It’s been the story of the season for the Mets and if something doesn’t change soon, it might end up being the 2012 club’s biggest regret: The bullpen blew it.
Relief arms let the Mets down again on Wednesday afternoon, turning a perfectly winnable game into a Philadelphia romp on Independence Day. Three relievers combined to allow six runs in two innings as the Mets dropped game two of a three game set with the Phillies 9-2 at Citi Field.
The afternoon started off bright, with Chris Young rolling through Phillies hitters and the Mets bats doing just enough to support him. Young pitched seven mostly brilliant innings, allowing just three runs on five hits. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out three.
All three of those runs and three of the five hits came in a seventh inning that turned the game on its head. New York entered the inning clinging to a 2-0 lead on the strength of a fourth inning solo homer by Scott Hairston and a fifth inning RBI single by David Wright.
But things came undone in a hurry after Juan Pierre singled to lead off the seventh. Chase Utley followed by launching a fastball into the seats in the right field corner. The two-run blast tied the game at two and Carlos Ruiz waited just two pitches to make it back-to-back shots when he deposited one in the seats in left.
The three runs backed Philly starter Cliff Lee who tossed eight innings and allowed just two on seven hits while walking one and striking out nine. The win was Lee’s first of the season.
Lee was good for most of the game, but great at the finish, retiring the last nine Mets he faced in order. That included a 1-2-3 seventh after being handed the lead.
Still, the Mets were in the game, trailing by just one with six outs to go. That is, until the bullpen let it get away. Miguel Batista came on to start the eighth for the Mets and John Mayberry made his stay a short one, leading off the inning with a single. Terry Collins wouldn’t even allow Batista to face the pitcher Lee, instead opting for Tim Byrdak. After Lee sacrificed Mayberry over, Jimmy Rollins launched a long drive to center that one-hopped over the wall for a ground-rule RBI double.
After intentionally walking Ty Wigginton, Byrdak retired the next hitter — Utley — for the second out. With the righty Ruiz coming to the plate, Collins went back to the pen for a third time in the inning, summoning Jeremy Hefner to try and finish the frame. That move didn’t work out so well either, as Hefner allowed a RBI single to Ruiz and then another to Hunter Pence. Suddenly it was 6-2 Philly.
Lee set the Mets down in order again in the bottom of the eighth and Philly tacked on three more against Hefner in the top of the ninth, capped by a two-run jack to left by the former Met Wigginton, who is now 11-for-25 (.440) against the Mets this season with three homers and 14 RBI in eight games. Hefner was demoted to Buffalo after the game. Pedro Beato will take his place in the bullpen.
Game Ball: Today’s gamer goes to Chris Young, who deserved better on a day where he was flat dominant through six. What happened in the seventh is anyone’s guess. He seemed to lose faith in his secondary pitches and fired mediocre fastballs to Utley and Ruiz, who crushed them. Fatigue seems an odd excuse, since he barely eclipsed 80 pitches, but it was a hot day, so maybe that had something to do with it. Still his effort through six, and for most of his outings this season, is more than most teams get from their fifth starter.
Turning Point: Young’s seventh was the difference, but the bullpen’s poor performance in the eighth and ninth put the game out of reach and took the pressure off the Phillies relief corps. We all know Papelbon’s history with the Mets in close games. Had the bullpen not imploded, things could have turned out very differently on Wednesday afternoon.
Next Game: The Mets and Philles wrap their three-game set with a rubber game on Thursday night at Citi Field. It promises to be a good one with two All-Star hurlers going head-to-head. R.A. Dickey (12-1, 2.15 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 116 K) takes the ball for the Mets looking to finish an incredible first half with one more stellar performance. He’ll be opposed by Cole Hamels (10-4, 3.08 ERA, 1.10 WHIP 111 K), who very well could be making one of his last starts in a Phillies uniform. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. and the game can be seen on SNY or heard, as always, on WFAN 660 AM.
