Advertisement

Mets drop three of four to Dodgers as pitchers and hitters not in sync

matt ehalt
LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 30: Kenley Jansen #74 and Russell Martin #55 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrate after the final out in a 2-0 win over the New York Mets at Dodger Stadium on May 30, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES – Thursday’s loss to the Dodgers served as microcosm of the Mets’ season.

Yet again, the hitting and pitching weren’t in sync.

Jason Vargas produced arguably his best start as a Met, hurling seven innings of one-run ball, but the hitters were stymied by MLB’s ERA leader, Hyun Jin-Ryu, in a 1-0 loss at Dodger Stadium. The Mets (27-29) finished with just four hits, and exited Los Angeles having lost three of the four games of the series.

"We lost three out of four, it sucks, it's a bitter taste," Mets outfielder/infielder J.D. Davis said. "We were playing with them."

The Mets have bemoaned all season that they usually don’t hit when they pitch, and don’t hit on nights they pitch well, which is usually sign of a mediocre or poor team.

The good teams can do both. The teams that can’t go on winning streaks fail to sync the bats and the arm for extended stretches.

In Wednesday’s heartbreaking loss, the relievers squandered a five-run lead after the offense scored eight runs. Thursday, the offense was the one that went MIA for Vargas.

Vargas (1-3) pitched the best game of any Mets starter in this series. He worked his way out of several jams, and gave the team length on a day when the bullpen was short.

He also rebounded well after a rough start.

The leadoff batter, Chris Taylor, reached on a triple when Davis, an infielder turned outfielder, dove head-first for a sinking liner and came up empty.

The next batter, Max Muncy, doubled into the right-center gap to score the game’s first run.

“I made a mistake, got to own up to it," Davis said. "One of those plays where I’d rather be aggressive and make that mistake than be timid.”

Those back-to-back hits made it seem like Vargas would be in for a rough night, but the veteran didn't let it faze him, stranding two that inning.

He later induced a double play to avoid damage in the third after the first two reached, and ended his night retiring 11 of the final 12 batters he faced.

Vargas has now lasted seven innings twice in his Mets career, and owns a 2.40 ERA over his last six starts. He’s allowed one run in five of those outings, yet is 0-3.

"Results were good tonight, but we lost," Vargas said. "Got ahead, especially in those middle innings, and didn't miss over the middle with two strikes."

Vargas also indicated that the Dodgers were peeking into his glove and relaying signs to the hitters. The Mets were very suspicious about the Dodgers’ tactics this week, saying out loud quite a few times that the Dodgers were on plenty of pitches.

“They had a good look into my glove and a good idea of how to relay that to hitter,” Vargas said. “I would probably do the same thing if I was out there.”

LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 30: Starting pitcher Jason Vargas #44 of the New York Mets pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first inning at Dodger Stadium on May 30, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 30: Starting pitcher Jason Vargas #44 of the New York Mets pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first inning at Dodger Stadium on May 30, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)

Vargas learned what it was like to be Jacob deGrom and receive little to no support as the hitters were helpless against Ryu, who lowered his ERA to 1.48.

The lefty kept them at bay with his off-speed pitches, and the Mets were more than complimentary after the game.

The Mets mounted only true two scoring chances in his 7.2 innings.

They put two on in the second before the bottom of the order failed to deliver, and a leadoff double by cleanup hitter Pete Alonso went for naught in the seventh.

Todd Frazier hit a tapper back to the mound, Carlos Gomez flied out to center, and Adeiny Hechavarria grounded out to end the threat.

"(Ryu)'s numbers speak for themselves," Davis said. "He was keeping us on our toes. It was tough to read the ball off him, and all his pitches were coming out of the same arm slot."

Ryu finished 5-0 with a 0.59 ERA this month, and Kenley Jansen recorded his second multi-inning save of the series to close out the game.

“Right now, (Ryu) has got 70 command. He’s been doing it all year. He mixes it up better than I’ve seen in a long time," Mets manager Mickey Callaway said. "There’s no pattern whatsoever. He drives his arm through every pitch and sells everything.”

LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 30: Starting pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu #99 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches in the first inning against the New York Mets at Dodger Stadium on May 30, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)

The Mets had a legitimate chance to win all four games in this series, and should have won two, but instead are now two games below .500 again.

“I felt like out of the three losses, two could have gone our way," Callaway said. "Showed that we got a pretty good team and can go toe to tie with them. We don’t want to go 1-3 in the series, but we did put ourselves in a position to do better than that."