Mets rookie skipper Luis Rojas went to his bullpen sooner than expected in his team's series finale against the Blue Jays on Sunday. His decision to let Brad Brach start the sixth inning was questionable, and it backfired on the Mets in their 7-3 loss at Sahlen Field.
Brach walked three consecutive Blue Jays to load the bases for Jared Hughes, who walked in a run on the fourth batter of the sixth inning. The wheels spun off when Hughes gave up a bases-clearing three-run double to Santiago Espinal and another RBI single to Danny Jansen. Toronto's five-run rally sealed the Mets' fate as they dropped to five games under .500 with just 13 games remaining.
David Peterson was solid in his seventh start of the year. He retired 12 of the last 15 batters he faced after his only blemish, a two-run home run to Lourdes Gurriel Jr., in the second inning. He was rolling, and he had only thrown 81 pitches through five innings. The Mets seemed poised to get a quality start from him and perhaps if he had pitched one more inning, the final score would've looked different.
But for the Mets have been extremely cautious with their starters this year, and Peterson's 81 pitches were the most he'd thrown since Aug. 8. He went on the injured list with left shoulder inflammation after his start on Aug. 13 and has appeared in four games (one relief appearance) since. Peterson's pitch count was steadily increasing throughout those four outings, but it's likely he hit the limit the team had constructed for the left-hander against the Blue Jays.
The Mets lineup created traffic against Blue Jays southpaw Hyun Jin Ryu but only tagged him for one run on an RBI single by Dominic Smith in the first inning. They scratched a pair of runs across in the top of the eighth against Toronto's relief corps, but the offensive effort wasn't strong enough to overcome the five-run bullpen implosion in the sixth.
Jeff McNeil exited the game in the fourth inning with what the Mets called "some gastrointestinal discomfort." McNeil had been hitting .500 (11-for-22) with 10 RBI and six runs scored over his last seven games before he disappeared through a corridor _ curiously carrying a bat _ in between innings. Luis Guillorme replaced McNeil at second base.
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