Noah Struggles in Amazin’ Defeat
Syndergaard's inefficiency dooms Mets in uninspiring loss to tigers
DETROIT — Noah Syndergaard’s fastball remains crisp, but the rest of his game is suffering from an efficiency crisis.
The Mets righty has struggled to finish off hitters, raising his pitch count and the odds he will make a mistake. On Friday, he slogged through Motown without much help from his lineup and gave the Mets a third straight uninspiring performance in a 4-3 loss to the Tigers at Comerica Park.
“Right now I think I am trying to be too fine with all my pitches, trying to basically play darts out there with Rene [Rivera] as opposed to trusting my mechanics and just delivering a quality pitch,” Syndergaard said on a night when he surrendered three runs in the fourth to flush his team’s 2-1 lead against Justin Verlander. The Mets (56-53) fell two games behind in the race for the NL’s second wild card, after failing to follow Thursday’s victory with a win. Their last consecutive victories came July 6-7. In his third straight start in which he threw at least 110 pitches but couldn’t get past the sixth inning, Syndergaard allowed four earned runs on seven hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. He has been pitching with a small bone spur in his right elbow since at least June. “It’s been a battle,” manager Terry CoCollins said. “He’s hahad to work very hahard — harder than prprobably he has sinsince he’s been a mamajor league pitpitcher. Even though it’s tough, I think it’s gogood for him. “If you are going to lealearn how to pitch at ththis level, you have gogot to learn how to pitpitch through tough timtimes, and right now he is going through toutough times. He got ahahead of a lot of guys bubut couldn’t make the pitpitch to get them out.”
Syndergaard (9-6) was spanked in the fourth, allowing three runs on four hits to put the Mets in a 4-2 hole. Victor Martinez hit a two-run homer before J.D. Martinez doubled and scored on James McCann’s single.
“I went out there in that fourth inning just thinking in my head: ‘Don’t give up the lead,’ ” Syndergaard said. “It’s just like trying to tell someone not to think about a pink elephant. It just doesn’t work out like that. I dropped the ball mentally. That can’t happen.”
Kelly Johnson’s two-run homer in the fourth had given the Mets a 2-1 lead against Verlander. After Jay Bruce walked and James Loney was retired for the second out, Johnson cleared the right-field fence for his second homer in as many games. On Thursday, he homered at Yankee Stadium to give the Mets their first run in a 4-1 victory.
Syndergaard allowed two stolen bases in the first inning to Ian Kinsler, helping the Tigers score their first run. Kinsler singled to lead off and stole second and third, then scored on Cabrera’s ground out.
“I feel like I have the stuff to go out there and dominate every team that opposes me,” Syndergaard said. “But it just hasn’t been clicking recently.”
DETROIT — Even with Yoenis Cespedes on the disabled list and the designated hitter in use, Michael Conforto couldn’t crack the Mets lineup in a 4-3 loss to the Tigers Friday night.
The second-year outfielder was bumped for a starting unit that included Brandon Nimmo, Alejandro De Aza and Jay Bruce, with Curtis Granderson as the DH.
Conforto entered Friday 8-for-37 (.216) since his recall from Triple-A Las Vegas last month and hadn’t homered since June 16.
“[Conforto’s] swing is still very good,” manager Terry Collins said before the Mets faced the Tigers at Comerica Park. “I still think he’s pressing a little bit. He’s really trying to make a contribution. I wouldn’t necessarily say he’s trying to hit home runs, but I think it’s certainly on his mind to do some damage when he’s up there.”
Conforto had two doubles Wednesday against the Yankees, but followed that with an 0-for-4 performance in the Subway Series finale a night later.
Zack Wheeler’s first game action in nearly two years is scheduled for Saturday night in Port St. Lucie, Fla., where the righty likely will throw two innings in a rehab appearance. Wheeler, who underwent Tommy John surgery during spring training last year, could rejoin the Mets by early September if he does not suffer another setback.
Wheeler already has had two setbacks this season that prevented him from rejoining the team around the All-Star break as originally hoped.
Collins, who grew up in Midland, Mich., is expecting about 110 friends and family members for Saturday’s game. Collins said another group from his hometown — which is less than two hours from Comerica Park — will attend Sunday.