Familiar Mets problems resurrect in latest loss to the Angels

The story of Saturday’s New York Mets loss to the Los Angeles Angels will be highlighted by the seventh inning struggles of trade deadline acquisition Huascar Brazoban. Ineffectively wild and in the game for a batter or three too long, his blown save and loss was an all-too familiar issue with the Mets this season. A clever trade addition for the Mets at a low cost and with the ability to be more than a rental (plus, you gotta love those minor league options), things didn’t go his way in this effort.

Brazoban and maybe even Carlos Mendoza draw most of the ire in this one. But the Mets had some other familiar issues pop up again.

The Mets lineup was stifled by Jose Soriano

Only one swing by a Mets hitter created any runs. The seventh inning blast by J.D. Martinez with the bases juiced was all they could offer the pitching staff. The Mets have been regularly stacking runs in a single inning, sometimes on a single play, or by means of relying on only one hitter. Jeff McNeil won them a couple of games against the Miami Marlins last month. Their big Friday win against the Atlanta Braves included 7 of their 8 runs in the third inning.

The Mets were just 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position in Saturday’s loss while mustering only one extra-base hit against Soriano. The top of the eighth included three of those outs. After a leadoff double by Mark Vientos, three straight groundouts ended any chance for retribution.

The Mets didn’t push starter David Peterson when they probably should have

It’s all hindsight. But of course, with only 82 pitches on the night, we can still scratch our eyes as to why David Peterson didn’t at least start the seventh inning after such an easy sixth. Even if he wasn’t physically able to go another inning, it’s a familiar instance of Mets starters not having enough endurance.

The 82 pitches is the second-fewest Peterson has thrown this year. Typically finishing off appearances in the 80s, the chance of a quicker inning was there. He hadn’t pitched since last Sunday. The Mets bullpen seemed to get better at the trade deadline. This game sent a reminder that every out they can get from a starting pitcher is necessary.

Bonus: What’s Adam Ottavino still doing here anyway?

The justification for keeping Adam Ottavino is probably “who is truly better?” After the Brazoban melting, it makes sense. He had an equally as frustrating appearance but with an earlier eject button. Ottavino recorded the first two outs only to allow a single, wild pitch, and a walk. Not ready to make the same mistake twice with a reliever, he was then pulled and Danny Young finished the inning.

Ottavino was thought of as one of the next players the Mets could dump alongside Jake Diekman and Adrian Houser. If he’s only here to pitch in games where the Mets trail or have a big lead now, consider him as replaceable as anyone.