Brewers 4 Mets 1 (Citi Field, Flushing, NY)
Mets record: 0-3
Mets streak: Lost 3
WP - Colin Rea (1-0)
LP - Tylor Megill (0-1)
SV - Joel Payamps (1)
Seat on the Korner:
We select the star of the game and virtually invite him to a Seat on the Korner, just as Ralph Kiner used to do for his studio postgame show on WOR-channel 9 broadcasts in the early decades of the Mets.
Well, at least it wasn't Rhys Hoskins. But in a balanced offensive effort by the Brewers today, Willy Adames gets the seat for his 2-for-2 and two walk output, along with driving in the keynote run to get the Brewers off and running to a 4-1 victory.
Need to Know
Carlos Mendoza was suspended for today's game due to Yohan Ramirez's pitch behind Rhys Hoskins' back on Saturday.
Ramirez was suspended for three games but is appealing the decision. He gave up two runs in his three innings of work today.
Bryan Hudson also pitched three innings in relief and shut the Mets down on two hits and four strikeouts in those three innings. This ws after Colin Rea went the first five and weaved in and out of trouble, giving up one run on five hits and two walks.
Tylor Megill was 7-1 with 2.89 ERA in March/April coming into this game. He gave up two runs (one earned) in the first two innings, both aided by two out stolen bases off Omar Narvaez, which preceded two run hits by Adames and Jackson Chourio. Narvaez also aided in the first run by getting dinged for catcher's interference on Christian Yelich in the first inning. Yelich would come around to score on Adames' hit. Megill would last four innings on 78 pitches, and it was announced by acting manager John Gibbons that he left because of a tender shoulder and that he would have a precautionary MRI.
Tyrone Taylor's first hit as a Met drove home the first run of the game for the Mets, a single to bring home Francisco Alvarez in the second inning to make it 2-1.
Pete Alonso went 2-for-4 to raise his average to .364 but most notably, he went the other way all four times.
Alvarez chipped in with a 2-for-3 day.
Turning Point
With two outs and nobody on in the first, Megill was facing Christian Yelich and unleased his American Spork pitch on him, and it looked nasty. But later in the at-bat, Yelich hit a foul ball and his bat hit the glove of Narvaez for a catchers interference call. Next thing you know, Yelich is stealing second and Adames is driving him in with a single. They were off and running from there.
Three Keys
Hoskins Misses His Latest Chance
It's worth noting thta the only reason the Mets kept it close today was because Hoskins couldn't capitalize on his two chances to embarrass the team again. First, Hoskins was up with the bases loded in the 3rd when this happened:
Then in the 6th, the big rematch between Hoskins and Ramirez came with the bases loded again after the Brewers had grown their lead to 3-1. Ramirez threw up and in to Hoskins before striking him out to limit the damage.
Omar's Not Comin'
This was not a great day for Omar Narvaez. He was far from the only offensive culprit, as Brandon Nimmo, Francisco Lindor, and Jeff McNeil all took 0-fers. But Narvaez got clipped on the catcher's interference, then had the Brewers run all over him as three steals which led, directly and indirectly, to two Milwaukee runs.
Most egregious, he had a chance to atone for all of this in the 4th. Tyrone Taylor had just loaded the bases on an epic 12 pitch at-bat. Narvaez then had a chance to deliver a game-tying or game-breaking hit with the Mets only down 2-1. But he flew out to right field to end the inning and the Mets had three hits the rest of the way.
Megill's Injury
When your manager casually drops news of a precautionary MRI, it's never a good thing. I was expecting to write about how the Mets need to extend the starters soon, with all the questions surrounding their rotation and their bullpen.
But to hear that Megill left the game not because of pitch count but because of a tender shoulder is unsettling. That's the last thing this team can survive with Kodai Senga already out, Luis Severino looking really shaky on Saturday, and the rest of the rotation being major question marks. They have some depth in Syracuse with Joey Lucchesi and Jose Butto. And Lucchesi has seen successful in past seasons. But can the Mets keep going to that well and expect him to do what he's done last year? And nobody else at AAA looks to be an immediate savior until it's determined that a guy like Christian Scott is ready to go. (And even he isn't a sure thing.)
The state of the pitching is tenuous at best. Throw a second injury in and it could spell huge trouble for the early part of this season.