Mets fall as Angels rough up Niese
Josh Thole #30 confers with Jonathon Niese #49 of the New York Mets during a game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. (June 19, 2011) Credit: Getty Images
Jonathon Niese stood with his hands on his hips and his head down as Terry Collins walked briskly toward the mound. The lefthander never argued, knowing his afternoon was over after four-plus innings.
"I really wasn't expecting it," Niese said of his early departure, which came with men on first and second, a run in and the Mets trailing the Angels by five runs Sunday. "Obviously, I wanted to keep pitching, but things just weren't going my way. It just wasn't my day."
Niese equaled his shortest outing of the year, allowing four earned runs and eight hits to help sink the Mets in a 7-3 loss in the rubber game against the Angels at Citi Field. The Mets (35-37) are 2-4 in interleague play.
Niese (6-6, 3.70 ERA) went 4-1 with a 1.58 ERA in his previous six starts but struggled with his command against the aggressive Angels, who "came out a-hackin'," catcher Josh Thole said.
The Angels totaled 11 hits, including a three-run triple by Erick Aybar that put them up 4-0 in the second. They added solo homers by Jeff Mathis and Vernon Wells (three hits, three RBIs) off Manny Acosta.
"When you don't pitch and hit at the same time,'' Collins said, "it's going to get ugly."
Before the game, the manager praised Niese's ability to keep hitters off balance, highlighting the lefty's effective use of his curveball. But that was the one pitch Collins didn't see enough of Sunday.
"I tried to count the number of curveballs he threw, and I think the number was six," he said of Niese, who lost for the first time in five starts. "That's still been the pitch that has made his fastball better, and as you saw, they just sat on fastball after fastball."
The curveball may have had a good break on it, but Thole said Niese just couldn't throw it for a strike.
The lopsided score was not entirely Niese's fault. The Mets' mistake-prone defense -- a passed ball by Thole, Angel Pagan's bobble in centerfield and a throwing error by third baseman Justin Turner -- helped dig the hole deeper.
The Mets, who were stymied for seven innings by rookie starter Tyler Chatwood (4-4), rallied in the ninth for three quick runs on one-out RBI singles by Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran and an RBI groundout by Turner. But Scott Hairston, who pinch hit for cleanup hitter Daniel Murphy (0-for-4) against lefty Scott Downs, grounded out to end the game on a close play at first.
"I had no doubt; I knew I was safe," Hairston said of the call by Mike Muchlinski. "But I knew it wasn't in my hands."
Thole and Ruben Tejada, who snapped an 0-for-16 skid with a fifth-inning single, each had two hits. The ninth-inning rally averted the Mets' first shutout loss since May 4 against the Giants' Tim Lincecum.
Despite sinking two games below .500, several Mets called the loss a bump in the road. Monday's off day will give them a chance to clear their heads and come back refreshed Tuesday for the start of a three-game series against Oakland.
"By no means is it panic time," said Jason Bay (0-for-4). "Right now I think we're kind of keeping our heads above water. The moment we get a little momentum, we tend to give it back, for whatever reason. But at the same time, I think we're still playing pretty well given the circumstance that we're in."
