New York Post

Preferred battery unable to bring Thor back to life

- By KEN DAVIDOFF

DENVER — To point out that a personal catcher didn’t lead to Noah Syndergaar­d’s personal best would be putting it too politely even for Thor’s liking.

Even after an exciting, 7-4 victory over the Rockies on Wednesday afternoon at Coors Field, which kept the Mets’ miracle playoff dream as alive as it can be, Syndergaar­d couldn’t hide his frustratio­n over his mediocre start — and mediocre season — despite getting paired with a preferred battery mate in Rene Rivera.

“Pretty disappoint­ed overall, but at the end of the day, we got the win. That’s all that matters,” said Syndergaar­d, who allowed four runs in 5 2/3 innings and left the game as the losing pitcher before his teammates rallied. “The boys really bailed me out out there, and that’s about it. The only feel I had for a pitch was my fastball.”

As The Post first reported last week, Syndergaar­d, frustrated by his lack of rhythm with Ramos as well as Ramos’ lack of mobility, lobbied his superiors to pitch to either Rivera or Tomas Nido, only to be spurned. Two straight poor starts with Ramos resulted, and lo and behold, the Mets reversed course and let Syndergaar­d work with Rivera.

The presence of Rivera, however, didn’t liberate Syndergaar­d’s slider from its season-long imprisonme­nt.

“I was throwing 93 mph sliders in my bullpen, but right now there’s a mental block once I get into the game,” Syndergaar­d said. “It’s been the same issue for the entire year. I don’t know what it is.”

“You know what? He battled,” Mickey Callaway said of Syndergaar­d. “I know we say that often, but he truly battled today. One out away from throwing a quality start in a tough ballpark.”

Syndergaar­d did battle in one sense: Without recording a single 1-2-3 inning, he limited the Rockies to one hit with six runners in scoring position. He gave up 10 hits and walked two, though, as he once again couldn’t operate without his full arsenal.

Asked whether he felt extra pressure throwing to Rivera in light of the attention over the matter, Syndergaar­d said: “No, not at all. Just trying to do my best, to compete. I just didn’t get the results I wanted.”

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States