Hart hits grand slam, two-run shot as Brewers beat Mets

MILWAUKEE - Rod Barajas cracked up the Mets' clubhouse Saturday by sticking a strip of eyeblack on his forehead to create a unibrow styled after Fernando Nieve. The catcher completed the look by slipping on Nieve's No. 38 uniform top, the baggy New York Cubans replica, and mimicking his delivery.

A few hours later, Nieve was far less convincing in his impersonation of a starting pitcher. There was nothing funny about it as he gave up five runs - including Cory Hart's grand slam - in two innings as the Mets lost to the Brewers, 8-6.

"I definitely had some concerns," Jerry Manuel said. "But I felt that he deserved an opportunity to start. I thought this would be a good matchup for him, but he couldn't command the strike zone, and that becomes an issue."

Nieve, who went in with an 80-pitch limit, threw 46 in the first inning, when Hart hit his second homer in as many at-bats after Friday's walk-off shot against Ryota Igarashi. What made it more maddening for the Mets was that Nieve got the first two outs that inning, then gave up a double to Ryan Braun and a pair of walks before Hart's slam on an 82-mph changeup.

"I thought the command would at least be better," Manuel said. "He was kind of scattering the ball all over. Therefore, it's difficult to go to secondary pitches, especially if you haven't been using them."

Not exactly a formula for success. For Nieve, who competed for a starting job in spring training, it was especially disappointing with the realization that he now is headed back to the bullpen. "I think I was thinking too much to do good," Nieve said. "I was excited and I got behind too many hitters."

Maybe Oliver Perez can save him a seat out there; he didn't help his cause by letting the Brewers tack on three more runs after Nieve's departure. Hart smacked his third homer in three at-bats with his two-run shot off Perez in the third inning. Perez also gave up an RBI groundout to Braun.

"That's different than being a starter," Perez said. "But I still have to be able to stop the other team. After the home run, I started to feel a little better."

What a turnaround for the Mets. After their pitching staff put together a scoreless streak of 35 innings, which ended Friday in the ninth, they went five straight innings without posting a zero before Elmer Dessens finally did it in the fifth.

So in dropping two straight to the Brewers, the Mets still have not won a road series in eight tries this season. Away from Citi Field, they are 6-16, the fewest road wins in the NL and tied with the Orioles for fewest in the majors. The Mets are 3-12 in their last 15 road games.

The Mets failed to push across a run for Johan Santana in Friday night's 2-0 loss to ace Yovani Gallardo. Offense was not a problem this time as the Mets scored in each of the first four innings. Unfortunately for them, they had to do it playing catch-up as Nieve and Perez couldn't keep Milwaukee in check.

Jason Bay's RBI double in the first inning gave the Mets a 1-0 lead, and after falling behind 5-2, they climbed back to within 7-6 on Ike Davis' three-run homer off Marco Estrada in the fourth. But Rickie Weeks hit a leadoff triple in the fourth and scored on Braun's double-play grounder to make it 8-6.The Mets blew a big opportunity in the third inning after loading the bases with one out. Barajas cut it to 5-3 with an RBI groundout, and after an intentional walk to Jeff Francoeur loaded them again, Manuel sent up Gary Matthews Jr. to pinch hit for Nieve.

He might have been better off with the pitcher. Matthews, who was 3-for-17 with nine strikeouts as a pinch hitter in 2010, whiffed again as he tried to check his swing against Manny Parra. Manuel later explained that he wanted to save his other pinch-hitting threats for later in the game.

As for Nieve's ill-fated experiment, that was finished after he needed 62 pitches for two innings. George Kottaras drilled a two-out homer off him in the second inning to put the Mets in a 5-2 hole and Nieve was replaced by a pinch hitter in the third. Next Saturday, he's likely to be replaced by Jon Niese, who will return from the disabled list that weekend.