5-3, also in seven frames. Ryan Clifford went 2 for 3 with a double. Jonah Tong was the losing pitcher. He went 4 innings allowing three earned runs, walking five and striking out five but only allowing two hits. 

The High-A Brooklyn Cyclones lost their first game of the season. The Hudson Valley Renegades (Yankees) beat them 7-2 in Maimonides Park. Boston Baro went 2 for 4 with a home run. Mets second round draft pick Jonathan Santucci went 4+ innings, allowing six hits and two earned runs, but walked nobody and struck out five. 41 of his 58 pitches were for strikes.

The Low-A St. Lucie Mets won a wild one, defeating the Lakeland Flying Tigers (Tigers) 13-8 in 11 innings. A.J. Ewing went 4 for 6 with two doubles. Trace Willhoite went 4 for 6 with a triple.

On this day in 1969, Tommie Agee hit a ball an estimated 505 feet. It was considered the longest home run hit in Shea Stadium history. 

On this day in 2005, the Mets came back down 1-0 to John Smoltz and Atlanta in the 8th inning to win 5-1 to up their record to 1-5. It was Willie Randolph’s first win as manager.

On April 10, 2018, Wilmer Flores and Asdrúbal Cabrera hit homers in the 8th, and Yoenis Cespedes clubbed a two-run double in the 9th to give the Mets the win and a 9-1 record, good for the best 10-game start in Met history. That proved to be a mirage.

No game today! It’s still cold outside so, I dunno, read a book? Watch The Masters? Just kidding: minor league baseball is the answer.