Mets Scores & Recaps

The Mets found out the hard way that not scoring runs is suboptimal

Joey Lucchesi had an alright night, but that’s where the compliments end for the Mets.

By Richard Staff@RichardStaff Jun 19, 2021, 9:00am EDT

MLB: New York Mets at Washington Nationals

When one directs their eyes towards a recap of a baseball game, it’s only natural to expect to see, well, events and happenings. If that is the kind of thing you’re in to, I regret to inform you that 90% of the Mets’ 1-0 loss to Washington was comprised of varying degrees of nothing and the 10% that was active was coated with a thick layer of despair. So, you know, the usual stuff.

At least for the first inning of play, the six batters who came to the plate immediately found themselves walking back to the dugout after ground outs, fly outs, strike outs, or whatever other type of out there is. Thankfully, the dueling perfect games didn’t live to see the seventh out of the game as Pete Alonso walked to start the Mets’ half of the second inning, but Alonso was out at second after Billy McKinney’s fielder’s choice that should’ve been a double play after the latter started to round first base and was tagged before returning to the bag. Ultimately that didn’t mean anything either as Luis Guillorme and Tomas Nido both struck out within the next nine pitches from Nationals’ starter Erick Fedde, so that’s the end of that mild excitement.

For Joey Lucchesi, the perfect game lasted just a little bit longer than Fedde’s. Before I get into the loss of the perfecto in the third, it seems like a good time to talk about what everyone’s favorite Churving Dude did on the night. Striking out four of the first six batters he faced, Lucchesi ended up getting one out in the sixth inning for the first time as a Met, only allowing four hits, two walks, and a grand total of zero runs along the way. Lucchesi mentioned after the game that he had made a mechanical adjustment that eliminated any pitch tipping, which is pretty good.

Anyway, Mason Williams, who is probably playing for his spot on the roster, drew a walk to start the third inning, but was caught stealing almost immediately, erasing the Mets’ only baserunner of the inning. To start the bottom of that same inning, Jordy Mercer singled, marking the first hit of the game for either side, before switching places with Victor Robles after a fielder’s choice. Things got decidedly spicy when Tomas Nido fielded a dribbler from the bat of Erick Fedde, hucked the ball to second base and over the head of Francisco Lindor, allowing the speedy Robles to round second and head to third base, putting men on first and second with one out. One Kyle Schwarber walk later, the bases were suddenly loaded for Trea Turner, which is not what you want under any circumstances. But only one churve later, Trea Turner was grounding into a double play and ending the inning without any permanent damage done to the score.

That pattern of occasional singles and walks, sometimes followed by a timely double play continued into the fourth inning, and the fifth, and the sixth, and the seventh, and the eighth AND THE N-[a man in a black suit taps me on the shoulder and whispers into my ear] oh, okay maybe not the ninth. Though nobody scored and the mood can only be described as dry, it does feel worth mentioning Miguel Castro, Aaron Loup, and Seth Lugo combining to only allow one baserunner after Lucchesi left the game.

Now, Edwin Diaz? He essentially did the opposite of the three bullpen boys that came before him. To be fair to Mr. Diaz, he did throw a strike to Juan Soto on a 3-2 count that was called a ball, but after that walk, Ryan Zimmerman singled in a seven-pitch affair with Diaz, bringing Yan Gomes to the plate with men on the corners and none out. I won’t keep you in suspense considering you already know how the game ended, so Gomes singled down the left field line, bringing home Soto and winning the game for Washington.

That sucked.