Justin Verlander booed off mound as reeling Mets fall to Rays
Justin Verlander is used to being hated in New York, but this was different.
The right-hander finally made his Mets debut at Citi Field on Tuesday night and like much of the team has so far this season, he flopped.
The $86 million man was booed off the mound after the top of the fifth and he had plenty of company in an 8-5 loss to the Rays.
He allowed six runs in his five innings and said he pitched like “s–t.”
Which is why Verlander didn’t have an issue with the response he got.
“I understand the fans’ frustration,’’ Verlander said. “We’re frustrated, too. Everybody’s frustrated. We expect to be better. I expect to be better. I think this entire organization expects to be better. There’s only one thing left to do and that’s put your head down, work hard and find your way out of this slump.”
The loss dropped the 20-23 Mets to a season-worst three games under .500, while Tampa Bay improved to 32-11.
Asked if he was surprised by the lackluster record just over a quarter into the season, Verlander said he was.
“I thought we’d come out of the chute a little better than this,’’ Verlander said. “But at the same time, baseball is a long season.”
He pointed to recent teams like the Nationals in 2019 and the Phillies a year ago as other NL East teams that sputtered early only to reach the World Series in October.
“But I think we’re past the point of waiting for that to happen,’’ Verlander said of the team turning itself around. “We need to make it happen. We have the guys in here to do that.”
If it’s going to happen, it will have to wait.
They’re still waiting for their rotation to meet expectations and the offense has slumbered for much of the year — especially recently.
Coming off an ugly stretch against four sub-.500 teams, the Mets came home to Queens to face Tampa Bay, owner of the best record in baseball.
And while Verlander was largely responsible for the bad night, the lineup, anemic during much of this stretch, was quiet most of the night.
They did hit three home runs, however, which they hope is a sign of the offense heating up.
But the homers came too late, as Verlander gave up a pair of them to Isaac Paredes, the second of which earned Verlander his first boos of the night.
In his third outing since recovering from a teres major strain, Verlander allowed his most runs in nearly a year.
Paredes’ one-out homer in the fifth gave the Rays a 6-0 lead.
The Mets finally got a run — and a homer — from Brett Baty in the bottom of the inning.
It was just their second hit of the game and first homer in 56 innings.
And the bad night for the Mets wasn’t limited to the field as the huge scoreboard in center installed this season went out briefly in the top of the sixth before coming back on with a Rays’ logo emblazoned on it.
Pete Alonso tried to make a game of it with a two-run shot in the seventh to get the Mets to within 7-3.
They had a chance to add more in the inning after Baty walked, but Mark Canha grounded into the hole at shortstop and Wander Franco made a terrific play and throw. The Mets challenged the call, but it was upheld to end the inning.
Tampa Bay picked up another run in the top of the eighth before Eduardo Escobar’s two-run, pinch-hit homer with one out in the bottom of the ninth made it 8-5, but the rally stopped there and the Mets lost for the third time in four games.
