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Mets lose on a walk-off walk

MILWAUKEE — The New York Mets’ A.J. Ramos entered the game with two outs and two runners on base in the bottom of the 10th inning of a tie game.

In an extra-inning battle, the deeper and stronger Brewers bullpen outlasted the Mets.

In a bind, Mets manager Mickey Callaway turned to two of his struggling relief pitchers, Jerry Blevins and Ramos, and neither could deliver.

After Robert Gsellman got two outs and gave up a single, Callaway called up Blevins. He allowed a single to Christian Yelich, the only batter he was asked to face. In came Ramos, who walked Hernan Perez and then Shaw.

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The loss undermined the efforts of Jose Bautista, who tied the game with a two-out single in the ninth inning against Brewers closer Corey Knebel. It also undermined the efficient pitching of the starter, Noah Syndergaard, who allowed three runs over six innings but was pulled early in favor of offense.

Both Ramos and Blevins have an ERA over 5.00.

Before Friday’s game against the Brewers, Callaway commended Syndergaard’s improvement at limiting the base running of opponents, which was a focus of the new coaching staff in spring training. Syndergaard has shaved fractions of a second off his delivery this season. Entering Friday, however, only two pitchers in baseball had allowed more stolen bases than his 10.

With Devin Mesoraco behind the plate Friday, Syndergaard surrendered two more stolen bases, which led to runs. Otherwise, Syndergaard was solid, striking out eight and needing only 78 pitches.

But a familiar problem undermined the 25-22 Mets: Their offense created little margin for error.

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With the score tied 1-1 in the third inning, Syndergaard allowed a single to Lorenzo Cain, the Brewers’ speedy center fielder. Cain got a good jump off first base and beat Mesoraco’s throw to second. He promptly scored on a single by Yelich.

Yelich then stole second and scored on a single by Shaw, and the Brewers led, 3-1.

Michael Conforto’s fourth-inning home run made it 3-2. With two outs in the seventh, Bautista, pinch-hitting, drew a walk against standout relief pitcher Josh Hader. Callaway had struggling backup infielder Jose Reyes, who was hitting .145, pinch-hit for Syndergaard. Reyes grounded out to end the inning.

The pitching change did not backfire because Mets relief pitcher Seth Lugo fired two scoreless innings. But it underscored the Mets’ current hitting woes and lack of depth.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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JAMES WAGNER © 2018 The New York Times

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