Steve Cohen sat in front of a crowd at Citi Field and said the Mets need to “get going.”
But once they got on the field to face the Milwaukee Brewers, it became clear that the engine that is the 2023 Mets is still stalled.
The Brewers gave the Mets chances but they failed to capitalize in a 5-2 loss Wednesday at Citi Field. The Mets went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and had the bases loaded in the fourth but managed only a single run. Hours after Cohen lamented the team’s inability to put pitching, hitting and defense together regularly, the Mets played yet another disjointed game that led to a loss.
“We’ve had trouble putting all the phases of the game together,” said manager Buck Showalter.
Kodai Senga put the Mets in a 2-0 hole in the first inning but settled in for four more. The right-hander finished the day with only five hits, two walks and eight strikeouts, but he still struggled with pitch efficiency, throwing 102 pitches but only 59 for strikes.
“With the win yesterday and us potentially starting to get into a grove, giving up two runs in that first inning really set the tone for us in a negative way,” Senga said through a translator. “I think that’s how the outing went.”
The Japanese rookie right-hander pitched on regular rest for the second time this season. The Mets have had to abandon their six-man rotation with the way the entire starting staff has struggled this season. This has been helpful to Senga, who pitched on six days rest in Japan but has been eager to get on a five-day workweek in North America.
He’ll pitch on normal rest again his next time out.
“I thought it as an improvement over the last time he went on regular rest, which was good to see,” Showalter said. “It was a competitive outing. We’d like to see him get deeper with that type of stuff.”
Tommy Pham homered off left-hander Wade Miley to lead off the second and cut the Milwaukee (42-38) lead in half. The Mets loaded the bases in the fourth with no outs and Francisco Alvarez drew a walk to score Francisco Lindor. The free pass tied the game. But that was all the Mets got out of the inning. Brett Baty struck out and Mark Canha grounded into a double play.
Miley exited after that fourth inning. He used only 74 pitches but the Brewers used five relievers to quiet the Mets (36-44). Devin Williams converted his 15th save with a 1-2-3 ninth. Bryce Wilson (3-0) earned the win in relief and Grant Hartwig (0-1) took the loss when he gave up the go-ahead run in the sixth.
The real drama came in the top of the eighth. With two outs and two on, Adam Ottavino threw Joey Wiemer a cutter inside. Wiemer swung at it and the pitch hit him right on the knuckles. However, home plate umpire Carlos Torres ruled it a checked swing and awarded him first base. Replays appeared to show the rookie outfielder swinging through the pitch before it hit him but Torres conferred with first base umpire Ron Kulpa, who confirmed Torres’ assessment.
Ottavino protested. Alvarez questioned Torres. Showalter remained in the dugout but emerged soon after Christian Yelich hit a two-run double to extend the Brewers’ lead to three runs. Showalter expressed his displeasure with Kulpa, who ejected the veteran skipper. It was his second ejection since Sunday and his third of the season.
Showalter was told that Weimer didn’t swing.
“I’m surprised two guys missed it,” the skipper said.
Ottavino thinks Kulpa missed it.
“Ron is a veteran umpire so I’m just going to assume he wasn’t watching,” Ottavino said. “He can make that call. I don’t know what happened there. I’m pretty sure the home plate umpire knew and decided to double-check to make sure he was sure. Sometimes it goes that way but you can’t change it. You’ve just got to live with it.”
The Mets are down 2-1 in the four-game series. The team’s troubles started in Milwaukee in April when they were swept in the second series of the season. They’ve managed to win back-to-back games only once this month.
Mets executives can use whatever platitudes they want to use, but unless they make some changes, it’s very unlikely that the trajectory of the season will, in fact, change. Cohen and general manager Billy Eppler placed much of the blame on the players and the players aren’t arguing that notion. No one seems to understand how the Mets got to this point, all they know is that they’d like to get the engine revving.
“That’s true,” Ottavino said. “Hard to argue with that. It’s 100% on the players, nobody else. We take responsibility. It’s on us to try to turn it around.”
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Source: Berkshire mont
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