Offensive blackout continues as the Mets drop their third straight

The Mets lost a long, grueling game last night against the Brewers, and probably wanted to do nothing less than to get up and do it all again this afternoon. There was an additional obstacle to overcome as well, as Jason Vargas, a pitcher for whom long outings are becoming rarer and rarer, was starting for the Mets. With their entire bullpen taxed, Vargas needed to have a strong day today.

Somehow, despite not getting that long day, the Mets stayed in this game the entire way, losing 3-2, but not suffering the bloodbath that seemed imminent at multiple times today.

Vargas threw just four inning and 50 pitches before being pulled from the game due to mild hamstring tightness. While Vargas was not exactly stellar, he was about what you’d expect on a good Vargas day: three earned runs, five strikeouts, no walks. If Vargas hung around an extra couple of innings, you could squint and see this as a decent start.

The bottom of the third inning is where all the damage was done for the Brewers. Manny Pina led off the inning with a line drive double to center field, and was moved over to third on a double by Orlando Arcia. A Lorenzo Cain sacrifice fly plated the first run, but it was the Christian Yelich two-run home run - his 15th of the year, an an absolute moonshot - that sealed the Mets’ fate. Yelich was back in the lineup for the first time in a week, save for a pinch hit appearance last night, and his presence was clearly felt.

The Mets got one run back in the top of the fifth when Keon Broxton hit a ground rule double off of Brewers’ starter Zach Davies. Broxton was driven in by a Tomas Nido single one batter later. The Mets’ second run came in the form of a Juan Lagares solo shot in the top of the seventh inning.

New additions from Syracuse Tyler Bashlor and Tim Peterson, along with Daniel Zamora, combined for four innings of shutout ball, striking out three and walking just one.

The Mets travel to the West Coast to take on the Padres in a three game series at Petco Park. Jacob deGrom will start Monday night’s game against Chris Paddack.

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hat’s WPA?

Big winners: None
Big losers: Jason Vargas, -14.3% WPA, Pete Alonso -14.3% WPA, Brandon Nimmo -13.2% WPA, Todd Frazier -10.9% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -0.9% WPA
Total batter WPA: -49.1% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Juan Lagares’s solo home run, +10.5% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Christian Yelich’s home run, -16.8% WPA