Bullpen implodes in ugly loss to Rockies as Mets fall under .500
Thirty-five games into the season, the Mets are a losing team.
An already brutal week for manager Buck Showalter’s crew became uglier Sunday, when the team’s thin starting pitching was again exposed, turning the afternoon into a Rockies slugfest against the underbelly of the bullpen.
The Mets’ brief homestand ended with a 13-6 loss at Citi Field that included boos cascading through the ballpark as the Rockies were seizing control with seven runs in the fifth inning.
With their fifth loss in six games and 11th in 14 overall, the Mets fell to 17-18 this season.
It’s their first time under .500 since the opening week.
Only adding to the stench of this plunge, the Mets were swept three games by the underwhelming Tigers before losing a home series to the equally uninspiring Rockies.
Mets pitcher Jimmy Yacabonis (r.) reacts after giving up a two-run home run to the Rockies’ Kris Bryant (l.) on May 7, 2023. Robert Sabo for the NY Post
“The game is challenging us and we have got a lot of baseball to play,” Daniel Vogelbach said. “Myself and everybody else in this clubhouse, it’s not from a lack of effort or from a lack of want or work putting in, it’s just the way it goes sometimes. We have a choice and I think everybody in here will respond the way everybody wants us to.”
The Mets will now get seven straight road games against the Reds and Nationals, two other opponents likely going nowhere this season, but as the last week has displayed it takes more than just showing up to win.
“It’s not as simple as changing the batting order or playing somebody else or pitching somebody else,” Showalter said. “There’s a lot of things I could say, but it sounds like excuses and we’re not going there. Play better. And that goes for all of us.”
On this day the Mets collapsed in the fifth, when Jimmy Yacabonis and Tommy Hunter combined to allow seven earned runs on five hits.
Kris Bryant started the onslaught with a two-run homer against Yacabonis.
Ezequiel Tovar stroked a two-run double and following Austin Wynns’ RBI single, Brenton Doyle smashed a two-run homer against Hunter that buried the Mets in a 10-4 hole.
Mets pitcher Tommy Hunter reacts after giving up a home run to the Rockies’ Brenton Doyle on May 7, 2023. Robert Sabo for the NY Post
Joey Lucchesi, pitching on short rest after starting Wednesday afternoon in Detroit, lasted four innings and allowed three earned runs on four hits with four strikeouts and three walks.
It was a second straight shaky appearance for the left-hander, who surrendered four runs over four innings in his previous appearance.
“I nailed my recovery for the most part and I was ready to go,” Lucchesi said of the short turnaround.
Randal Grichuk’s first-inning homer into the second deck in left field gave the Rockies a 1-0 lead.
Lucchesi allowed two runs in the third inning.
Jurickson Profar delivered an RBI double before Bryant’s single brought in another run.
Jeff McNeil of the Mets slides home to score a run against the Rockies in the first inning on May 7, 2023. Robert Sabo for the NY Post
The rally started on a bunt single by Doyle, on which Lucchesi collided with Francisco Alvarez.
Vogelbach’s miscue on the base paths cost the Mets an opportunity to add on in the first inning after they had already scored three times to take a 3-1 lead.
Luis Guillorme’s single brought in a run and as Brett Baty was on his way home, Bryant in right field threw behind the runner Vogelbach, who had rounded second base and was tagged out to end the inning without the run scoring.
Baty’s two-run single was the inning’s big hit after Jeff McNeil had tied it 1-1 with an RBI single.
The Rockies celebrate a homer from Kris Bryant (r.) in the fifth inning Sunday against the Mets. Robert Sabo for the NY Post
McNeil’s infield RBI single gave the Mets a 4-3 lead in the fourth, but with the bases loaded Pete Alonso was caught looking at strike three (on a ball that appeared above the strike zone) and Baty was retired to end the threat.
Alvarez’s double off the left-field fence started the rally before Brandon Nimmo was hit by a pitch and Francisco Lindor walked.
Guillorme’s RBI single in the fifth brought the Mets within 10-5 after Mark Canha had doubled.
Vogelbach homered leading off the seventh to pull the Mets within 11-6 after Hunter had surrendered a run in the top of the frame.
“It’s probably not going to be the last time something like this goes on this season,” Vogelbach said. “I am not very good at math, but we have got a lot of games left. We’re starting to get healthy and we are starting to get guys back. We just have to stick together and I think that is something this group does very well. When the game challenges you like this it’s easy to separate and easy to start pointing fingers, but this group doesn’t do that.”
Source: New York Post
