New opponent, same result for Mets

With the way this game started it seemed destined to be another Jason Vargas blowout loss, but he stabilized and instead it morphed into an agonizing 2-1 loss.

There are no words left to describe this offense that hasn’t already been said. They managed just three hits against Baltimore pitching, and Jay Bruce had two of them. Alex Cobb has struggled mightily since joining the Orioles, and the team as a whole has been especially bad on the road, so of course they jumped all over Jason Vargas early. Three straight singles to start the game brought home the first run, and a sacrifice fly gave the Orioles a 2-0 lead.

The Orioles nearly added to the lead in the second but Chris Davis was thrown out at the plate with the infield drawn in. After that Vargas settled in and put in a respectable performance. In an attempt at offense, he was pinch-hit for in the fifth but he has now managed to put together back-to-back solid outings. Progress.

Despite being down just two runs and having a whole twenty-seven outs to play with, the Mets’ offense just could not overcome the deficit against Alex Cobb. Cobb took a no-hitter into the fifth, but it was finally broken up by Jay Bruce who was long overdue for a hit. Kevin Plawecki followed with a double and the Mets’ were in business.

Adrian Gonzalez did not have a good night at the plate and it was very apparent in his at bat in the fifth inning. He popped up to leave the runners where they were and it was left to pinch-hitter Jose Bautista to get the run in. He did with a sacrifice fly but a promising start to the inning yielded only one run.

Seth Lugo was the first one out of the bullpen and was downright impressive in three innings of work. He allowed only one hit and struck out two. Anthony Swarzak made his first appearance since April and walked one and struck out one but otherwise was good in his return from the disabled list.

Those two gave their team a chance to come back and they did build a rally in the eighth. Amed Rosario walked and Brandon Nimmo bunted and reached on an error to get the tying run in scoring position. Asdrubal Cabrera, however, quickly ended the rally when he grounded out into a double play.

In the ninth, Brad Brach had thrown just three pitches and accumulated two outs. Michael Conforto and Todd Frazier both did not put up much of a fight so any hope of a rally died very quickly. Jay Bruce did walk but Kevin Plawecki fouled out to end the game.

This offense was already pitiful but with both Brandon Nimmo and Asdrubal Cabrera slumping it has sunk even further. Nimmo did use his speed in an attempt to make things happen but even that wasn’t enough when nobody is hitting behind him.

Jay Bruce got on base three times but his hits were not exactly well struck, just well placed. Maybe a little bit of luck will finally get him going, because as of right now, the Mets’ search for offense has bared very little fruit.

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Win Probability Added

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What’s WPA?

Big winners: Jay Bruce +16.3%, Seth Lugo 15.2%
Big losers: Asdrubal Cabrera -30.9%, Adrian Gonzalez -17.9%, Todd Frazier -14.5%, Michael Conforto -13.2%
Teh aw3s0mest play: Kevin Plawecki double in fifth
Teh sux0rest play: Manny Machado single in first
Total pitcher WPA: +17%
Total batter WPA: -67%
GWRBI!: Danny Valencia