Mets vs. Rockies Recap: Another episode of Sunday blues

Sunday struggles continued for the Mets, as they got shellacked in a 13-4 loss against the Rockies. Steven Matz was a disaster and the bullpen was bad, allowing multiple hits to seven of the eight Colorado position players. The Mets’ offense meanwhile managed two home runs, but nowhere near enough firepower to overcome the Rockies’ outburst.

Matz started the night with a strikeout, but things quickly went downhill. DJ LeMahieu singled and Mark Reynolds doubled, putting runners on second and third with two outs. Ian Desmond doubled to drive both of them in, then scored on Trevor Story’s two-run double two batters later. Matz finally escaped the first by striking out Jeff Hoffman, but the Rockies had a 4-0 lead.

Things got even worse in the second. Charlie Blackmon doubled, DJ LeMahieu singled, and Nolan Arenado launched a three-run home run to make it 7-0. Mark Reynolds followed that with a single before Terry Collins finally pulled the plug on Matz. Matz went 1+ innings, allowing seven runs on nine hits, striking out two.

Since returning from the disabled list and shelving his slider in an attempt to stay healthy, Matz’s results have been very disappointing. His strikeouts have disappeared, as he’s managing a measly 5.72 K/9, leading to a 4.58 ERA and a 5.35 FIP. His swinging-strike rate has dipped to 6.2%, due to the non-usage of his slider and a regression in the effectiveness of his curveball.

Erik Goeddel replaced Matz and pitched a pair of clean innings, striking out three. He was relieved in turn by Fernando Salas, who allowed two more Rockies runs in the top of the fourth to put the Mets into a 9-0 hole. Salas did manage to keep the Rockies off the board in the fifth as the Mets attempted to mount a comeback.

Lucas Duda put the Mets on the board with a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth, and Asdrubal Cabrera added two more runs with a home run of his own in the fifth. Jose Reyes trimmed the deficit to 9-4 in the bottom of the sixth with a sacrifice fly, but that would be the last run the Mets scored.

After pitching a clean sixth inning, Chasen Bradford allowed the Rockies to start rebuilding their cushion in the top of the seventh. Charlie Blackmon hit what counted as an inside-the-park home run as Curtis Granderson appeared to loaf after the ball, but replay showed that the ball hit over the orange line and was a home run anyway. That stretched the Rockies’ lead to 11-4.

The Rockies added two more runs in the eighth on a more traditional home run from Gerardo Parra off of Neil Ramirez. Down by nine, the Mets managed only a Jose Reyes single in the final two innings as they closed out the series.

The 13-4 loss drops the Mets to 41-48, 9.5 games back of the second Wild Card with four teams in front of them. It’s fair to say that the results of this series don’t meet the “exceedingly well” criteria laid out by Sandy Alderson and that we should still expect the Mets to sell at the deadline.

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Win Probability Added

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What’s WPA?

Big winners: None
Big losers: Steven Matz, -43.2% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Curtis Granderson is hit by a pitch leading off the bottom of the first, +3.0% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Ian Desmond drives in two with a single in the first, +17% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -44.6% WPA
Total batter WPA: -5.4% WPA
GWRBI!: Nolan Arenado