Last night
The Mets were hoping to build upon their latest four-game winning streak. After pounding the Cubs 17-1 in Wrigley Field
and winning their first three games against the Dodgers in Los Angeles things looked
bright. There was no Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier to worry about. The anemic
Dodger bats had been all but silent the past few weeks. Could this be the first time in history where
the Mets would sweep the Dodgers in a four-game series played in Chavez Ravine?
No. Unfortunately because of sloppy base running and fielding, the Mets will now have to wait for the MLB schedulers to give them another chance.
The first inning would prove to be a harbinger of things to come. The first two outs of the inning were squandered because of base running blunders. Andres Torres led off the game and was hit by a pitch from Cy Young award winner Clayton Kershaw. For the second straight game, Torres was caught leaning too far off first base and was officially ruled out stealing. Ruben Tejada then walked. David Wright followed with an infield hit. With runners on first and second-base, Scott Hairston laced a single to left field scoring Tejada and Wright moving to third. However, Hairston was called out when he tried to advance to second base on the play. Lucas Duda then flied out to retire the side. The Mets missed a golden opportunity to pounce on Kershaw early.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Mets began to show why they are last in the National League in fielding percentage. Trailing 3-1, Juan Uribe led off for the Dodgers with a walk by Mets pitcher Dillon Gee. Next Tony Gwynn hit a routine double play ball to David Wright but his throw to second base was dropped by Ronny Cedeno. Instead of two outs with nobody on base, Kershaw was able to sacrifice Uribe to third and Gwynn to second. Dee Gordon then hit a ground ball to Justin Turner at first base which he bobbled. The error allowed Uribe to score and move Gwynn to third. Catcher A.J. Ellis then hit a sacrifice fly scoring Gwynn. The two errors cost the Mets two runs and tied the score at 3-3.
The coup de grace was delivered in the bottom of the seventh when the defensive wheels completely came off for the Mets. With the Dodgers now leading 4-3, Ramon Ramirez relieved Gee. Pinch-hitter Elian Herrera flied out to left field. Gee singled to center and then stole second base. Next Ellis walked. With runners on first and second and one out, Justin Hampson relieved Ramirez. Gordon proceeded to steal third and Hampson walked Bobby Abreu. Manager Terry Collins then called on Miguel Batista to hopefully clean up the mess. Batista got Uribe to ground a ball right back to the box setting up a perfect double play opportunity that apparently would enable the Mets to get out of the inning unscathed. However, inexplicably catcher Mike Nickeas completely misjudged Batista’s throw to the plate. The ball caromed off Nickeas’s glove to the back stop allowing both Gordon and Ellis to score and advancing Abreu to third. Adam Kennedy then hit a sacrifice fly scoring Abreu and Uribe would score on James Loney’s double to deep right. Instead of being down 4-3 heading into the eighth, the Mets were trailing 8-3. Dodger relievers Ronald Belisario and Kenley Jansen were then able to shut the door on the Mets.
The Mets come back home to face the Phillies in Citi Field for a three game series starting on Tuesday. There were positives the Mets can look to during this road trip. Ike Davis and Daniel Murphy appear to be coming out their season long slumps. However, will Collins keep Davis, Murphy, and Josh Thole on the bench when Cliff Lee pitches for the Phillies? What can the Mets do to improve their defense? It appeared Collins rolled the dice with a super platoon line up against the southpaw Kershaw but the Mets gloves and legs crashed and burned in the Ravine.
