7/28 Game Recap: Mets Thrashed In Series Finale

In the middle of their stretch of three four-game series, the Mets closed out their weekend set with the Nationals as they sent out Carlos Torres to the hill to face off against Nats rookie Taylor Jordan. David Wright was given a rare day, as Josh Satin played third base for the captain. It was Satin’s first game at third base this season. While the first game of the series was easy going for the Met offense, things were much different the next two games as the team only scored one run in each of the next two contests.

Jul 28, 2013; Washington, DC, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Carlos Torres (52) throws during the first inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit:

-USA TODAY Sports

The lackluster team offense seemed to carry over into Sunday as Jordan retired the first six Mets hitters to step up to the plate. It was not the same for the Nationals, who got on the board in the second to take the lead.

Despite the Nationals mired in a terrible slump of their own, they pounded Carlos Torres in the second to go ahead in the game. Ian Desmond laced a double off of the right field scoreboard and Denard Span hit a single passed Omar Quintanilla into left field. Wilson Ramos drove in Desmond with the first run of the game on a single to right field. Jordan then sacrificed which was followed by a a two-run single by Bryce Harper making the game 3-0 in favor of Washington. Anthony Rendon grounded out to end the inning, but the damage was done.

After another hitless inning from the Mets, the Nats kept tacking it on. Ian Desmond came through with an RBI single to drive in Ryan Zimmerman to push the lead to four. Span came through with his second hit of the day, and the bases were loaded up again. Wilson Ramos, who’s on the list of notorious Met killers, did it again. He crushed a 2-1 pitch from Torres into the left field bullpen, making it an 8-0 game in the third.

The Mets finally got their first hit and run in the fourth inning. Eric Young, Jr, who’s been a a terrible slump to start the second half, got the first hit, and scored on Marlon Byrd‘s single up the middle.

Gonzalez Germen relieved Torres to start the fourth, as Torres just did not have it to say the least. Germen did not fare much better in his first inning of work, as Jason Werth tacked on the Nationals’ ninth run of the game. Span brought in the 10th run of the game with a single to center, but the Mets caught Ian Desmond between second and third to end the inning.  Juan Lagares had his eighth outfield assist on the play, two behind the league lead.

The Nationals did not score in the fifth inning, which the way this game went was a milestone for Mets pitching and it was the first time since the opening inning the Nats were held scoreless.

Marlon Byrd laced his second hit of the game, a double to right field, but was held stranded at second by two great defensive plays, one by Span, the other an over the shoulder catch by Desmond.

David Aardsma came on for the sixth and was just as bad as the two pitchers before him. Desmond hit another RBI single and Span hit a two run homer to right, his second homer of the series. He had none coming into the four game set.

The Mets did load the bases in the seventh, but Daniel Murphy flied out to Bryce Harper in foul ground to end the mini threat.

Josh Edgin came on for the seventh and became the first Met pitcher to not give up a run in the game.

Bobby Parnell came on for some work in the bottom of the eighth and gave up and unearned run as Steve Lombardozzi scored on Andrew Brown‘s error after Ian Desmond doubled to right.

Despite the Mets loading the bases in the ninth with nobody out, they could not push a run across and mercifully the game was over, and the Mets lost 14-1.

Notes

• Carlos Torres pitched his worst game since being called up to the big club. He did bring a 0.94 ERA into the game, but it jumped all the way up to 3.13. He only lasted eight innings giving up nine hits and eight runs.
• Wilson Ramos continues to pummel Mets’ pitching, a team he’s hitting over .400 against, and his grand slam put the game out of reach early.
• In a day of negatives for the Mets, Marlon Byrd continues to hit, and had the only RBI of the game for the team. He added two hits.
• The Mets drop their first series since coming back from the All Star Break.

Thoughts

Not much to say about this one as the team just looked plain awful today. They didn’t hit. The pitching was awful. Not too much on the Mets side to write home about other than Marlon Byrd continuing to hit the ball well.

After blowing out the Nats in game one of the series, it appeared like the Mets would trounce the Nats. Things didn’t work out that way, and the Nationals had the last laugh in this series.

It was a frustrating final three games for the Mets, as they did not muster much offense after the 11 run outburst in the opening game.

Carlos Torres, who’s filled in admirably, whether it be in the bullpen or starting rotation, but today just did not have anything going in his very brief outing.

The bullpen didn’t look much better either, and truly made this game into quite the blowout by the time the final out was recorded.

Next Up

The Mets will finish their streak of four game series against the Miami Marlins. Jeremy Hefner(4-8, 4.17) looks to help the Mets rebound against Jacob Turner(3-3, 2.49 ERA).

The Mets have lost their previous five games against the Marlins this season, something they desperately want to change.

Thanks for reading! Be sure to Like Rising Apple’s Facebook page and follow@RisingAppleBlog on Twitter to keep up with the latest news, rumors, and opinion.