Mets' troubles multiply in shutout loss to Brewers
Bartolo Colon #40 of the New York Mets looks at his glove as he walks off the mound after the third inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Citi Field on Friday, May 15, 2015 in the Queens Borough of New York City. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Another Wilmer Flores error. Another dreadful offensive performance. Another injury. Another loss.
Another chance for Mets fans to panic.
Bartolo Colon was hit hard and the lifeless Mets managed only three hits Friday night as they fell to the Brewers, 7-0, at Citi Field for their fifth straight loss.
And more bad news: Second baseman Dilson Herrera is heading to the disabled list after fracturing the tip of his right middle finger while trying to catch a throw in fielding drills during batting practice.
"We shook our heads when they came to us during the game and told us his finger was broken," manager Terry Collins said. "Of course it is. The way things have gone for us, we certainly couldn't have had just a fingernail issue. We've got to break his finger."
Eric Campbell, hardly a difference-maker, will rejoin the team Saturday night. Collins said Daniel Murphy will move back to second base. "You can't feel sorry for yourself," Collins said.
Colon (6-2) gave up six runs (five earned) in five innings. His strike-throwing mastery -- 52 of 62 pitches -- did not work against the aggressive Brewers.
Of the seven hits Colon allowed, four were doubles and two were home runs, including a first-pitch, 440-foot, two-run shot by Ryan Braun to cap Milwaukee's four-run third inning.
That inning began with a throwing error by Flores, the Mets shortstop's ninth error of the season. It also included a misplay by Curtis Granderson in rightfield on a ball that was scored a double.
"It gets you kind of stunned when you've got one of your best pitchers out there and you look up and, man, bang, you're behind," Collins said. "I mean, we were behind fast -- fast and furious."
Then there was the Mets' offense. They accomplished little against veteran righthander Kyle Lohse, who came in with a 7.03 ERA and had allowed 10 home runs in 39 2/3 innings.
The Mets did not have a hit until Flores singled to center to lead off the fifth. By then, they were trailing 6-0. Murphy had a double in the seventh and Michael Cuddyer singled with two outs in the ninth.
Lohse (3-4) allowed two hits with one walk and eight strikeouts in eight innings. Milwaukee is 13-23 and the still-in-first Mets fell to 20-16.
Colon's first inning -- three up, three down, seven pitches -- offered no clue as to what was to come. Adam Lind opened the second with a long double to center and scored on a long double to left by Aramis Ramirez to give the Brewers a 1-0 lead.
Hector Gomez led off the third with a grounder to short, and Flores threw high and wide to first for an error. Carlos Gomez followed with a first-pitch double off the left-centerfield wall to make it 2-0.
Gerardo Parra hit a drive to right that fooled Granderson, who thought it wasn't going to travel as far as it did. The ball sailed over his head for a gift double and another run.
Braun, who made a dazzling diving catch in right in the second to rob Flores of an extra-base hit, crushed Colon's next pitch -- a hanging slider -- into the second deck in left to make it 5-0. Parra led off the sixth with a homer to give Milwaukee a 6-0 lead. Braun homered again in the eighth, this one a solo shot to right off Carlos Torres.
"There's going to be bad times and good times," Flores said. "You've just got to go through the bad times. This is one of them."
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
