MILWAUKEE — April showers have produced May flowers for the Mets lineup. Except most of the flowers are dead.
Noah Syndergaard wasn’t in Friday night’s lineup, a problem for sure given that the pitcher has produced exactly half of the Mets’ runs over the past three games. Where are the big bats? Or even the little ones?
The misery continued with a 3-1 loss to the Brewers at Miller Park in which the Mets managed only one hit over the final four innings.
Michael Conforto, Brandon Nimmo, Todd Frazier and even recently crowned NL Rookie of the Month Pete Alonso are among those in a tailspin as the Mets (16-16) have failed to capitalize on a recent stretch of solid pitching.
“I think we all wish we could have done more in the last week or so,” Conforto said. “The pitching has come on pretty strong. It’s just one of those things where we have to put the whole thing together. I’ve said that before, but it really is what’s going to do it for us. When the pitching is there we have got to hit.”
Two runs over three games won’t cut it. Syndergaard homered Thursday against the Reds for one of those runs — he also pitched a shutout for the victory — but a night earlier Jacob deGrom’s seven-inning shutout was wasted because the Mets didn’t score. Edwin Diaz was the fall guy for allowing a homer in the ninth, but it should have never come to that.
With the tying runs on base Friday against fireballer Josh Hader in the ninth, J.D. Davis, Frazier and Amed Rosario all struck out.
“We are just not stringing things together,” manager Mickey Callaway said. “We’re not getting the big hit when we need it and we’re just not stringing base runners and the walks and hits all together to put together some good innings where you score a crooked number and put pressure on the other team.”
Steven Matz wasn’t sharp, but he kept the Mets in the game by allowing three earned runs on nine hits and one walk over 5 ²/₃ innings. The left-hander departed with the Mets behind 3-1 in the sixth and watched Robert Gsellman record the inning’s final out.
Ryan Braun blasted a two-run homer in the fifth that gave the Brewers a 3-1 lead. Matz walked Yasmani Grandal leading off the inning before Braun cleared the center field fence for the Brewers’ second homer of the game.
“To sum it up I just wish I could get that pitch to Braun back,” Matz said. “I was trying to go in and left it over the plate in a tie game. I have just got to make that pitch there, so that was a little frustrating.”
Lorenzo Cain slammed Matz’s third pitch of the game for a homer, but the Brewers couldn’t deliver the big hit against the left-hander in the ensuing innings that might have sent his night spiraling.
That included in the fourth, when three singles loaded the bases with two outs. But Matz threw a changeup and got Cain on a fly out to right, keeping it tied at 1-1. And in the fifth, following the Braun homer, Matz surrendered a double to Mike Moustakas before retiring the next two batters to escape.
Wilson Ramos’ RBI single in the first gave the Mets their run. Robinson Cano walked on the 12th pitch of his at-bat before Conforto squibbed an infield single, setting up Ramos. McNeil had singled leading off the game against Brandon Woodruff, but was thrown out attempting to steal second.
Matz’s acceptable performance continued a solid stretch by Mets’ starting pitchers over the last week that followed a slump in which deGrom and Syndergaard were the biggest offenders.
“I was feeling fine about the rotation a week ago,” pitching coach Dave Eiland said. “The reason I was feeling fine was because I trust these guys’ ability, their work ethic, desire and character. If you have those four things, eventually the players are going to be who they are.”
