Vargas rocked again as rally falls short
VARGAS TATTOOED AS METS FALL IN COLORADO
DENVER — The very hittable Jason Vargas pitching at Coors Field had a combustibility factor Tuesday that might have rivaled the Hindenburg’s.
Vargas had previously given the Mets three acceptable starts largely by walking a tightrope, but the combination of thin air and fat pitches can have a devastating effect on a team’s chances to win.
And so the Mets snapped a three-game winning streak with a 10-8 loss to the Rockies.
Mets starting pitchers had a major-league best 2.77 ERA over their past 28 games entering play, but Vargas was in trouble almost from the start and got clobbered over 2 ¹/3 innings in which he allowed seven earned runs on nine hits, including three homers.
The veteran lefty was knocked out after allowing back-to-backto-back homers to Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story and Ian Desmond in the third. Bartolo Colon was the previous Mets pitcher to surrender three straight meatballs, against the Angels in April 2014.
As much as manager Mickey Callaway and pitching coach Dave Eiland would like to move Seth Lugo back to the bullpen once Noah Syndergaard returns from the disabled list, that only can happen if the disappointing Vargas can keep the team in the game every fifth day.
With his latest clunker, Vargas — who arrived on a two-year contract worth $16 million — saw his ERA jump from 7.39 to 8.60.
Lugo is scheduled to start Wednesday night against the Rockies, coming off a rough outing against the Diamondbacks last week in which he allowed a season-high five runs over five innings. But overall the righthander has been the team’s best pitcher not named Jacob deGrom.
The Mets attempted to make it a competitive game in the middle innings, but never got the rally they needed, a night after erupting for 12 runs. In the seventh the Mets scored twice against beleaguered reliever Bryan Shaw to move within 10-6, but Todd Frazier was retired to leave two runners on base. In the ninth, Brandon Nimmo and Asdrubal Cabrera each drove in runs on ground outs.
Cabrera and Michael Conforto each drove in runs in the fifth to pull the Mets within 9-4. But Cabrera was picked off second after a short rundown to end the inning after seemingly losing track of the count.
The Mets (31-39) scored at least five runs for a fourth straight game after a horrific 11game stretch in which they could not surpass three runs.
Hansel Robles replaced Vargas and wasn’t much better, allowing two hits and two walks as the Rockies extended their lead to 8-2 in the third.
The Mets had tied it 2-2 in the second on Kevin Plawecki’s RBI single. Wilmer Flores’ double started the rally.
Story and Desmond each delivered an RBI single in the first, as the Rockies attacked with four straight hits against Vargas. The inning might have spiraled out of control if Vargas didn’t get Carlos Gonzalez to hit into a double play. But Vargas wasn’t helped by Nimmo losing sight of a routine fly ball to right field that became a single for Story that scored a run.
The sizzling Nimmo led off the game with a single and scored on Todd Frazier’s sacrifice fly. Nimmo entered play fourth in the major leagues with a 1.013 OPS and he’s reached base safely in 34 of his 42 starts.