CRASH & BURN
Mets can't keep floodgates closed in 14th, wasting another gem from Jake
Jacob deGrom wasn’t alone this time.
In burning deGrom’s latest masterpiece to ashes, the Mets offense also shredded one of the bullpen’s strongest efforts of the season, as the struggling bats sank the team to its third straight loss in a 14-inning, 7-1 setback to the Cubs on Saturday night in Queens.
DeGrom allowed one run and tied a career-high with 13 strikeouts, while the bullpen followed by combining for six shutout innings, but the Mets collected just three hits in the final six innings and blew a bases-loaded opportunity in the 13th, which allowed a six-run onslaught by the Cubs the next inning.
The Mets are now a season-worst two games under .500 and have lost eight of their past 10 games, including five straight at Citi Field.
“This one was one of the worst,” said Brandon Nimmo, who went 0-for-6 with three strikeouts. “Jake went out there, did an amazing job, and we can’t get a win for him. It’s the offense’s fault. It’s my fault. We just can’t get working all together. It’s really frustrating. It’s really frustrating to be out there for that long, to fail that many times, to come up in big situations and not come through.
“The bullpen came in … they answered the call, and we can’t get the of- fense to go with the pitching. … We should’ve been better. We should’ve had more activity on the bases. We should’ve been creating more chaos. They had basically a reliever starting, and he was able to get to the sixth inning. That shouldn’t happen. Just a poor effort.”
Entering Saturday, deGrom had allowed just two runs in 40 ¹/3 innings (0.45 ERA) and left the mound after seven innings, having lowered his National League-leading ERA to 1.49. Still, the right-hander left with a no-decision and has won just two starts over his incredible eight-game stretch.
Having supported their ace with a total of nine runs over deGrom’s previous five starts, the Mets recorded just one hit through the first five innings against Mike Montgomery and scored their lone run on a Michael Conforto solo homer in the sixth inning.
The Mets had only one other extra-base hit and hit 7-for-50 (.140) as a team while being held to one run for the second time in three days.
Now, just two months into his first season as manager, Mickey Callaway is searching for ways to fix the ailing offense.
“At this point, I’m not quite sure,” Callaway said. “We’ve been moving guys around the lineup a little bit, especially when a lefty pitches, so we’re just gonna go out there and grind. It was a frustrating night at the plate.
“Maybe they’re putting too much pressure on themselves because they haven’t been great when [deGrom’s] pitched.”
For once, the bullpen even had deGrom’s back, as five relievers — Robert Gsellman, Jeurys Familia, Jerry Blevins, Hansel Robles and Tim Peterson — passed the baton and combined to lock down a Mets franchise record with 24 strikeouts.
In the 13th, the Mets had their best chance to win, following a two-out double by Jose Bautista. Conforto and Jose Lobaton both walked to load the bases, but Kevin Plawecki grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the threat.
Rarely used Buddy Baumann (0-2) entered in the 14th and allowed four runs, beginning with Albert Almora Jr.’s two-run go-ahead double.
Again, deGrom had little help. This time, he had plenty of company.
“It is [more frustrating] because [the bullpen] stepped up and did their job tonight,” Callaway said. “They did a great job of keeping us where we needed to be and keep on giving us extra at-bats to scratch one run over the plate.”