KANSAS CITY — This time final week, the Mets had been nonetheless clinging to hope that they’d preserve the 2023 group collectively and have a shot at a run. But if there was ever a sequence that validated the entrance workplace’s resolution to promote on the commerce deadline, it was this one.
The Mets (50-58) had been swept by the Kansas City Royals on Thursday at Kauffman Stadium in a 9-2 loss. They had been defeated by the house owners of the league’s second-worst file for the second recreation in a row.
The Mets had been considerably sloppy and listless within the sequence finale. It’s been a troublesome few days and whereas the staff intends to maintain taking part in stable baseball, motivation can wane within the days following the commerce deadline.
“Our guys are motivated,” stated supervisor Buck Showalter. “They have a lot of professional pride, but when you’re not pitching that well, it can look that way.”
Sure, the Mets had been taking part in with a depleted roster, however there have been a number of regulars within the lineup and a veteran on the mound in Carlos Carrasco. It was extra of the identical from Carrasco, who has battled via bone spurs and ineffectiveness all season.
“Carlos looked like he was not going to go very deep and then he battled his way through there,” Showalter stated.
The right-hander allowed six earned runs on eight hits over six innings, strolling one and hanging out none. He pitched into the seventh inning however didn’t get an out and was chased from the sport after Drew Waters drove a three-run shot into the proper subject bleachers to place the Royals (35-75) up 6-0. This got here after giving up three earned runs over the primary two innings, together with a house run to Bobby Witt Jr.
“I’m just trying to figure it out,” Carrasco stated. “It’s one of those years where it’s really bad. I’m just trying to figure out how I can get un-bad. I just need to feel [like] myself again. Today, I felt like myself but I didn’t get the results. More important, I’m healthy, so I can go every five days. Pitch and just get it done.”
Right-hander John Curtiss changed Carrasco (3-6) and received out of a two-on, two-out jam, however the harm was achieved. Carrasco has managed to go solely seven innings as soon as this season and has in any other case been ineffective. That one begin got here July 6 in Arizona when he blanked the Diamondbacks over eight innings. The Mets practically despatched him again out to finish the shutout.
That begin appears an increasing number of like an aberration. Carrasco now has a 6.60 ERA on the season.
“He’s not getting the ball where he wants to get it in the sequence of pitches,” Showalter stated. “You see the hard-hit balls in 0-2 and 1-2 counts. That’s why his pitch count was so low. He was fortunate that there were a lot of hard-hit balls that we caught too, especially in center field and second base. We had some unconventional double plays.”
However, the Mets didn’t give him a lot to work with. Right-hander Brady Singer (7-8) tossed eight scoreless innings permitting solely three hits and hanging out 4. Pete Alonso had two of the Mets’ three hits and Mark Vientos had the opposite one. All three had been singles.
“I think we had about six balls hit right on the button,” Showalter stated. “But they were mostly at infielders.”
The Mets had been flummoxed on the plate, till Francisco Lindor’s ninth-inning house run.
Josh Walker allowed three runs (two earned) runs in a troublesome eighth inning. The rookie left-hander balked with the bases loaded earlier than even throwing a pitch within the sequence opener Tuesday, handing Kansas City the walk-off. It was a troublesome week for the homegrown hurler, who’s one in every of a number of younger gamers auditioning for roles on the 2024 staff.
The Mets changed him with infielder Danny Mendick. Lindor took right-hander Jonathan Heasley deep for a two-run shot that prevented a shutout.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com