Mets vs. Brewers Recap: deGrom can’t go deep, bullpen blows lead

Stop me if you’ve heard this one, but an otherwise impressive offensive outing by the New York Mets was spoiled by their bullpen. The Mets dropped the final game of the series and got swept by the Milwaukee Brewers by a score of 11-9.

Wearing pinking uniforms in honor of Mother’s Day, the Mets quickly got on the board in the top of the first on a home run from Michael Conforto. The Brewers responded quickly, with Eric Thames singling and Hernan Perez doubling against Jacob deGrom in the bottom half of the first. Travis Shaw hit a ground-out RBI and Manny Pina flied out to limit the damage to one run.

The game remained tied until the fourth inning, when Rene Rivera singled in Conforto and Neil Walker to extend the lead to 3-1. Rivera was caught stealing by catcher Manny Pina to end the inning.

deGrom helped his own cause in the fifth, reaching base on a fielding error by Eric Thames. deGrom went 2-for-3 with a double on the day, and is now hitting .333 on the season. Jose Reyes and T.J. Rivera both singled, and Michael Conforto hit a two-run double to extend the lead to 5-1. Not to be outdone, the red-hot Walker doubled in Conforto and Rivera, giving the Mets what one assumed would be a safe 7-1 lead.

The outcome of this game seemingly secure, deGrom breezed through the bottom half of the fifth inning. He allowed a double to Manny Pina, and a two-run homer to Keon Broxton to cut the lead to 7-3.

Conforto, who hit third yesterday, hit a triple in the top of the seventh and was doubled in by Walker to pad the lead. Conforto was a rare ‘single-shy-of-the-cycle,’ and went 3-for-4 with a walk. Walker finished his day 3-for-5, continuing his red hot month of May and improving to a .255 batting average.

deGrom’s outing began to unravel during the bottom of the seventh. Domingo Santana opened up the inning with a single. Terry Collins pulled deGrom at that point, making this the 14th consecutive outing where a Mets starter has not pitched past the sixth inning. Jerry Blevins entered in relief and promptly surrendered a two-run shot to Jonathan Villar. Eric Thames walked, prompting Collins to bring in Fernando Salas, who walked Hernan Perez and allowed an RBI double to Jesus Aguilar.

The last offensive hope for the Mets came in the top of the eighth, when T.J. Rivera tripled in Juan Lagares to make the score 9-6. Rivera continued his streak of productive play, going 2-for-5 on the day.

Salas opened the bottom of the eighth inning, walking Orlando Arcia and allowing a single to Jonathan Villar before Collins pulled him in favor of Josh Edgin. Edgin entered and hit Eric Thames with a pitch, loading the bases. Now tasked with a five-out save, Addison Reed came on and allowed a two-run single to Hernan Perez to cut the Mets’ lead to 9-8. After striking out Jesus Aguilar, Manny Pina hit a three-run homer to give the Brewers an 11-9 lead.

The Mets head to Phoenix now seven games behind the division-leading Nationals, and with the worst pitching staff ERA in the major leagues. Zack Wheeler will attempt to right the ship and break a four-game losing streak against Zack Godley and the Diamondbacks.

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What’s WPA?

Big winners: Michael Conforto +26%
Big losers: Addison Reed -67%
Teh aw3s0mest play: Rene Rivera two RBI single in the fourth inning
Teh sux0rest play: Manny Pina three run home run in the eighth inning
Total pitcher WPA: +32%
Total batter WPA: -82%
GWRBI!: Manny Pina