According to the major league baseball schedule, the Mets’ nightmare western road trip ended on Sunday. It appears, however, that no one informed the Mets.
Despite returning to Citi Field after a brutal 10-day, four-city trip, the Mets continued to be haunted by the ghosts of the West: Their starting pitching struggled, they didn’t hit quite enough, and they ended up dropping their fourth game in a row Tuesday — this time, 9-4 to the lowly A’s.
Along the way, the Mets were subject to a host of indignities: Paul Blackburn wilted in his Citi Field debut pitching against his old team, J.D. Martinez was drilled in the arm with a 100-mph fastball and had to be taken out of the game (X-Rays were negative and he’s day-to-day), they couldn’t get traction against the worst starting pitching in the American League, Pete Alonso bloodied his nose diving for a ball that ended up scoring a run, and they even got to watch former Met Austin Adams mock their “OMG” celebration after he struck out Francisco Alvarez to get out of a fifth-inning jam. They left 11 men on base.
This all came, too, at the heels of a sweep by the Mariners where they were outscored 22-1.
Meanwhile, Shea Langeliers went 4-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs and fell a triple short of the cycle; it was his second four-hit night in three games.
“There wasn’t a single pitch I felt like I could lean on,” said Blackburn, who allowed seven runs (six earned) and six hits with two walks and four strikeouts over four innings. It was more excitement really [facing my old team]. I kind of got out of myself there which I think led to being a little sporadic throughout the night, but at the end of the day, I just didn’t get the job done.”
The A’s feasted often and early — loading the bases with two outs in the first to bring up Seth Brown, who lined a 1-and-1 cutter for a double to center, clearing the bases and giving them the 3-0 advantage. The Mets did manage to get one run back off Joe Boyle in the second, after he hit Martinez with one out and walked Jeff McNeil to bring up Jose Iglesias, who lined a single to right, chasing Martinez home. Martinez was lifted for pinch hitter Mark Vientos in the third.
The A’s weren’t done piling on, and the Mets made it easy. A single and a walk put two batters on with no outs for Miguel Andujar in the third, and Andujar hit a chopper toward third base that seemed destined to be a double play. The ball skittered past a charging Iglesias, though, and bounced into left, scoring the lead runner. Then the next batter, Langeliers, rocketed a 1-and-2 changeup 406 feet to left for a three-run homer, giving the A’s the 7-1 lead.
Boyle, hard-throwing and wild, came into the game with a 7.16 ERA, but didn’t crack until his third time around the order.
Francisco Lindor singled to lead off the fifth, Brandon Nimmo walked, and Jesse Winker doubled in a run. Then Alonso, who had previously struck out twice on six pitches, singled to center to score two more and cut the deficit to 7-4. That single also snapped Alonso’s 0-for-15 skid. But Boyle walked Vientos and was lifted in favor of Adams, who quickly retired the next three: McNeil struck out, Iglesias popped out to first and Alvarez struck out swinging, leading the reliever to mimic the Mets’ hand-waving “OMG” celebration (Adams, who never played a game with the Mets, was signed in November and sent to the A’s in March for cash).
“He got out of a big jam,” Carlos Mendoza said, adding that though the Mets designated him for assignment before the trade, there was no bad blood. “I’ll say hi to him”.
The A’s made it 9-4 against Jose Butto in the sixth when, with runners on first and second and one out, Andujar singled to the left off a diving Alonso; Alonso got a glove on the ball, but it skittered away, plating a run. Langeliers’ double scored another in the next at bat.
Before the game, Mendoza said he felt his team had recovered from the taxing road trip that saw them go 4-6.
“It’s time for us to come home and start playing some winning baseball. It’s part of the schedule and every team has got to go through it,” he said. “We’ve got a homestand and we’ve got to go back [to the west coast]. Good teams find a way and we’ll find a way to get in the win column.”
Turns out, the Mets are still looking.
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