AN EXTRA GUT PUNCH
After losing suspended game earlier, Jeurys & Mets blow up late again
There was no National Anthem. Instead, Frank Sinatra’s ‘Fly Me To The Moon’ blared from the Citi Field speakers. There were no athletes lined against the dugout railing with their hats on their chests. Rather, the Cardinals quietly took their positions across the diamond and waited for Todd Frazier to dig into the box.
And thus commenced, once more, the Mets series opener against the Cardinals
on Friday night at Citi Field. The teams picked up where they left off on Thursday night, in the top of the ninth inning with a 4-4 tied game. A pair of rain delays led to the Mets’ seventh suspended game in team history.
Six Mets batters went down in order against the Cardinals on Friday, leading to the Mets 5-4 loss in the bat of an eye.
Edwin Diaz, who allowed the Cardinals to claw back in the rain-soaked ninth-inning Thursday, again gave up the game-winning RBI single to Paul DeJong in the 10th inning of Friday’s game. The Mets closer was charged with three earned runs on four hits with one walk and one strikeout over two innings in an ugly final line that included his third blown save of the year.
Diaz walked leadoff batter Marcell Ozuna, but salvaged two more outs as the rain pursued in the ninth inning on Thursday. The 24-year-old Diaz entered the inning with a gracious two-run lead that lasted just four more batters. Kolten Wong lined an RBI single to center field that scored Ozuna and Harrison Bader ripped a double down the left-field line. Amed Rosario couldn’t get a grip on the relay to home that likely would’ve caught Wong at the plate. Instead, the Cardinals tied the game at 4-4.
“Any time you blow a lead … You want to win those games,” Mickey Callaway said. “You want to win them if you’re a good team. We didn’t get the job done. We’ve had a few of those in the last couple weeks that have hurt us.”
Although Callaway said the last couple of weeks have hurt the Mets, the time span actually goes back a couple of months.
Diaz has three blown saves, four losses and a 5.29 ERA over his last 18 appearances, dating back to April 29. In that 18-inning stretch, the Mets closer has
allowed 23 hits and four home runs.
Edwin Diaz’s last 17 appearances, dating to April: three blown saves, four losses, a .304 opponents’ batting average and a 5.29 ERA.
Callaway said the losses are adding up and effecting the Mets record. But the manager said he doesn’t see a difference in the clubhouse or on the bench regarding energy and enthusiasm for the schedule ahead.
“It’s a loss. We have to come back and play a good game against them and even up the series,” Callaway said.