DOES IT EVER END?
Again, Diaz turns certain Met win into brutal loss
The Mets suffered their worst loss of the 2020 season at the hands of a bullpen implosion, and the main character of the horror flick was familiar with the bitter feeling. Edwin Diaz gave up the game-tying home run and game-ending single to the Yankees in the seventh and eighth inning, respectively, in the Mets’ gutwrenching 8-7 loss in Game 1 of a doubleheader in the Bronx on Sunday.
Drew Smith gave up a grand slam to Gary Sanchez in Game 2 to seal the Mets’ 5-2 loss and the doubleheader sweep.
“It was a tough day for us,” Diaz said through interpreter Alan Surial. “In that first game we thought we had a win there but we weren’t able to get the job done. We went out there in the second game and we were able to battle.” With a five-run lead, the Mets’ win probability after two outs in the seventh inning of Game 1 was 99.8% according to FanGraphs.
Diaz’s ERA in save situations for the Mets swelled to 5.80 with his 10th blown save. The 26-year-old recorded his first loss of the year after conceding a game-tying two-run shot to Aaron Hicks in the seventh and an RBI single to Gio Urshela to end the game in the eighth with MLB’s new extra-innings rule.
“I think in comparison to last year, this year I’ve been able to throw the ball excellent the way that I’ve wanted to throw the ball,” said Diaz. “Obviously I’m frustrated with myself because I’m a competitor … Of course I’m upset but it’s something that I want to continue working on and go out there next time and do my job.”
Diaz finished the 2019 season with a 2-7 record, a 5.59 ERA and a 1.379 WHIP.
A questionable decision by skipper Luis Rojas to bring in Jared Hughes from the bullpen — for the third consecutive day — led to Diaz and his failed attempt to secure the final out of the game. The first batter Hughes faced,
Mike Ford, reached base on a rare Andres Gimenez defensive error. Hughes, clearly taxed, then gave up a two-out walk and hit a batter before Luke Voit’s two-run single put the Yankees within striking distance.
“Before I got into the game I only threw about 8, 9 or 10 pitches, so I wasn’t able to go with my regular routine that I always have,” Hughes said. “But when I came into the game, I can’t really make an excuse. I threw the pitch that I wanted to throw.”
Drew Smith, who was called up from Brooklyn on Sunday after Dellin Betances went on the IL, was warming up for the seventh inning, too. But Rojas said he went to Hughes instead because the five-run lead was not sizable enough to let Smith “get his feet wet” after not having pitched in the bigs since Aug. 12.
“Drew hasn’t been in games for a while,” Rojas said. “With the five-run lead, Hughes can attack the zone. On a third day, his sinker can become heavy, he can get the grounders, he can make batters commit … With a bigger lead we probably would’ve gone to Drew.”
Meanwhile, the Amazin’s trust in their volatile closer is apparently infinite. Rojas, while backing up Diaz, said the Mets will continue going to him in
high-leverage situations.
Diaz had seemingly turned a corner in his most recent outings prior to his blowup in the Bronx. The flame-throwing righty entered Sunday afternoon with a 0.93 ERA across 9.2 innings and 10 appearances in August. Diaz was relying on his fastball against the Yankees.
“Today, he turned into that one-pitch pitcher,” Rojas said. “His stuff is there. We’ll just keep working hard with him. He’s a guy that can come in situations and get big strikeouts and close games for us. We still trust him. We still love his stuff. And that’s when he’s going to get the ball, when there’s tight situations, when there’s tense situations like that where he can come in and get the outs.”