Mets flop in lackluster post-All Star break loss to Dodgers
If Friday night was any indication, the All-Star break didn’t do the Mets much good.
They opened the second half with a total flop in a 6-0 loss to the Dodgers at Citi Field.
Justin Verlander delivered another lackluster start — he walked a season-high six batters in just five innings — and the offense was nowhere to be found against Dodgers lefty Julio Urias.
Fittingly, it all played out on what looked like a burnt-out cow pasture thanks to a concert that took place during the break. There were swaths of dead grass behind the left side of the infield, as well as in left-center field.
The Mets’ third straight loss dropped them back to seven games under .500 at 42-49 and left them seeming less likely to make a run at the postseason, with the trade deadline just over two weeks away.
They now are eight games back in the wild-card race and a season-worst 19 ½ games back of Atlanta in the NL East.
Justin Verlander (35) reacts as Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts (50) hits an RBI single. Robert Sabo for NY Post
“It’s not something in the front of our mind, that we’re running out of time,’’ Francisco Lindor said. “We’ve got [71] games left. We have a sense of urgency. We’re all pushing. We’re all trying. It’s one of those [things], we can only hope to get going at some point.”
That time needs to come soon.
Though Verlander (3-5) did not allow a hit until Mookie Betts’ run-scoring single with one out in the fifth inning, he struggled with his command from the start. He was booed as he left the mound after the fifth.
Brandon Nimmo led off the bottom of the first inning with a shot off the top of the wall in right-center that was initially ruled a home run, but was changed to a double. Tommy Pham and Lindor whiffed before Pete Alonso walked, but Starling Marte flied to right to keep the game scoreless. Nimmo’s double was the Mets’ only hit of the game.
Verlander’s lack of command caught up to him in the fifth inning, when he walked the bases loaded with one out — issuing walks to the bottom third of the lineup.
“That can’t happen,’’ Verlander said.
After a visit from pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, Betts followed with a low liner to left that fell in front of Mark Canha for an RBI single to score the game’s first run. Freddie Freeman then ripped a two-run double down the right-field line to make it 3-0.
Verlander called Freeman’s hit “a backbreaker,” but was just as upset about the six walks.
And after he had thrown 104 pitches, the night was over for Verlander — and for the Mets.
Pete Alonso strikes out in the sixth inning. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST
They got just one hit off Urias in his six innings, while Lindor and Alonso were both booed after striking out in the sixth. Slumping rookie Francisco Alvarez also heard it from the crowd following his groundout that ended the seventh.
“We understand the sense of urgency and the games that are ahead of us,’’ manager Buck Showalter said. “It stings a bit to start [the second half] this way.”
Said Lindor: “We’ve got to get it done. We have to get it done.”
The Aug. 1 trade deadline is fast approaching, and prior to the loss, general manager Billy Eppler left open the possibility of selling — rather than buying.
Jeff McNeil reacts after striking out in the seventh inning. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST
“They’re gonna do what they do,’’ Lindor said of the front office. “Their job is to put the team together. Our job is to get wins. If we don’t get it done, that puts them in a tough position. That’s the decision they’re gonna make: trades to improve the team or trade for the future. Either way, we’ve got to control what we can control.”
The Mets will look to Kodai Senga to get them going on Saturday against the Dodgers, but if they can’t score, it won’t matter who’s on the mound.
“It sucks,’’ Verlander said of the loss. “This was not a good game of baseball in any facet. That doesn’t mean we can’t go on a roll. We played good baseball going into the break and I’ll be damned if one game is gonna be the thing that [makes us] say, ‘We can’t go on a run.’ ”
Source: New York Post
