Chris Flexen surrendered a solo homer to Justin Turner in the top of the 11th inning and the Dodgers completed a three-game sweep to hand the Mets their sixth straight loss, 8-7, on Sunday afternoon at Citi Field.
For a full box score of the game, click here.
Things you should know about today's game...
1) Flexen (0-1) retired the first two batters in the 11th before surrendering Turner's go-ahead blast. The Dodgers slugged a Citi Field-record seven solo homers in the game, including two each from Kike Hernandez and Clay Bellinger. Max Muncy and Joc Pederson also went deep for Los Angeles, which has homered at least five times in a game at Citi Field for three consecutive seasons. The seven homers allowed by the Mets tied a club record.
2) Kevin Plawecki tied the game with a three-run homer in the eighth off former Met Erik Goeddel. He also doubled in a run and finished with a career-high four RBIs. Asdrubal Cabrera had two hits, including a two-run shot, and Wilmer Flores chipped in with an RBI double. New York snapped a stretch of 15 consecutive games in which it scored four or fewer runs at Citi Field.
3) Jerry Blevins allowed consecutive homers to begin the first start of his Major League career, which lasted two frames. Tim Peterson and Chris Beck allowed a pair of solo homers over 4 2/3 innings in relief of Blevins. Anthony Swarzak was charged with three runs on six hits, including two home runs, in 1 1/3 innings. Jeurys Familia tossed a scoreless ninth and Drew Smith worked around a pair of singles in the 10th in his second big league appearance.
4) Brandon Nimmo was hit by a pitch in all three of his at-bats -- the first was ruled a strike by home plate umpire Jerry Meals -- while the third forced him from the game in the seventh with a bruised right pinkie finger. He scored two of the Mets' four runs.
Michael Avallone, SNY.tv | Twitter |
I'll certainly give the Mets' offense credit for clawing their way back in a game they trailed by three runs with one out in the eighth. Let's stop there with the accolades because right now, outside of Jacob deGrom and Brandon Nimmo, there is virtually no redeemable quality about this club. It pains me to say it, but that's where things stand right now.
So much of what the Mets have gone through this season defies explanation. The continuous injuries, odd bullpen decisions and an historically bad stretch of offensive futility. But another strange variable that exists in what has been a nightmarish two months in Queens has been the play of the club at Citi Field. Since opening the season, 5-1, at home, New York is 8-23 in Flushing. They have won eight times in 32 games. Eight wins since April 13.
Today, the offense found a way to score seven times, including a clutch, three-run homer by Kevin Plawecki in the eighth. But as is so often the case with bad teams, when one thing works, the other doesn't. So it went for "bullpenning" day, which resulted in seven home runs for the Dodgers. Simply put, this club appears incapable of doing anything right and when they do, it still turns on them.
I was a teenager during the 59-103 debacle of 1993. I was in my 20s during the Art Howe years. I can safely say this is easily the most disappointing Mets team I've witnessed in my lifetime.
News and notes...
The Mets are 13 games below .500 and 6-23 in their last 29 games. They fell to 3-5 in extra innings and 7-15 in one-run games.
New York has lost 13 of its last 14 home games to fall to 13-24 at Citi Field. The club has gone 7-for-87 (.080) with runners in scoring position in their last 16 contests at home, including 3-for-24 (.125) in the series against Los Angeles.
The Mets have lost a franchise-record 12 consecutive games to the Dodgers since May 28, 2016. They tied a club record by losing their eighth straight to Los Angeles at home, which has been done twice before, most recently from Sept. 5, 1964-Aug. 23, 1965.
Jose Bautista doubled and walked three times to extend his streak of reaching base safely to 10 games. The 35-year-old is batting .276/.476/.517 with 22 walks, 10 extra-base hits and 11 RBIs in 29 games with the Mets.
Michael Conforto's one-out single in the 11th extended his hitting streak to seven games. He entered the contest in the seventh after Nimmo left with a sore right pinkie finger.
Plawecki went deep for the first time since last Sept. 26 against the Braves, a span of 78 at-bats.
Blevins' first Major League start came in his 533rd big league game. He had not started any game as a professional since Aug. 21, 2005 with Class A Peoria of the Midwest League.
The Mets put Jason Vargas (strained calf) on the 10-day disabled list retroactive to June 20 and recalled Flexen from Triple-A Las Vegas.
What's next...
The Mets (31-44) continue their homestand against the Pirates (36-41) on Monday night at 7:00 p.m. on SNY.
Seth Lugo (2-2, 2.85 ERA/3.14 FIP, 59 K, 1.043 WHIP) opens the three-game series looking to bounce back from a pair of subpar outings. After tossing 10 scoreless innings in his first two starts, the right-hander has been charged with 11 runs -- eight earned -- and 14 hits in eight innings during losses to the Diamondbacks and Rockies. Monday will be Lugo's first career appearance against the Pirates.
Jameson Taillon (4-6, 4.03 ERA/3.69 FIP, 78 Ks, 1.222 WHIP) gets the call in the opener in his 16th start of the season for Pittsburgh. The 26-year-old has surrendered three runs or less in nine of his last 10 starts dating to April 30. Taillon has a 1.93 ERA in two career starts against the Mets, which includes his Major League debut on June 8, 2016.