Marcus Stroman enthusiastically clapped at fans as he jogged in from the Citi Field bullpen, and they responded in kind. It was as good as Saturday afternoon would get for the right-hander and the Mets.
The second pitch Stroman threw wound up being hit into the right-field corner, a single badly misplayed by Michael Conforto that enabled Josh Harrison to wind up on third. It was an omen for the hours to follow, as the Mets flushed all the positive vibes from Jacob deGrom’s masterpiece Friday night.
Stroman didn’t have it, his defense didn’t help him, the offense couldn’t bail him out and the Mets lost in ugly fashion to the Nationals, 7-1 in front of a crowd of 8,051.
“Obviously, coming off that start [by deGrom] we wanted to carry the momentum [over],” Stroman said after the Mets’ fourth defeat in five games pushed them back to .500 at 8-8. “We weren’t able to.”
After having been so good in his first three starts, winning each outing and allowing just two runs over 20 innings, Stroman’s command was off this time, and he failed to reach the fifth inning. In the second inning, he walked consecutive hitters and allowed opposing pitcher Joe Ross to drive in a run with a two-out single. Conforto looked like he would have a shot at throwing Starlin Castro out at the plate, but he didn’t get nearly enough on it.
“I’ve got to be able to throw that guy out there,” Conforto said. “That was frustrating.”
Stroman was tagged for two more runs in the third and another in the fourth, before he was given the hook. That continued a recent trend of Mets starters — other than deGrom — struggling. Take out the two-time Cy Young award winner, and the last four Mets starters have failed to reach the fifth inning after a strong beginning to the young season.
Over four innings, Stroman allowed eight hits, five runs (four earned), walked two and struck out four. He failed to put up a zero in any of his frames, and allowed more runs in this outing than his previous three starts combined.
“It was eight singles, it wasn’t like I was getting barrelled up out of the ballpark [or in] gaps,” Stroman said. “It could’ve went differently. But I’ll look at adjustments to make going into the next start, maybe change a little bit my pitching repertoire.
“I have to be better in the game, that’s just what it comes down to,” he added. “I have to make pitches and I have to limit the runs, and I was able to do that today.”
Conforto got the Mets on the board in the fourth, hitting the right-field foul pole for his first home run of the season. They had a chance to get closer. J.D. Davis and Jeff McNeil followed with consecutive singles, but James McCann swung at ball four twice, then popped up weakly to shortstop to end the threat, the one time there was any energy in the building all game.
Four batters into the fifth, the Nationals had the run back. In his Mets debut, reliever Stephen Tarpley failed to retire a hitter. He walked Josh Bell, allowed a check-swing single to Kyle Schwarber, then hit Alex Avila with a pitch to force in a run. It was 7-1 by the end of the inning and the rout was on, another game in which the Mets’ offense went limp.
It was the ninth game in 16 contests in which the Mets scored three runs or fewer. They are 2-7 in such games.
Both Rojas and Stroman played down the lineup’s struggles. Rojas pointed to the team’s problems with runners in scoring position — they are 24-for-126 so far this year, an anemic .190 batting average — but said it is a positive that they continue to get these opportunities. Stroman cited the uneven nature of the early schedule, with the season-opening series against the Nationals getting postponed due to COVID-19 and three other games getting pushed back due to poor weather.
“I know that these guys are going to come around and start to mash here pretty soon,” Stroman said. “I can’t wait for that.”
