May 16, 2018
The Mitchell Report: Mets’ bats explode, Jays slip to .500
Blue Jays starter Jaime Garcia gave up six runs and six hits to move his ERA to 6.28 as the New York Mets exploded for 16 hits to rout Toronto 12-2 Tuesday night. Meanwhile, Mets starter Noah Syndergaard threw 103 pitches and struck out seven over five innings for the win and also banged in two runs against the team that drafted him in 2010 and then traded him two years later. TSN Baseball Reporter Scott Mitchell provides his key takeaways from the game.
After a nearly 90-minute rain delay, Blue Jays starter Jaime Garcia gave up six runs and six hits to move his ERA to 6.28 as the New York Mets exploded for 16 hits to rout Toronto 12-2 Tuesday night. Meanwhile, Mets starter Noah Syndergaard threw 103 pitches and struck out seven over five innings for the win and also banged in two runs against the team that drafted him in 2010 and then traded him two years later. TSN Baseball Reporter Scott Mitchell provides his key takeaways from the game:
GAME 42, MAY 15: JAYS AT METS
RESULT: 12-2 loss
RECORD: 21-21
STREAK: L3
1—Jays fall to .500 for first time since April 1
After starting the season 12-5, the Jays have been struggling for nearly a month now. Since sweeping the Kansas City Royals on April 18, John Gibbons’ club is just 9-16 and they fell back to the .500 mark Tuesday for the first time since being 2-2 on the first day of April. Everything from the rotation to the bullpen to the bats seem to be going in the wrong direction, and it’s led to a 5-9 record in the month of May.
2—Thor faces Jays for second time in career
There’s going to be a day when the sight of Noah Syndergaard doesn’t evoke memories of the ill-advised R.A. Dickey swap six years ago, but today is not that day. The 38th-overall pick of the Jays back in 2010 made his second career start against the organization that drafted him, and while it wasn’t as good as the first one — an 11-strikeout gem in 2015 — Thor still struck out seven over five innings, scattering five hits and allowing two earned runs before a pitch count of 103 ended his night. The 25-year-old has yet to throw more than 183.2 innings in a season, but he looks well on his way to a monster season with a 3.14 ERA and even more impressive peripheral numbers.
3—Garcia blown up for six earned runs
After tightroping through his last start, Jaime Garcia was hammered Tuesday night at Citi Field, sending his ERA skyrocketing upwards from 5.40 to 6.28 and leaving him with one of the worst ERAs in the American League. The sinker-baller induced just one groundball — a disturbing trend for the lefty as his groundball rate is down to 42.0 per cent this season from his career rate of 55.8 per cent — walked three and allowed six hits, his night ending at 3.2 innings in the middle of a five-run fourth frame for the Mets. Garcia (2-3) is scheduled to go again Sunday at home against the Oakland Athletics.
4—Martin makes big league debut at shortstop
With the game out of reach late, Gibbons was able move Russell Martin out from behind the plate in order to give the 35-year-old his first major-league appearance as a shortstop. It’s something Gibbons talked about wanting to do as recently as last week, saying Martin lobbies for it from time to time. The shortstop position has suddenly become a revolving door, and the most of the options either can’t walk (literally) or can’t hit. Richard Urena went 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts on Tuesday, giving him Ks in half of his plate appearances since being recalled. Gift Ngoepe and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. went through similar struggles before being demoted. Meanwhile, Aledmys Diaz (left ankle sprain) reported to Dunedin to begin ramping up his rehab and Troy Tulowitzki is expected to take live BP next week, but neither player has a timetable at this point.
5—McGuire makes Jays debut eight years later
Selected 10th overall in the 2010 draft, Deck McGuire finally made his Blue Jays debut, mopping up with 3.1 innings of relief. Originally traded away to the Oakland A’s in the summer of 2014 for cash, McGuire travelled through the Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds organizations, before returning to the Jays on a minor-league deal last November. If the Jays continue to keep a long-man on the roster — and they’ll need to with the way the rotation is going — McGuire will be one of the options on hand. He allowed three runs on four hits against the Mets, giving up a long two-run home run to catcher Devin Mesoraco.
UP NEXT: LHP J.A. Happ (4-3, 4.80) vs. RHP Zack Wheeler (2-2, 5.03) on Wednesday, 1:10 p.m.
VLAD JR. WATCH: Overshadowed by Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio, who both hit home runs Tuesday, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went 1-for-4 in New Hampshire’s 7-6 extra-innings win, singling and drawing a walk to drop his average from .405 to an even .400 on the season. He also had a sacrifice fly for his 39th RBI.