Mets' Familia coughs up ninth-inning lead during 5-3 loss to Pirates

New York has lost a Major League-leading five times when leading in the ninth inning or later

6/28/2018, 2:25 AM
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Jeurys Familia did not retire any of the four batters he faced in the ninth inning and the Pirates rallied for four runs to defeat the Mets, 5-3, on Wednesday night at Citi Field.

For a full box score of the game, click here.

Things you should know about tonight's game...

1) Familia (3-4) surrendered hits to the first three batters and then walked the fourth before he was removed from the game. He was charged with four runs, two after he left in favor of Anthony Swarzak, who allowed a go-ahead two-run single on his first pitch. The Mets' bullpen leads the Majors with 21 losses.

2) Zack Wheeler was in line to snap an 11-start winless streak after he allowed five hits and a walk with seven strikeouts over seven shutout innings. It was the second time in five starts he completed seven scoreless and the fourth time in 15 outings he's pitched through the seventh. Wheeler has completed six innings or more in 11 of his 15 starts this season.

3) Wilmer Flores hit a solo homer to extend his streak of reaching base safely to 13 straight games. Jose Bautista and Asdrubal Cabrera hit RBI doubles to open the scoring in the third against Pirates starter Ivan NovaBrandon Nimmo and Amed Rosario returned to the starting lineup. Nimmo went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts while Rosario doubled, was hit by a pitch and scored a run.


Michael Avallone, SNY.tv | Twitter |

I'll focus on the positive, because it's a legit one in another typical Mets-like loss and that is Zack Wheeler. A quick glance at the numbers doesn't do justice to the type of season he is having. It's not All-Star worthy or even anything close to great, but the 28-year-old is growing into an actual pitcher as he spends more time on the mound than away from it. It's easy to forget that Wheeler had pitched less than four months combined since the end of 2015 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. 

Although Wheeler entered Wednesday's start with a less-than-sparkling 4.85 ERA, his FIP was 3.85, which is the third-largest among qualifying pitchers in baseball. In other words, he's pitching far better than his numbers indicate. He'll finish June with a 3.26 ERA and 33 strikeouts over 37 2/3 innings across six starts. Wheeler still runs too many deep counts and can seemingly find himself in trouble in the blink of an eye, but he's starting to figure out what it takes to succeed on a more consistent basis.

But as usually is the case, the Mets found a way to lose as Jeurys Familia had nothing one night after tossing 28 pitches. A manager is only as good as the players on the field, but Mickey Callaway's decision not to have anyone up once Familia put the first two runners on in the ninth -- both singles on 0-2 counts -- was inexcusable. 


News and notes...

The Mets have not won a series since sweeping the Diamondbacks at home from May 18-20. They are winless in their last 11 series (0-2-9) and have won two of their last 21 (2-4-15) overall.

New York fell to 5-19 in June, 2-15 in its last 17 games at Citi Field and 15-37 since May 1. Their six losses when leading after seven innings is tied for the second-highest total in the Majors. The Mets lead the big leagues with five losses when leading in the ninth inning or later.

Flores has driven in a run in five consecutive games (nine total) and has 12 in his last 10 contests overall.  n has eight RBIs in his last four games and 11 in his last nine contests

Cabrera went 3-for-4 and is batting .386 with eight RBIs in his last 10 games.

Wheeler remains winless at home this season. He is 8-20 with a 4.78 ERA in 38 career starts at Citi Field.

Peterson has a 1.59 ERA in his first eight big league appearances. He has yet to allow a hit to a right-handed batter in 22 plate appearances (0-for-21).

What's next...

The Mets (32-46) are off Thursday before opening a three-game series at Marlins Park against the Marlins (32-49) on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. on SNY.

Jacob deGrom (5-3, 1.69 ERA/2.14 FIP, 126 K, 1.007 WHIP) opens the series after allowing three runs in six innings to the Dodgers last Saturday. It was the first time since April 16 -- 11 starts -- the right-hander had surrendered three earned runs in an outing. DeGrom has a 2.77 ERA in a pair of no-decisions against the Marlins this season. He is 4-4 with a 3.62 ERA in 14 career starts against the Fish.

Sandy Alcantara (0-0, 4.32 ERA/6.04 FIP, 10 Ks, 1.800 WHIP in 2017) will be called up from Triple-A New Orleans to make his season debut in the opener. The right-hander went 5-3 with a 3.71 ERA in 14 starts in the Pacific Coast League. He has never faced the Mets.

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