Mets bats stay cold, get desert dogged in Phoenix

Diamondbacks 2 Mets 1 (Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ)

Mets record: 15-24

Mets streak: Lost 1

WP - Merrill Kelly (2-3)

LP - Clay Holmes (4-3)

SV - Paul Sewald (8)

Seat on the Korner: Merrill Kelly

We select a Star of the Game and virtually invite him to take his Seat on the Korner — just as Ralph Kiner did on WOR-TV Channel 9 during the early days of the New York Mets.

Continuing the tradition of Rheingold Beer sponsoring Kiner’s Korner, this season every seat is proudly presented by The Main Event Restaurant & Sports Bar.

With locations in Plainview and Farmingdale, The Main Event features 80+ HD TVs, fresh daily seafood, and Black Angus certified steaks—so you never have to choose between great food and the big game.

Merrill Kelly came into Saturday's game with an ERA that was one Bartolo Colon snack short of 10. But as with all struggling pitchers, facing the Mets is the path to happiness. Kelly threw 7 innings and gave up one run on three hits and three walks while striking out six in a 2-1 Diamondbacks victory.

Need to Know

• The top five in the Mets lineup combined to go 0-for-17 with three walks (one intentional.)

• Clay Holmes pitched 5 and 2/3's innings and threw 100 pitches (63 for strikes.) He gave up two runs (both in the third) on 5 hits and two walks while striking out six. His ERA rose to 1.86.

• Holmes set a Mets record by giving up two or less runs in his first 8 starts of the season, surpassing Johan Santana and Nolan Ryan.

• Marcus Semien and Brett Baty's back-to-back hits in the third inning conjured up the Mets only run of the night. Tyrone Taylor's double in the 5th was the only other Mets hit.

• Paul Sewald's save was his first save and the Diamondbacks' first save since April 17th.

Turning Point

The 5th inning was the inning that they had Kelly on the ropes. After Taylor's two out double, the Snakes decided to walk Juan Soto intentionally to bring up Bo Bichette. With two runners on, Bichette jumped on the first pitch and flew out to left to end the inning. At that point, six Mets had reached base

The Mets wouldn't reach base again after Bichette's fly out.

Three Keys

The Mets Are the Best Medicine

You know what a struggling pitcher's favorite seven words are?

"Your next start is against the Mets."

How did they know? If you watched the Mets for at least 10 games this season, or since 1962, you would have known this too. Also, if you've watched at least 10 Mets games this season, you may be entitled to compensation.

The Mets are the GLP-1 to a bloated ERA.

Sunk

Clay Holmes relies on his sinker. In his time as a starting pitcher, his sinker has served him well. That's why it was so cruel to see the Diamondbacks light up his sinker in the third for their two runs.

Corbin Carroll started the rally with a two out single off a sinker that was middle-middle. Geraldo Perdomo then took a sinker off the plate the other way to set up first and third. Then after a walk to Adrian Del-Castillo, the leading hitter in the National League came to bat. Holmes threw him a sinker, and Perdomo waggled his hand to let Vargas know what was coming.

Vargas had an OPS of 1.036 against the sinker this season coming in. That's already a huge advantage. Knowing a sinker was coming was probably why he was able to go out and get it in that odd location.

Carroll was hitting .400 against the sinker coming in, and he got a fat one.

Perdomo was hitting .118 off the sinker this season, and he got one that was 6 inches outside. Nobody should have hit it 99.3 mph like Perdomo did. But life is cruel.

Soto Island

Juan Soto is hitting .133 in May, including Saturday night's 0-for-3. His average has dipped from .345 to .273 in a span of eight games. He has four walks, but two of them were intentional. It's obvious that he's pressuring and shouldering the load that comes from losing his protection to the IL (Lindor), and before that to Baltimore (Alonso). Bo Bichette is now his protection, and he's pressing himself, hitting .212 in the same time span, with Soto and Bichette flipping the one and two spots in the lineup in an attempt to get something going. It was amazing that throughout all of this volatility in the Mets lineup, which lately has seen the third hitter be a mish-mosh of MJ Melendez and Francisco Alvarez, Soto was actually hitting .345 in the month of April. But even Juan Soto can only take so much, and this team is starting to break him. He really is on his own island, which is more Gilligan's Island than Revis Island.