The New York Mets were shutout 1-0 on Tuesday night by the Chicago Cubs, and they continued their lackluster performance on Wednesday, with just seven hits in 11 innings. The top three hitters of the Mets’ lineup were the main culprits, as Curtis Granderson, Ruben Tejada, and Lucas Duda, went a combined 1-for-15 with seven strikeouts. Daniel Murphy continued his hot hitting, tallying two more base hits, but it was for naught as the Mets couldn’t keep the momentum rolling.
New York’s pitching continued to shine, as it was the savvy veteran Bartolo Colon, who did his part, throwing seven scoreless innings. Colon took full advantage of the young Cubs’ lineup, as he only gave up three hits, while striking out eight. That was the only positive note on what was a dismal night in Flushing.
The Mets squandered a huge opportunity in the bottom of the eighth inning when they had runners on second and third. Terry Collins chose to put the squeeze play on with rookie Darrell Ceciliani at the plate. Ceciliani whiffed on his bunt attempt, and Ruben Tejada was caught in a rundown. To make things worse, Daniel Murphy advanced to third, and Tejada also went back to the bag, but over ran it.
Both players were tagged and called out, but the umpires confused themselves and only called Tejada out. The reason for the confusion was that once Tejada went back to the bag, he ran passed it, and technically Murphy “over ran” him, which means both players should have been called out. The Mets got lucky that didn’t happen, but they couldn’t take advantage as Wilmer Flores couldn’t come up with a big hit.
The bad play didn’t stop there for New York, as the Mets’ defense helped Chicago out later on in the game. Anthony Rizzo hit a perfect ground ball to Ruben Tejada at shortstop, who made a nice feed to Flores at second base, who then short-hopped his throw to first, making it a tough play for Lucas Duda. Duda couldn’t scoop the throw and it ended up giving Chicago a fourth out, and a second opportunity in the 11th inning.
Kris Bryant was up next, as he ripped a single to left field. The Cubs had first and second with one out, and Chris Coghlan at the plate. Coghlan ripped a ball into left field, which was sure to score a run, but for some reason, Chicago’s third base coach Gary Jones held Rizzo up. It hurt Chicago for the moment because Kris Bryant rounded second base and was headed for third thinking Rizzo was going home, but the throw was cut off, and Bryant was tagged out.
That decision by Jones was sure to hurt Chicago, but Starlin Castro hit a soft ground ball to Daniel Murphy at third, and beat the play out. Rizzo came in to score and the Cubs took a 1-0 lead. Then Mike Baxter walked, and Miguel Montero followed that with a sharp single to right, that brought in Coghlan, giving Chicago a 2-0 lead.
The Mets put up a little fight in bottom half of the 11th, but they came up short. That is now back-to-back nights the Mets have not scored a run, putting their scoreless streak at 20 innings.
Despite having a recent four-game winning streak, this New York Mets team has been lifeless over the last two weeks. Whether it be a change at the manager's position, or a trade that brings in a bat, this team needs a wake up call. New York has too much pitching talent to waste with this lineup they are putting on the field.