Mets' bullpen spoils Frankie Montas' solid season debut in another loss to Atlanta
Reed Garrett of the Mets looks on during the sixth inning against Atlanta at Citi Field on Tuesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
It was the hottest first pitch in Citi Field history, the Mets were swooning, Atlanta was in town, and necessity dictated that Frankie Montas, who had lived little more than a nightmare during the rehab outings leading up to this start, had to take the mound.
So, when Montas excelled, exceeding expectations and leaving after the fifth with his team in the lead, it felt like a gift.
The Mets' bullpen stamped that gift ‘return to sender.’
A trio of Mets relievers imploded in the sixth as Atlanta came from behind to win, 7-4. Montas, making his Mets debut on a 98-degree day, departed with a 3-0 lead after five, but Huascar Brazoban, Jose Castillo and Reed Garrett combined let up five runs in an inning where Atlanta sent 11 batters to the plate.
“They’re not going to be perfect for 162,” Carlos Mendoza said of the bullpen. “Just like position players offensively, just like starters go through it, relievers are going to go through it. We take care of those guys but as much as you take care of them, there are going to be stretches where it’s not going to be easy for them.”
The Mets have dropped 10 of their last 11 games, keyed by poor pitching and a near-silent offense that sparked to life for exactly one inning Tuesday – a three-run fourth highlighted by Brett Baty’s two-run single.
The Mets didn’t get another hit until the ninth, when Jeff McNeil doubled and Jared Young singled off Enyel De Los Santos. With two outs, Ronny Mauricio doubled off closer Raisel Iglesias to drive in a run and draw them to within 7-4. Francisco Lindor grounded out to end the game.
The Mets were no-hit by Spencer Strider for the first 3 1/3 innings. But after Juan Soto collected a one-out walk in the fourth, Pete Alonso laced a single to center to put runners on the corners. Strider walked Starling Marte to load the bases for McNeil, who hit a fly ball to left that scored Soto from third.
Then, the Mets did the very improbable: Someone hit with runners in scoring position.
Baty lined Strider’s knee-high slider over Ozzie Albies’ outstretched glove to put the Mets up 3-0. Going into the game, they were hitting just .214 with runners in scoring position, second worst to only the White Sox.
All of Montas’ work evaporated in the sixth, thanks to a leaky bullpen that, of late, can’t quite count on its higher leverage arms.
Brazoban walked the first three batters and then let up a sacrifice fly to Albies. That brought in Castillo to face pinch hitter Eli White, who grounded a ball far to Baty’s left; Baty knocked it down, but it skittered away for a run-scoring infield single. Castillo then hit Michael Harris II with a pitch to re-load the bases. Nick Allen lined a single to right to tie it at 3. That brought in Garrett, who struck out Ronald Acuna Jr. with the bases loaded, but allowed a sharp two-run single to Matt Olson to put Atlanta up 5-3.
Atlanta got two more in the eighth, on a pair of run-scoring doubles from Olson and Austin Riley.
The Mets bullpen, once a strength, has suffered during this recent stretch of 13 straight games (Tuesday was game eight). They pitched 41 innings in the last 10 games, with a 5.71 ERA.
The starting pitching has suffered, too, though Montas tweaked the narrative.
“That’s kind of like the guy that we saw in the playoffs [when the Mets faced him when they played the Brewers in the Wild Card series last year]…with the way the ball was coming out,” Mendoza said. “It’s an easy 97 [mph], it’s a heavy sinker, he’s around the zone, he’s got the cutter, slider, and obviously we know the split, which I thought today, they didn’t bite. But if we get a guy like that, he’s going to help us.
Montas, despite a frightful rehab assignment where he compiled a 12.05 ERA over six minor-league games, allowing 25 runs, eight homers and 10 walks, with 12 strikeouts, in 18 2/3 innings, did just that.
He allowed no runs and three hits with three walks and five strikeouts over five innings; Montas, who was on a pitch count after recovering from the lat injury that cost him the first part of the season, threw 80 pitches, 46 for strikes.
“When I was in the minors, I was just trying to get my pitches in, get my pitch count, work on my pitches,” Montas said. “Every team at some point in the year goes through [these] stretches…I’d rather it happened now than later or in the playoffs.”
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
