The following is a guest article written by Cameron LaBrutto.
The New York Mets took on the Chicago Cubs Tuesday in the second game of a 4-game series. Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard made his much anticipated big league debut facing off against Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta and a stacked Cubs lineup. The Cubs did not get the memo about Noah’s start and how excited Mets fans were as they beat the Mets badly by a score of 6-1.
Noah Syndergaard had a very solid first ML start. He showed many bright spots and a promising future, but on this night he had no help from his team and it seemed he ran out of steam in the sixth. Noah started off well striking out the 1st big league batter he faced (Fowler), also had a 1-2-3 1st inning, and only 1 hit allowed through 2 IP, averaging 98 MPH on the radar gun. He got into some trouble in the 3rd, after 2 fast outs, he allowed a single by Bryant, back to back walks to Rizzo and Montero, then bases were loaded, Thor dug deep and was able to get out the inning unharmed.
Then came the 6th inning and the wheels fell off for Syndergaard and the Mets. The Cubs batted around in the inning, putting up a four spot thanks to an RBI double by Castro, and a 2 run HR by Chris Coghlan, Terry Collins allowed Noah to strike out Arrieta for his last batter of the night. Alex Torres came on in relief, he stuck out the the 1st batter he faced, then allowed 3 straight walks to load the bases with 2 outs, Montero added another run with an RBI single. The Cubs added 1 run in the 7th and 1 more run in the 8th thanks to an RBI double by Russell and a Kris Bryant HR.
The Mets got 1 back in the 8th, Kevin Plawecki added a sac fly to avoid the shutout. The Mets hitting has been atrocious the past few weeks and it’s catching up with them. The Mets were unable to help the rookie pitcher, in fact bad D by Murphy and others actually just made it harder on him. If the Mets don’t get some bats soon they will waste this special pitching staff. In any case it’s Harvey day tomorrow! He will be facing Jason Hammel of the Cubs, the Mets need a big night from him due to the lack of offense and to get back on a winning track. Game Time 8:05, Let’s Go Mets!
Mets lose 6-1 (20-13)
W: Arrieta
L: Syndergaard (0-1)
Highlights:
Kevin Plawecki: Sac Fly scoring Lucas Duda
Michael Cuddyer: Great sliding catch in 4th
Hitting:
Daniel Murphy: 2-4 2 singles
Lucas Duda: 1-4 single, run scored
Wilmer Flores: 1-3 single
Ruban Tejada: 1-3 single
Pitching:
Noah Syndergaard: 5.1 IP, 6 Hits, 3 ER, 4 BB, 6 K’s
Alex Torres: 0.2 IP, 1 Hit, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K’s
Sean Gilmartin: 1.0 IP, 2 Hit, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Hansel Robles: 1.0 IP, 2 Hits, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
