Oh to be Jacob deGrom on, today, his 28th birthday and his first Father’s Day. Unfortunately, his fellow teammates handed him a day filled with frustration as he had his 9th straight start without a victory. Again, stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the New York Mets Ron Darling said that all deGrom needed to do was go home and hold his son and it would be alright.
Yes, on Father’s Day, holding his son would help him to soothe his frustration, but it’s not going to fix the fact that the New York Mets were swept tonight by the Atlanta Braves. Let me repeat that – the New York Mets were swept tonight by the ATLANTA BRAVES. That means they are now in third place, seven games back from first.
But let’s just call this game what it really was. They weren’t really just swept by the Braves. The Braves got the mops out and mopped the floor with the Mets, shutting them out with only one hit and the last 21 Mets were retired. The final score was 6 – 0 and the Mets record falls to 36 – 32. The Braves’ Julio Teheran recorded his first career one-hit shutout.
At one point during the game, deGrom could be seen looking at the scoreboard and shaking his head. We feel ya, Jacob.
The only highlight of the Mets offense, if you can call it that, was Michael Conforto’s third-inning leadoff single which accounted for the only hit surrendered by Teheran, who retired 27 of the 28 batters he faced.
“You have to give a little credit to the guy on the mound,” Mets manager Terry Collins said in a post-game interview. “I know how it is here, and it’s always our fault and we’re not hitting, but that guy pitched pretty good today. It’s not always, ‘Oh well you guys aren’t hitting,’ and ‘You guys stink.’ He was pretty good, so give him a little pat on the back.”
Okay, we will give him a pat on the back, but it doesn’t change the fact that the Mets aren’t hitting overall and, well let’s repeat it again, LOST THREE GAMES TO THE ATLANTA BRAVES.
The Mets have Monday night off, and they need it before they face the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night at 7:10 p.m. Noah “Thor” Syndergaard will take the mound for the Mets. Syndergaard came two outs shy of his first career shutout against the Pirates on Wednesday. With the exception of the outing he was ejected from on May 28, the right-hander has tossed seven consecutive quality starts. Let’s see if that means anything to the rest of the lineup and see if they produce anything.
Royals right handed pitcher Ian Kennedy will get the start, but he has struggled in June, with an ERA of 7.85 through three outings. The righty has also struggled on the road this year, posting a 5.44 ERA away from home. He’ll be looking to snap those trends as he gets the ball for the opener vs. the Mets.
A few medical notes:
Mets Third Baseman David Wright underwent successful surgery today performed by Dr. Robert Watkins. The procedure was cervical discectomy and fusion.
Dr. Watkins – who performed the surgery in California — and the Mets medical staff at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York have prescribed a period of rest before Wright resumes any physical rehab activity. He will be re-evaluated in the weeks ahead to determine when he can resume baseball related activities.
In a release from the New York Mets, they announced that outfielder Juan Lagares has been placed on the 15-Day Disabled List, retroactive to June 15, with a sprained left thumb. As a result, the Mets recalled infielder/outfielder Ty Kelly from Las Vegas (AAA) of the Pacific Coast League. Kelly is active for tonight’s game and will wear No. 56.
Kelly, 27, played in 10 games for the Mets from May 24-June 9, batting .174 (4-23) with one home run and two RBI during his first career stint in the major leagues. He collected his first major league hit on May 30 vs. the Chicago White Sox before hitting a game-tying home run in Pittsburgh (off Jameson Taillon) on June 8 for his first career homer.
