Amazin’ run is nice but not yet magical
SANDY Alderson stood in the Mets dugout, looking at his watch as if to doublecheck his time and space. The Mets were scheduled to play a Saturday afternoon game against the Phillies at Citi Field in what would be their 80th game of the season, one short of the official halfway point of the 162-game schedule.
“If we can win two games and can be three under [.500], then maybe we can play 10 or 12 over in the second half of the season,” the Mets’ general manager said hours before his team would beat the Phillies, 7-6, to capture their seventh win in eight games. “It can be done. You never know.”
It was more of a passing thought than a proclamation. Still, it was a continuation of the “we haven’t given up yet” theme the organization has been preaching of late, postponing any notion they will become early sellers ahead of the July 31 trade deadline.
It is good to be optimistic, but if any of this renewed hope has a chance of becoming a reality Zack Wheeler has to pitch better than he did Saturday. Wheeler was making his first start after coming off the disabled list with biceps tendinitis. He lasted just 3 2/3 innings where he allowed two hits, two unearned runs and two walks. He had four strikeouts.
His undoing came in the fourth inning when a oneout fielding error by third baseman T.J. Rivera was followed by back-to-back walks that loaded the bases. It looked like Wheeler might have induced Ty Kelly into an inning-ending double play when the Phillies second baseman hit a ground ball to first baseman Lucas Duda. But after Duda got the force at second, Wheeler, who was covering first base, couldn’t handle the throw from short stop Jose Reyes. The second error of the inning allowed two unearned runs to score.
After Phillies catcher Cameron Rupp followed with a hard single, manager Terry Collins removed Wheeler from the game. Collins thought Wheeler might have been unnerved by the errors. “I thought he was doing OK early in the game,” Collins said. “But after we made the error, it just seemed like he kind of unraveled a little bit.”
Wheeler insisted his poor inning had nothing to do with the errors, and said his misplay of Reyes’ throw was more about timing.
“I didn’t break right away like I should have,” he said. “Jose’s got a strong arm and he had to throw it pretty hard. I was just trying to find the bag and catch it all at the same time. I should have made the play.”
It was the third straight miserable outing for Wheeler, who gave up seven earned runs in two innings during his last start on June 19 against the Dodgers in Los Angeles and eight runs in just 1 2/3 innings against the Cubs on June 13.
With Matt Harvey and Noah Syndergaard out with injuries, the Mets need Wheeler to stabilize the rotation. The Mets can’t afford many more wasted outings by a starter if they expect to have a chance to rebound from their disappointing first half.
“I have to pick it up,” said Wheeler, now 3-5 on the season with a 5.01 ERA. “I really didn’t show it today, but personally I feel I’m on the right direction. Maybe the next start I can turn it around.”
The Mets, who set a team record with 50 home runs in June, used three homers on Saturday to recover from Wheeler’s poor outing. Asdrubal Cabrera hit a three-run blast in the seventh to celebrate his bobblehead day and give the Mets their 7-6 advantage before a brief rain delay. Closer Addison Reed got the final four outs after the game resumed.
The Mets, who entered Saturday 9 ½ games out of the second NL wild card, can talk turnaround after coming from nowhere the last two seasons to make the playoffs. But they will need a better effort from Wheeler to have any chance for another Amazin’ finish this year.