The Mets haven’t had a lot to have fun this season, and there wasn’t a lot to have fun Saturday evening once they dropped their fourth straight, however the emergence of Kodai Senga is as promising of growth as the rest in Queens proper now.
The Los Angeles Dodgers downed the Mets 5-1 at Citi Field within the second recreation of a three-game sequence, but it surely was no fault of Senga. The Japanese rookie gave the Mets six innings of one-run baseball and left with the sport tied at 1-1.
The loss was charged to right-hander Adam Ottavino (0-4), who struggled by means of the eighth inning however restricted the injury to only one run. With runners on the corners and one out, the Mets couldn’t flip a 3-6-3 double play. Pete Alonso’s excessive throw to Francisco Lindor prevented them from getting the runner at first in time and allowed Max Muncy to attain from third.
“Senga pitched incredible and I thought we played great defense as a whole,” mentioned Pete Alonso. “Couldn’t close this one out.”
The Mets (42-50) have scored solely 4 runs over their final 4 video games. They had runners on the corners within the eighth with none out, however Caleb Ferguson retired the underside of the lineup in an unpleasant sequence of occasions. Mark Canha popped out on the primary pitch, Brett Baty struck out on three straight fastballs and Luis Guillorme struck out on 4, strolling off the sphere to a refrain of boos.
“As a hitter, you just wish that you could have a magic wand and make the ball find grass or a seat,” Alonso mentioned. “But it doesn’t work that way.”
It acquired even uglier when Baty was hit within the face with a routine pop-up within the eighth and charged with an error, which allowed a run to attain. The Dodgers (53-38) would go on to plate two extra towards right-hander Grant Hartwig.
The ball had some “funky spin on it,” in accordance with Baty, which made it troublesome to trace.
“I originally went into foul ground and thought I was going to catch it in foul ground,” the rookie third baseman mentioned. “Looked down to make sure I didn’t hit the base and it went back into fair territory. I made it worse by diving for it and letting it scoot away. That was bad.”
Los Angeles right-hander Tony Gonsolin gave up loads of laborious contact however the Mets solely had one run to point out for it. One day after hitting a house run that was then dominated a ground-rule double, Brandon Nimmo acquired ahold of a dangling curveball and took it over the middle discipline fence to guide off the fourth inning. Instead of the ball bouncing off the wall, it bounced a number of ft subsequent to the apple.
His 14th homer of the season tied the sport at 1-1.
Mookie Betts hit certainly one of his personal off Senga within the third, however he pitched round that one shot successfully, holding the Dodgers to just one run on 4 hits whereas strolling two and placing out 9. The rookie right-hander has now allowed two or fewer runs in every of his final three begins. He’s posted a 2.45 ERA over his final eight begins and his 122 strikeouts rank seventh within the NL.
“I’m able to play against these hitters and not against the ball,” Senga mentioned. “I’m able to play with more confidence and I’m able to face them and not the balls.”
With the bases loaded within the sixth, he deftly acquired out of a jam by making a incredible play on a excessive chopper by Peralta and tossing it underhand to catcher Francisco Alvarez for the 1-2 drive out on the plate. He commanded all of his pitches and stayed poised all through.
The Dodgers pulled Gonsolin after solely 5 innings and 54 pitches. A well-rested bullpen allowed them to try this and the crew performed it conservatively with all the contact.
“Jeff had four balls that he hit really well right at guys and I know a bunch of other guys too had great at-bats,” Alonso mentioned. “You can go up and down the lineup about having good, quality at-bats. And it sucks because the results aren’t there, but the quality of the at-bats and the quality of the outs, I hate to say it, but you want to stay right there.”
The clock is winding down on the 2023 Mets and it could be time to begin trying towards the longer term. That future will embody Senga anchoring the rotation.
“I think you’re really seeing a guy get comfortable in his environment and surroundings,” mentioned supervisor Buck Showalter. “He’s got a healthy respect for the opposition but he’s got a certain competitive confidence that grows.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com