Mets vs. Tigers Recap: Detroit Rocks Citi

I'll let you know this right here: if you missed this game, you didn't miss a lot of good outside of one cool moment. In fact, you could probably say the same of this whole series. The Mets were defeated by the Tigers 11-3, their third defeat in three days to the AL Central leader. It's not very surprising that the Tigers swept the Mets. Detroit is really good at hitting and really good at pitching. The Mets are kind of good at pitching but kind of bad at that whole hitting thing and it really showed. They managed four runs in three games, three of those runs crossing the plate today and two of them on said cool moment – Travis d'Arnaud's first big league home run. The rest of this series? Let's just forget it. Especially the ninth inning today. Don't remember that one. Please. For your health.

Since I'm here to recap this game, I'm forced to recall some of these terrible memories that I asked you to forget a paragraph ago. So we begin in the first inning with Dillon Gee on the mound, a runner on base, and Miguel Cabrera at the plate. Gee fell behind in the count 2-0 when Cabrera put a hurting on a middle of the plate fastball from Gee, tattooing it over the wall and into the second deck in left field, just barely in front of the Acela Club windows. Honestly, if you like home runs, this is one to remember. Miguel Cabrera is very fun to watch and that swing made it 2-0.

The Mets would scratch out a run of their own in the third against New Jersey native Rick Porcello, who is still somehow just 24 years old despite pitching for the Tigers since the 90's (okay, maybe I'm making that bit up). In the fourth, the Mets highlight of the would occur when Travis d'Arnaud stepped to the plate with Juan Lagares at first and ripped a drive into the Party City Deck in left center field for his first big league home run. The home run put the Mets in the lead 3-2 and the fans at Citi Field loved it so much, they called d'Arnaud out of the dugout for a curtain call. It was a great moment for the Mets' catcher of the present and future. It was also the best moment for the Mets on this particular day and it'd all go downhill from there.

In the sixth inning with Gee still on the mound and a runner on first base, Andy Dirks crushed a ball to right center field for a two-run home run, putting the Tigers back in front 4-3. Gee would get through the inning and then come out of the game in the seventh having allowed four runs thanks to those two homers. The Mets, meanwhile, would come within a few feet of tying things up in the seventh and eighth. In the seventh, d'Arnaud stepped up to the plate and launched a ball to straight away center field against Porcello that would be caught by Austin Jackson on the warning track. In the eighth, pinch hitter Lucas Duda led off with a walk and after Eric Young sacrificed him to second base for some awful reason, Duda would eventually move to third on a wild pitch by reliever Bruce Rondon with two outs. Marlon Byrd, though, would not be able to get Duda those last 90 feet, as he struck out on sliders well out of the strike zone.

The ninth inning was a disaster for the Mets, as LaTroy Hawkins allowed four straight singles and a walk after retiring Austin Jackson to lead off the inning. By that point, the score was 6-3 and Terry Collins brought in Scott Atchison, who could do no better in stopping the Tigers' affair with the BABIP Queen. In all, the two elder statesmen of the Mets' bullpen would combine to allow seven runs in the ninth inning on seven hits (all of them singles), a walk, and a wild pitch. Yuck.

SB Nation Coverage

* Boxscore
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* Bless You Boys Gamethread

Win Probability Added

(What's this?)

Big winners: Travis d'Arnaud (23.0%), Lucas Duda (11.2%)
Big losers: Dillon Gee (-29.3%), Marlon Byrd (-18.3%)
Teh aw3s0mest play: Travis d'Arnaud's two run home run in the fourth (28.6%)
Teh sux0rest play: Andy Dirks' two run home run in the sixth (-29.2%)
Total pitcher WPA: -34.8%
Total batter WPA: -15.2%
GWRBI!: Andy Dirks