Mets can't overcome so-so outing by Noah Syndergaard
Mets starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard walks to the dugout after the top of the fourth inning against the Phillies in a game at Citi Field on Sunday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Amid the Mets’ diminishing chances of making the playoffs, a curious Noah Syndergaard trend has emerged: In the second half, he has a 1.31 ERA in six road starts and a 5.79 ERA in five home starts.
On Sunday, he worsened the latter statistic, allowing four runs in five innings in the Mets’ 10-7 loss to the Phillies. All of Syndergaard’s runs scored with two outs.
“It was tough,” manager Mickey Callaway said. “He looked really good early. It looked like it was going to be a good day. He really couldn’t get the ball at the bottom of the zone. Left some pitches up. Couldn’t get that third out. He just couldn’t execute that pitch to get that third out.”
In his final frame, Syndergaard allowed a pair of earned runs with assists from defensive miscues — Jeff McNeil dropped a foul pop and Pete Alonso failed to cut off a relay throw. That put two in scoring position for Corey Dickerson, who lined a two-run single to right.
“I thought that was a good pitch to Dickerson,” Syndergaard said of the 0-and-2 curveball well below the strike zone. “For the most part, just kind of a so-so, whatever outing.”
It has been a so-so, whatever kind of season for Syndergaard, too. His ERA got bumped up to 4.06 on Sunday. In his previous start, he struck out 10 Nationals in seven shutout innings. The outing before that, he allowed 10 runs to the Cubs in three innings.
As the Mets push for the postseason — with three weeks and 20 games to go, they are four games back of an NL wild card berth and need to jump over four teams — they aren’t capitalizing when their best starters are on the mound. In the past 10 starts by Syndergaard or Jacob deGrom, the Mets are 3-7.
“Not just theirs,” Callaway said. “You gotta win almost everybody’s, right? You gotta start winning three out of four. It doesn’t matter who is pitching that night. You gotta win.”
