Diamondbacks get to Matz early, pound Mets to take series

The Mets continued on their road to nowhere Sunday, who lost for the 17th time in their last 21 road games, concluding a brutal and frustrating 2-5 West Coast swing by getting bombed by the Arizona Diamondbacks in a lethargic, non-competitive 7-1 game in the desert.

Coming off of a second late-game meltdown of the road trip Saturday night, the Mets made sure this game didn’t involve any late game drama by falling behind early and not putting up much of a fight thereafter.

Steven Matz has had his troubles in the first inning this year, and those continued in a brutal way Sunday. Ketel Marte blasted Matz’s third pitch of the game 482 feet into the left-center bleachers to give the Diamondbacks a very quick 1-0 lead. Eight pitches and two batters later, the lead had ballooned to 3-0 when Eduardo Escobar followed Tim Loscano’s single with a home run of his own just inside the left field foul pole.

Wilson Ramos led off the second with a solo home run—his sixth of the year—to cut the lead to 3-1. Merrill Kelly allowed the Mets little else though, ultimately cruising through 7.2 innings while allowing only six hits and striking out 10. Matz settled in for a bit, keeping the game close into the fifth. With two outs and no one on in the bottom of that frame, Arizona strung together four straight singles to plate two more runs and expand the lead to 5-1.

The Mets didn’t record another baserunner thereafter until Amed Rosario’s infield single in the top of the eighth finally chased Kelly. The Diamondbacks got to Hector Santiago and Tyler Bashlor for two more runs in the bottom of the eighth to make the final score all the more representative of Arizona’s dominance in this game.

The Mets limp home at 28-31, and will start a six game homestand against the San Francisco Giants Tuesday evening at Citi Field.

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Win Probability Added

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What’s WPA?

Big winners: None
Big losers: Steven Matz, -22.8%
Total pitcher WPA: -23.0%
Total batter WPA: -27.0%
Teh aw3s0mest play: Wilson Ramos solo home run in the top of the second inning, +8.1%
Teh sux0rest play: Eduardo Escobar two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning, -13.2%