Mets' bats quiet, drop rubber game of series to Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies' Johan Rojas, left, is safe at second before Mets second baseman Luisangel Acuna can make the tag in the fourth inning of a game Sunday in Philadelphia. Credit: AP
PHILADELPHIA — The Mets should have put some of Saturday’s homers on layaway.
A day after hitting an MLB record-tying seven solo home runs against the Phillies, their bats again went silent against a generally hittable pitcher, and the Mets dropped the rubber game of the series, 7-1, on Sunday night at Citizens Bank Park.
The Mets have lost eight of their last nine, have dropped a game behind the Phillies for first place in the NL East and have three more games against Atlanta at home during a punishing stretch of 13 straight.
The Mets’ bottom four of Luis Torrens, Tyrone Taylor, Ronny Mauricio and Luisangel Acuna went a combined 0-for-12, and their pitching, courtesy of a slew of injuries and short starts, is thoroughly depleted. David Peterson went only four innings as the Mets used three relievers. The bullpen has pitched 36 2⁄3 innings in the last nine games.
“I think the concern now is more the state of the bullpen and how much we’ve used those guys,” Carlos Mendoza said. “We’ve got to find a way. We’ve got some really good arms in this room and they’ll get back on track and they will get us back on track.”
The Mets’ run came courtesy of Francisco Lindor’s homer off Max Lazar in the eighth, but even the Lindor Factor wasn’t enough to pull them out of the doldrums. Before Sunday, the Mets had won 28 straight games in which Lindor had homered; the MLB record, held by Carl Furillo, is 29.
Jesus Luzardo, who had a 13.50 ERA in his previous four starts, was brilliant Sunday, allowing no runs and three hits with a walk and seven strikeouts in 6 2⁄3 innings. The lefty exited in the seventh to a standing ovation.
Peterson, who, despite periods of inconsistency and injury, was making his 100th start for the Mets, reached that memorable milestone in a game he probably wishes he could forget.
The lefty, who’s been the Mets’ most consistent (and consistently healthy) starter this year, allowed five runs and six hits (two homers) with three walks and four strikeouts. He’s only the 11th lefthander to make 100 starts for the franchise.
“I don’t know if they made adjustments or whatnot, but I didn’t execute enough pitches,” he said. “And the ones I didn’t execute the way I wanted to, they took advantage of.”
Peterson cruised through the first two innings, worked around traffic in the third and imploded in the fourth.
Kyle Schwarber led off that inning by homering on an 85.2-mph slider that crossed over the heart of the plate, crushing it 432 feet to straightaway center. Nick Castellanos doubled into the leftfield corner with one out and J.T. Realmuto walked to trigger a meeting on the mound.
Otto Kemp then hit a grounder far to Lindor’s right that tipped off the lip of the shortstop’s glove and went into leftfield for an RBI single. Edmundo Sosa blasted yet another fat slider 430 feet to center for a three-run homer that gave the Phillies a 5-0 lead.
One out later, Johan Rojas and Trea Turner hit back-to-back singles before Schwarber's foul pop ended the carnage.
That was all for Peterson, who was coming off two very strong starts in which he allowed three earned runs in 16 innings.
The Phillies tacked on two more runs in the seventh on Alec Bohm’s sacrifice fly and Castellanos’ RBI double to make it 7-0.
Lindor led off the game with a single before Luzardo retired the next 10 in order. That streak was broken by Juan Soto’s one-out walk in the fourth, and the Mets looked to have a small rally going when Brandon Nimmo singled with two outs. But Torrens — officially the full-time catcher after a sputtering Francisco Alvarez was demoted to Triple-A Syracuse on Sunday — grounded into a forceout at second.
“I think it’s important to remain positive, to remain united,” Torrens said through an interpreter. “We know situations like this are going to happen, but at the same time, it’s important to go out there and work. We know what we’re capable of doing.”
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
