BLUE JAYS ROCK
Mets All-Star has another rocky start as Toronto rolls
After a dominant first half, Taijuan Walker has looked human for the better part of a month. It finally caught up to the Mets on Saturday night, when Walker gave up six runs in four innings and the Mets fell to the Blue Jays, 10-3.
Unlike Walker’s last start, where he gave up six runs but the Mets rallied to a bizarre win, the bats couldn’t bail him out this time.
The offense did manage to chase Jays starter Hyun Jin Ryu, who gave up ten hits in 4.1 innings in a rare poor start against the Mets. Ryu has generally owned the Amazin’s in his career; he came in with a 1.23 ERA against them in nine starts.
But it wasn’t enough to overcome the barrage that the Jays’ stacked lineup unloaded against Walker. George Springer, Marcus Semien and Teoscar Hernandez all homered off Walker; Bo Bichette homered off Drew Smith.
“You gotta credit that really good lineup they have,” manager Luis Rojas said.
“Arm felt great, I liked where my velo was, it was just pitch selection for myself,” Walker said.
He said he should have stuck with a high fastball in several instances instead of going to his splitter or two-seamer. Rojas didn’t agree, saying that he didn’t like how the four-seamer was staying on one plane Saturday night.
Hernandez added a two-run bomb in the top of the ninth off Anthony Banda to turn the game into a laugher.
Over four starts in July, Walker’s ERA has ballooned from 2.38 to 3.43. He’s given up 15 earned runs in 15 innings in that period.
The most impressive play of the night by a Blue Jay, though, didn’t come in the batter’s box. George Springer, the former Astro and rumored Met free agent target this winter, has been heartily booed all weekend. But everyone at Citi Field had to respect the spectacular catch he made off Brandon Nimmo in the bottom of the third. Sprinting directly toward the wall, he dove into the warning track to spear a sure extra-base hit out of the air.
“That was an amazing play and
I’m glad he didn’t break his neck,” Nimmo said. “Superman play, full-out extension...that’s a pretty amazing play and you gotta just tip your cap to that. To lay out on the warning track is pretty impressive and takes some bravery.”
Walker’s collapse comes at a brutal time for the Mets, who barely holding their rotation together right now. There remains no timeline for Jacob deGrom’s return from an arm injury; Carlos Carrasco’s return remains slow; and David Peterson broke his foot just walking around on Friday. He’ll have surgery and could be out for the season.
Rojas confirmed after the game that new acquisition Rich Hill would start the series finale on Sunday.
The Mets (51-44) have a fourgame lead over the Braves in the NL East; they’re still the only team in the division with a winning record. The Braves come to Queens for a five-game series starting with a doubleheader on
Monday.
It briefly looked like another wild comeback was in the cards Saturday, with Springer sending the home team a bit of a gift. A catchable ball from Brandon Drury bounced off the center fielder’s glove, officially giving Drury a double and setting the table for the Mets to chase Ryu. Brandon Nimmo, Pete Alonso, and Dom Smith knocked in three runs on consecutive singles, bringing the game to 6-3 with just one out in the fifth. But Trevor Richards ended the threat by whiffing James McCann and J.D. Davis, and the Toronto bullpen cruised home from there.
After tagging Ryu for ten hits, the Mets managed four more hits off five relievers, who combined for the final 14 outs.
Walker had an injury scare of his own, appearing to tweak his groin or quad after giving up a single to Springer in the fifth. But after a trainer and the Mets’ coaching staff checked on him, he remained in the game.
Walker said he was healthy after the game. He wouldn’t say anything was wrong, but Rojas said that something had pinched in his shoulder while taking a swing.