Porcello done in by walks, bad location
Rick Porcello took what he could from Friday night.
“I made it past the second [inning], so that was a positive,” he said.
The right-hander came back from his self-described “terrible” debut with another subpar outing — one of many featured by the Mets in an 11-10 loss to the Braves in Atlanta on Friday night.
But the right-hander was confident he made some strides since his first outing in Queens, when he failed to get out of the third inning.
“I felt good [and] a lot better,’’ Porcello said. “I finally started to execute some of the adjustments.”
They weren’t enough to let Porcello pitch deep into the game, which came back to hurt the Mets on a night when the bullpen had another rough night.
“The last game, I was fired up and I tried too much,’’ Porcello said of his first game, which was also against the Braves, when he allowed seven runs in two-plus innings.
On Friday, he gave up four runs — three earned — in four-plus innings.
“I felt much more comfortable,’’ Porcello said. “I felt good physically from the start.”
Still, his location was off and he was hurt by walks — as well as by some bad luck.
Porcello retired the first two batters he faced before giving up four straight singles in the opening frame, which led to a pair of Atlanta runs and another early deficit.
Marcell Ozuna and Matt Adams both found holes in the shift during the rally before Porcello finally ended the inning.
“I thought I made a good pitch to Adams,’’ Porcello said of the run-scoring single. “There’s nothing you can do. He hit that ball 40 mph.”
The Mets tied the game at 2-2 on J.D. Davis’ two-run homer in the top of the fourth and then gave Porcello a big lead with a sixrun fifth that included a leadoff homer by Robinson Cano and a two-run double by Yoenis Cespedes.
But Porcello didn’t record an out in the bottom of the frame, walking Dansby Swanson before Freddie Freeman hit a pop fly to shallow left, where Davis dropped it for an error.
He was discouraged by his three walks, saying, “That’s not my game.”
Manager Luis Rojas quickly pulled Porcello for Paul Sewald. It was a move that didn’t work — and made Porcello’s night at Truist Park look even worse.
Sewald allowed three run-scoring hits and Porcello was left with another rotten line.
It’s hardly an encouraging beginning to Porcello’s Mets tenure. The 31-year-old, who is coming off a tough year with the Red Sox, when he finished with an ERA of 5.52 — the worst of any qualifying starter.