Defensive Mishaps Punish Mets in 5-1 Loss to Phillies
If there are two main reasons why the Mets have been a sub-.500 ball club this year, it’s because of first-inning struggles and inexcusable mental miscues. When you fall behind early and consistently make mistakes, you’re going to lose more games than you win.
That remained true on Friday night as the Mets fell behind due to multiple defensive mishaps and couldn’t get the offense going, losing 5-1 to the Phillies.
After the game, Buck Showalter pinpointed the Mets’ mistakes on trying too hard: “Everybody is trying to make the perfect play, be everything to everybody every night. The want to is through the roof — sometimes through that, you push for some things that aren’t there.”
The first example of this occurred during the Phillies’ first at-bat of the game when Brandon Nimmo dropped a Kyle Schwarber fly ball which resulted in a leadoff baserunner. Kodai Senga battled for the rest of the inning, throwing 28 pitches and giving up two unearned runs on a Bryce Harper bloop single and a Bryson Stott sacrifice fly.
An inning like that has a chance to affect a pitcher for the rest of the game, trying to pitch with a high pitch count and an early deficit. Not Senga, though, as he shut down the Phillies’ offense for the next several innings before leaving the game with runners on the corners and one out in the sixth.
Josh Walker came into the game and immediately induced a high pop-up just beyond the infield in left field, and it appeared as though the Mets would be getting a crucial second out in the inning while keeping the runners on their respective bases. Francisco Lindor seemed to call for the ball and wait underneath it before ducking out of the way at the last second, thinking it was Tommy Pham‘s ball. The ball fell to the ground and allowed the runner on third to score.
That miscue, which was ruled a single, was the second pop-up of the game with at least a 95% catch probability that was not caught by Met defenders and both resulted in runs. Lindor took responsibility after the game for not catching the ball during the play: “It was on me, I should’ve taken full charge of the ball.”
In support of both Nimmo and Lindor, Buck Showalter stated: “You’ve got a majority of people that usually execute it really well… Just miscommunication by two people who normally make those plays easily.”
With rain pouring at this point in the game both literally and figuratively, Trea Turner added on with a two-run single to extend the Phillies’ lead to 5-1.
Along with the defense, the offense just wasn’t there either. Save for a Nimmo solo homer in the third, the Mets rarely threatened to score as Taijuan Walker and the Phillies bullpen set the Mets batters down with ease. It was a night where little went right for the Mets as they dropped their third game in a row to fall seven games below .500.
Stat of the Game
Sitting now at 34-41, the Mets are closer to having the worst record in the National League than they are to being in a playoff spot. As the end of June nears, the Mets have not yet had the kind of turnaround they have been hoping for as things just keep getting worse.
The Mets are closer to the worst record in the NL (6 games) than they are a playoff spot (7.5 games). — Mike Mayer (@mikemayer22) June 24, 2023
Mid-Game Trade
During an otherwise mundane game for the Mets, it was announced by the Apple TV booth that the Mets traded Eduardo Escobar to the Angels. While the booth was doing a mid-game interview of Lindor, he said of Escobar: “He’s one of the best teammates I’ve ever had. We’re going to miss him a lot.” Showalter said after the game that he told Escobar he was traded during the second inning: “It’s a tough conversation, I wish I had more time to spend with him. Everybody has a lot of respect for him.”
On Deck
The Mets look to end their three-game skid as the series with the Phillies continues on Saturday with a 4:05 p.m. ET first pitch. Max Scherzer (6-2, 4.04 ERA) was bumped up a day in the rotation so he will get the start for the Mets rather than going on Sunday. For the Phillies, it will be long reliever Christopher Sánchez (0-0, 3.24 ERA) who is expected to take the mound. The game will be broadcast on PIX11 and FS1.
Source: metsmerizedonline.com
