Mets Fail To Show Any Improvement Coming Out Of The All-Star Break
The New York Mets owned a 58-35 record at the All-Star break last season, as opposed to the 42-48 record they had this year. Before the break, the Mets managed to put together a six-game winning streak across their last three series of the first half. Meanwhile, in their first series of the second half, New York did not do a good job of convincing their fans and the rest of the league that their worst days are behind them.
Mets' Weekend Series vs. Dodgers
In Friday’s matchup vs. Los Angeles, Justin Verlander, who’s been better as of late, managed to make it through four scoreless innings to start the contest. It wasn’t until the fifth inning that Verlander let in three earned runs and finished the game allowing a total of two hits and six walks on the night. The bullpen ended up matching Verlander's run total but the most frustrating part of this game was the offense. Brandon Nimmo hit a leadoff home run which was later ruled a double. The only other base runner that the Mets had for the game was a Pete Alonso walk. Completely unacceptable.
Saturday wasn’t much different offensively for the Mets. New York finished this game with three hits on the night and their only run came from Brandon Nimmo, who actually hit a home run this time around. The Mets wasted a terrific outing from Kodai Senga who went six innings, struck out nine, and allowed one earned run on four hits and two walks.
As bad as the Mets’ bats were in this matchup, they were still in the game until its final stages. Alonso fielded a ball in the eighth that he sent a little high when throwing to Francisco Lindor which cost the Mets the second out of a double play. The Dodgers then broke the 1-1 tie that inning and tacked on three more insurance runs in the ninth which put the game away, starting with a terribly misplayed ball by Brett Baty.
On Sunday Max Scherzer was lights out for New York pitching seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit, three walks, and striking out six. The offense showed a little more life in this one with six hits and a walk. The Mets managed to avoid the sweep when Luis Guillorme broke the 1-1 tie with a walk-off double in the 10th inning.
Closing Thoughts
Overall, this was a disappointing first series back from the All-Star break. Senga and Scherzer did their part this weekend and although Verlander didn’t completely fall apart, even his start is unacceptable for a man who is getting paid $43 million this year. The offense was beyond atrocious accomplishing only one run on four hits in the first two games of this series.
Up next for the Mets is a three-game series at home against the Chicago White Sox. New York has Carlos Carrasco and Justin Verlander appearing in the first two games of this series, with José Quintana making his first start of the season in the final game.
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