There’s two more of where that came from staring at the Mets in this series.
Simply, the Mets’ production against left-handed pitchers has been pathetic this season, and Thursday night even a struggling Jose Quintana resembled Clayton Kershaw against them.
With just about everybody in the lineup not named Brandon Nimmo neutered, the Mets lost 5-1 to the Cubs at Citi Field and can rest uncomfortably knowing Chicago lefties Mike Montgomery and Jon Lester are still ahead this weekend.
The Mets, who entered play with an anemic .606 OPS against lefties, lost for the eighth time in 11 games. Only Nimmo’s homer in the eighth against lefty reliever Brian Duensing prevented the Mets from getting shut out. Nimmo finished 2-for-4 on a night the Mets (27-27) managed only four hits.
“The numbers tell a story and we obviously need to be better against lefties,” Jay Bruce said. “I think that was part of the reason for signing [Jose] Bautista, but you also have to remember we don’t have two of our best hitters right now, [Todd] Frazier and [Yoenis] Cespedes. Two of our better hitters that are right-handed that are out of the lineup.”
Frazier began a rehab assignment for Triple-A Las Vegas on Thursday, putting him close to a return. The timetable is not as clear for Cespedes, who is recovering from a strained hip flexor.
The organization’s top power-hitting threat in the minors is right-handed, but team officials have shown little inclination to consider promoting first baseman Peter Alonso from Double-A Binghamton.
“It’s been rough there is no doubt about it,” manager Mickey Callaway said, referring to the Mets’ production against lefties. “The good part is some of our lefties got some hits tonight. Our lefties got four hits and Nimmo hit a homer, so they are getting that valuable experience.
“Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto have never played against lefties before really, until this year, this stretch, so they are getting some valuable at-bats here against lefties that they have never gotten before.”
Quintana, who entered with a 4.78 ERA, pitched six shutout innings in which he allowed three hits and walked two.
Seth Lugo, inserted into the rotation with Noah Syndergaard sidelined by a strained ligament in his index finger, pitched four scoreless innings in which he allowed three hits and struck out three. The right-hander was removed at 60 pitches — the limit set by Callaway.
Hansel Robles replaced Lugo in the fifth and promptly walked Kyle Schwarber leading off the inning before Ben Zobrist launched a two-out homer that gave the Cubs a 2-0 lead. Jerry Blevins, Buddy Baumann and Gerson Bautista each allowed a run, giving the Cubs a comfortable cushion in the late innings. The only solid relief outing came from Scott Copeland, who pitched 1 ¹/₃ scoreless innings a day after he was selected from Binghamton.
The Mets’ best early scoring chance came in the third, when Asdrubal Cabrera walked to load the bases following Nimmo’s double. But Quintana struck out Bautista before Conforto was retired to end the inning.
Before the game, general manager Sandy Alderson expressed a level of satisfaction that the Mets haven’t completely imploded during this recent stretch in which the team has been besieged by injuries and late-inning losses.
“We went 11-1 to start the season — we all remember that,” Alderson said. “I bet nobody remembers that we’re 8-8 in the last 16, which given everything that has happened is almost as incredible as the 11-1. Considering what we’ve lost, how we’ve lost, the players we don’t have, and it’s easy for me too to get lost in the moment.”