Mets Lose, Dickey Suffers First Loss Since April

Tuesday July 24^th, 2012

Final Score: Washington Nationals: 5 New York Mets: 2

Dickey Suffers First Loss Since April

The rough second half continued for the Mets, as they fell again to the Washington Nationals 5-2 Tuesday night.  In a rematch from last week, in which the Mets won 9-5, All-Stars R.A. Dickey and Gio Gonzalez faced off; unfortunately they Mets were successful this time around.  The loss puts the Mets a season high three games under .500 and falling fast in the NL playoff races.  The Mets have lost five in a row, 11 of their last 12 and are 1-10 since the All-Star break.

Dickey wishes the calendar never switched from June to July, as this month has not been kind for the 37 year old knuckle-baller.  Since July has started, Dickey has surrendered 21 runs, 19 of which are earned, in 26 1/3 innings, which equals an ERA of 6.29.

Tonight Dickey pitched well for parts of the night but had a lousy final line suffering his second loss of the season and first since April.  His streak of 16 starts in a row without a loss ended, leaving him two shy of the Mets franchise record. 

Dickey cruised through the first three innings before hitting a bump in the road in the fourth inning when he surrendered a two-out RBI double to Danny Espinosa.  He then pitched a 1-2-3 fifth inning and retired the first two batters of the sixth before imploding.

Dickey gave up five straight two-out hits before getting out of the inning.  The inning was highlighted by a two-run homerun by Adam LaRoche that ended up in the second deck in right field. 

Dickey finished the night with an underwhelming stat line, going six innings and allowing eight hits, five runs (four earned), one walk and seven strikeouts. 

Jordany Valdespin came off the bench and knocked out his seventh homerun of the season.  It is his fifth pinch-hit homerun this season, giving him the most in the majors and breaking the Mets franchise record for pinch hit homers in a season.

Even with the loss tonight, the Mets did end one streak.  They snapped their 42 inning streak of not leading, with a Ronny Cedeno RBI single in the 2^nd inning off Gio Gonzalez.  It was the only blemish for Gonzalez on the night, as he pitched a stellar seven innings. 

The Mets were able to keep phenom Bryce Harper in check tonight, as he went 0 for 4 on the night including three strikeouts. He did walk in the ninth inning, but was thrown out attempting to steal second base. 

Next up for the Mets is an afternoon matinee.  Jeremy Hefner (1-3, 5.85 ERA) will attempt to end the Mets losing streak against flame throwing All-Star Stephen Strasburg (10-4, 2.85 ERA).  

Mets Comeback Falls Short, Losing Streak up to 6

Wednesday July 18, 2012

Final Score: New York Mets: 3 Washington Nationals: 4

Mets Comeback Falls Short, Losing Streak up to 6

Different day same result for the Mets.  They once again fell down early and mounted a comeback and once again the end was a loss.  The Mets fell to the Nationals tonight 4-3, dropping to only one game above .500 and upping their season high losing streak to six games.  The loss also puts the Mets a season high eight games behind division leading Washington.

Like last night with Jon Niese, the Mets gave starting pitcher Chris Young virtually no room for error. Young pitched great through give innings again, but served up a two-run homerun to Adam LaRoche in the bottom of the 6^th to break up a scoreless game.  That was the only blemish on Young’s stat line for the night, as he finished the game with six innings pitched, six hits, two earned runs, one walk and two strikeouts. 

The bullpen again was a disappointment for the Mets, giving up two runs in their two innings of work.  Saturday’s starter Miguel Batista gave up two runs in 2/3 of an inning.  He gave up two two-out singles, the second of which hit him in the lower leg.  After being visited by the trainer and throwing a warm-up pitch, he served up a two-run double to Steve Lombardozzi and the Nationals were up 4-1.

The Mets did show resiliency in the 9^th inning, mounting a comeback attempt again against the Nationals closer Tyler Clippard.  David Wright and Jason Bay were able to hit solo homeruns, their 12^th and fifth respectively, in the inning to bring the score to 4-3.  Jordany Valdespin was brought in to pinch hit again against Clippard, but was unable to come through again tonight as Clippard struck him out to end the Mets comeback.

As noted before, Bay knocked his fifth homerun of the season out in the 9^th inning and had finished the game 2 for 4.  Bay also singled in the 5^th inning off Nationals starter Jordan Zimmermann, but was unable to come through in the 7^th inning with Lucas Duda in scoring position and the Mets down two runs grounding out to shortstop. 

The Mets look to avoid their second consecutive sweep to start the second half of the season Thursday afternoon as All-Star R.A. Dickey (12-1, 2.66 ERA) takes the mound.  It will not be an easy task for the Mets, as they will face Nationals All-Star Gio Gonzalez (12-4, 2.93 ERA).