The Mets’ lineup took most of Saturday afternoon off and the bullpen was called upon early. That proved to be a bad combination a day after a rollicking rout in their home opener.
Without much offense to speak of and with Seth Lugo imploding in the seventh inning, the Mets fell to the Diamondbacks, 3-2, at Citi Field in front of 37,935 on a breezy afternoon.
The Mets’ lineup had been among the best in baseball so far this season, but managed just five hits against Zac Gallen and five relievers and didn’t advance a runner past first base until Starling Marte’s two-run homer in the eighth. Unlike Friday, when the Mets scored 10 runs and bashed four home runs, they clearly missed starting outfielders Brandon Nimmo and Mark Canha, who are on the COVID-19 injured list, in wasting another strong outing from Carlos Carrasco.
“We just didn’t score enough runs today obviously,” manager Buck Showalter said. “We knew coming into this series [Gallen] was going to be a real challenge for us, and he was.”
The bullpen, meanwhile, continued to be a concern, particularly Lugo, who was supposed to be one of the group’s more dependable arms. He has now been tagged for four earned runs on five hits in 4 ¹/₃ innings. On Saturday, his velocity was down and his command amiss.
The bullpen has been responsible for all three losses this season for Mets (6-3), also blowing late leads to the Phillies and Nationals. On Saturday, the unit couldn’t keep the Diamondbacks (3-5) down in a scoreless game.
“Couple losses late in the game, which we don’t want to happen,” Lugo said. “But the season is early and we feel good out there.”
Sergio Alcantara took Lugo deep with one out in the seventh inning for his second hit of the season, turning on a 2-0 fastball down the middle and sending it over the right-center field fence. The no-doubter plated the game’s first runs. Three batters later, Ketel Marte made it a three-run game with a double down the right-field line that plated Daulton Varsho.
“Really [I have to] get ahead of guys. I thought I made some good pitches, a call didn’t go my way,” Lugo said. “I fell behind a couple of guys. Really just stay on the attack. That’s a really important part of pitching. I fell behind Alcantara and he hit a 2-0 home run. You get ahead 0-2, it’s a different ballgame.”
Marte got the Mets on the board in the eighth with his second home run in as many days, a 419-foot blast off Ian Kennedy that cut the three-run deficit to one and woke up the slumbering crowd. But after Francisco Lindor walked, Pete Alonso bounced into an inning-ending double play and the Mets went in order in the ninth.
Carrasco cruised through the first three innings, needing just 40 pitches and facing just one over the minimum. His final two innings, by comparison, were a slog.
In the fourth inning, the Diamondbacks’ first two batters reached, putting Carrasco in a second-and-third, no-out situation. But the right-hander froze Christian Walker with a fastball, got Pavin Smith to go too far on a changeup and retired Carson Kelly on a fly out to left field to leave the bases loaded.
“I thought to myself, if I did it the first couple of innings I can do it again,” Carrasco said.
In the fifth, Varsho made a bid to plate the first run of the game, but Jeff McNeil denied him, making a leaping grab up against the left-field fence. Carrasco then recorded his eighth strikeout, fanning Marte with a changeup, to leave Yonny Hernandez at second base and finish his final inning of work. It extended Carrasco’s scoreless streak to 9 ²/₃ innings and lowered the Mets’ starting pitching ERA to 1.17.
“It’s a good development,” Showalter said. “It’s something that’s hard to do. Getting major league hitters out at the rate they’re doing it is really impressive.”
Even in defeat, it was a continued reason for optimism.
