PITTSBURGH — Well, at least the Mets played overall solid defense against Jon Niese and his Pirates teammates.
Besides that, though? Niese’s former team sure as heck gave him no reason to wish he still played his home games at Citi Field.
A pair of 3-1 losses to the Pirates Tuesday at PNC Park made the Mets’ offense look as fruitless and futile as … a year ago at this time, when Terry Collins’ group scored a National League-worst 84 runs in June.
“It seems like we can’t quite get things going,” said Neil Walker, who received a pair of homecoming standing ovations while going 2-for-8 on the day. “We’ve got to keep grinding.”
It could be that simple. The Mets pitch their ace and stopper Noah Syndergaard Wednesday night, and then they go to Milwaukee for four games with the tanking Brewers. They might just yet survive their injury epidemic.
But that doesn’t make it any easier for the team to live through scoring two runs in its last 27 innings. Or totaling nine hits, five walks and 17 strikeouts on the day.
Or losing Game 1 of this twi-night doubleheader, the consequence of Monday’s rainout, to Niese, their traded lefty (for Walker) who tossed seven shutout innings. With Panic City construction ramping up once more, Niese now becomes a face of the Mets’ offensive ineptitude, as in, “We couldn’t score a run even off this guy!”
“There was a little bit extra there,” Niese admitted. “It was kind of weird. But it was fun. It’d have been a little bit extra fun if David [Wright] was in there. I’m rooting for him to get back. Hopefully he gets healthy. It was still fun.”
It proved not anywhere as fun for the Mets, who fell to 2-3 on this road trip and gave the Nationals considerably more breathing room in the NL East. After producing 14 outs via the ground during Niese’s work shift, they changed it up for Game 2 and struck out 14 times against Pirates starter Juan Nicasio and relievers Jared Hughes, Tony Watson, Neftali Feliz and Mark Melancon.
“We’ve got to apply some of the stuff we work on,” Collins said of his batters.
Collins started seven of his position players in both games, an unusual decision for a veteran team; only the catcher changed, with Rene Rivera receiving Steven Matz for Game 1 and Kevin Plawecki working with Jacob deGrom in Game 2. Of those seven, only Walker managed as many as two hits (both singles), and second and third hitters Asdrubal Cabrera and Yoenis Cespedes went a combined 0-for-15, with Cespedes drawing an eighth-inning walk in Game 1.
“They’re not too tired,” Collins said of his regulars, pointing to both Monday’s unscheduled off day and a travel day last week. They’re not too good, either.
Niese occasionally gave the Mets games like this. Just not as often as anyone currently in the Mets’ starting rotation. His complaining about the Mets’ infield shifts behind the scenes won him no allies, and he couldn’t help himself on the day of the trade when he voiced his excitement about having the Pirates’ defense behind him. All of those forces made him an unmissed man by the Mets and their fan base. Until Tuesday, at least.
“That was the only organization I knew,” Niese said. “A lot of those guys are great over there. I got along with all of them. I definitely miss them, but I’m enjoying my time here.”
At the moment, he’s having a lot more fun than his former teammates, who maybe just need to relax, or get out of this charming Midwestern burg where they’re 2-10 since 2013.
“This will turn around,” said deGrom, who suffered a most undeserving loss. “It’s part of the game.”
He’s probably right. If he isn’t, then Niese will be from far from the last guy to get the last laugh on this bunch.