The May New York Mets have returned. For all of their recent success and great month, their lack of pitching has been overlooked. That was true even before the Edwin Díaz suspension. On Saturday against the Houston Astros, the pitching, and, in this case, lack of Díaz, caught up to them in a 9-6 loss. […]
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The May New York Mets have returned. For all of their recent success and great month, their lack of pitching has been overlooked. That was true even before the Edwin Díaz suspension. On Saturday against the Houston Astros, the pitching, and, in this case, lack of Díaz, caught up to them in a 9-6 loss. New York led this game 6-1. Tylor Megill, once again, struggled and labored through 5 1/3 innings, and a nightmare eighth inning from the bullpen cost the Mets.
Jun 29, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets pitcher Reed Garrett (75) reacts during the eighth inning against the Houston Astros at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-USA TODAY Sports
The eighth inning fully displayed how poor of a shape the Mets bullpen is in right now, but it also displayed all the problems that have been there since the beginning of the season. They don’t throw strikes. It’s that simple. With Drew Smith potentially out for the season, along with Brooks Raley out for the year and Díaz’s suspension, New York’s bullpen showed what not to do with a lead. Up 6-4, Jake Diekman has been the definition of a roller coaster, he was first called upon, but he couldn’t throw strikes. He walked Jake Myers and Jeremy Peña to begin the inning. He then got Chas McCormick swinging and Mauricio Dubón to ground out as the runners advanced. Again, roller coaster. With second and third and 2-out, Carlos Mendoza went to Reed Garrett — Which didn’t help in the long run.
Garrett walked the first batter he faced to load the bases for Jose Altuve. A wild pitch would score Myers. 6-5. After getting ahead of Altuve 0-1, Garrett threw four straight balls—another walk. Alex Bregman would get the first hit of the whole inning for Houston with a base hit to right field and drove in two. Astros 7, Mets 6. Just like that. Why? Because of the inability to throw strikes.
The struggles continued in the 9th, this time for Danny Young, who had come crashing down to Earth recently. He gave up a pair of singles to Yainer Diaz and Myers, and two batters later, Dubón drove them both in with a double. 9-6 Houston, and that was that. After getting off to such a strong start and surprising the Mets, Young’s ERA has shot up to 5.11 as he’s struggled over his last seven appearances. The Mets miss Díaz, no question, and Mendoza is short in his bullpen, but even with Díaz, they need another arm or two in there if they want to stay in the hunt. More importantly, though, they need an arm or two who can throw strikes.
When you’re given a 5-run lead, your job as a starter is to hold the fort down and give your team innings. The problem for the Mets is their starting pitching just consistently doesn’t do that. Megill continues to struggle with control and location. The Mets offense gave him a 6-1 lead heading into the top of the 4th inning. Megill gave up a hit to Yordan Alvarez to start the inning and plunked Myers (who homered in the 2nd inning off Megill). Peña would double in Alvarez and Myers to make it 6-3. Jon Singleton drove in Peña with a single to cut it to 6-4. Megill gave up three walks, a hit by pitch, five hits, and allowed four earned runs. His ERA is now 5.08. With the possibility of Christian Scott‘s return, it seems that Megill’s days could be numbered.
Overall, Mets pitchers combined for seven walks, nine hits, nine earned runs, two wild pitches, and a hit-by-pitch.
While the Mets bullpen struggled, Houston’s bullpen did its job and shut out the Mets offense. New York knocked Framber Valdez out of the game with six runs after 4 2/3 innings, but they were shut out the rest of the way. The only hit the Mets could muster off the Astros bullpen was a Francisco Lindor single in the bottom of the eighth inning. They gave their pitching a 6-1 lead, highlighted by a Mark Vientos home run to center field, but good offenses score more when they knock a quality pitcher out of the game early. The Mets’ offense had a lot of success with that strategy as of late, but it wasn’t enough after their bullpen coughed up the lead.
Vientos continues to hit and mash home runs. He notched two hits including his mammoth home run in the bottom of the third inning. It was his 10th home run of the season.
The Mets will look to bounce back on Sunday with Luis Severino on the mound. The Astros have yet to announce who will start for them. The game will be telecast on WPIX 11 at 1:40 p.m. EDT and broadcast on WCBS 880.
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