Most important of all, the Miami Marlins have a new month.
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Pulled after another shaky start, deGrom was headed down the dugout tunnel toward the clubhouse when he signaled for Mets trainer Ray Ramirez to follow him. Bruce came through with an RBI single in the inning, making it a 6-2 game, and the Mets were able to load the bases with no one out. The Mets trail the idle Cardinals by two games for the final N.L. Wild Card spot.
Esch pitched into and out of trouble in the second, allowing four consecutive baserunners to reach, including Wilmer Flores’ two-run home run.
“Neil has played absolutely great”, Collins said.
Jose Urena (W, 3-5) allowed one run in six innings to pick up the win for the Marlins.
“Everything is fine”, deGrom said following the Mets’ 6-4 loss to the Marlins.
The 2014 NL Rookie of the Year has been hit hard in losing his last three starts. “I guess I’ve got to go check”.
DeGrom walked four batters by the end of the third inning and also made mistakes over the plate that cost him.
In his first season with NY since he was acquired in a December trade that sent left-hander Jon Niese to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Walker batted.282 with a.347 on-base percentage, a.476 slugging percentage, 23 homers and 55 RBIs in 113 games.
“We’ve got to take care of ourselves and can’t be concerned with getting help at this point”, Mattingly said.
And that’s not what the Mets needed when both Yoenis Cespedes and Asdrubal Cabrera were given the night off – although both pinch hit (Cespedes struck out with two on, Cabrera launched a two-run homer in the ninth). The Mets did try to fight back, as Jay Bruce connected for a solo homer (28) to get them on the board, trailing 3-1 in the sixth. That brought Michael Conforto to the plate as the tying run, but he grounded back to the pitcher for a 1-2-3 double play.
Yelich hit a three-run drive for his 18th homer in the seventh.
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Smoker gave up Yelich’s home run. They have been banged up lately and “I don’t need them slipping on the turf”, Collins said. Second baseman Neil Walker on Thursday became the latest Met to be lost for the season when he committed to having surgery to fix a herniated disk in his lower back that had deprived him of the feeling in a toe. He’ll pitch Friday night at AL Central-leading Cleveland against Carlos Carrasco (9-7, 3.23). They trail the Tigers by three games for the second wild card, Danny Duffy (11-2, 3.01 ERA) toes the rubber for the defending World Series champions while Anibal Sanchez (7-13, 5.92 ERA) takes the mound against the team he shut down for seven innings August 17.
