Bullpen Blows Late-Lead For Second Straight Day As Mets Drop Two In A Row

The Mets' bullpen blew a late-lead for the second straight day as New York dropped their second game in a row.

For the second straight day, the Mets’ bullpen melted down in the eighth inning.

On a night, where the Mets overcame an injury to starting pitcher Taijuan Walker, who left after two innings due to shoulder irritation, their bullpen could not hang onto a 4-0 lead. 

Although defensive miscues played a large role in the Mets’ loss to the Nationals on Sunday, the Phillies' high-powered bats woke up in the eighth to put up a five-spot against the Mets' bullpen, pulling off a comeback victory by a score of 5-4. 

Despite not making any multi-inning relief appearances in 2021, setup man Trevor May was left in to start the eighth inning after tossing a scoreless seventh. And after walking the leadoff batter, May exited due to arm fatigue. That's when things unraveled for the Mets. 

This saw lefty Joely Rodriguez come on to replace May. And Rodriguez gave up a run on a fielder's choice, which was charged to May. The southpaw was unable to limit further damage as he surrendered a two-run home run to J.T. Realmuto, which cut the deficit to 4-3.

After Rodriguez struck out Bryce Harper, manager Buck Showalter opted to bring in Seth Lugo to face Nick Castellanos with two outs. Lugo, who struggled to command his signature curveball, walked Castellanos, which brought Rhys Hoskins to the plate.

And Lugo could not hold the lead as Hoskins doubled home Castellanos to tie the game at four. But the Phillies’ lineup wasn’t finished just yet. Didi Gregorius ripped a double of his own into the gap in right-center to bring home the go-ahead run, giving the Phillies their first lead of the game at 5-4.

Former Met Brad Hand handled the ninth inning against the Mets and set them down in order to help the Phillies take the first game of the series.

Walker and David Peterson combined for six shutout innings and struck out seven batters. But Walker was forced to exit his start after two perfect innings due to a shoulder ailment. 

The Mets built a 4-0 lead behind two-out RBI hits from Eduardo Escobar, Mark Canha and Francisco Lindor, but the bullpen was unable to lock down the win for the second straight day.

The Mets are 3-2 to start the regular-season but dropped their second straight contest due to another blown lead from their ‘pen.  

Walker and May will be headed for MRIs on Tuesday, but neither hurler sounded overly concerned about their ailments. 

Read More:

- Mets' Taijuan Walker Exits Start With Shoulder Injury

- Carlos Carrasco Shines In Season Debut, Mets Fail To Sweep Nationals After Late Collapse

- Why Mets Had Right Blueprint When Assembling 2022 Rotation

Follow Pat Ragazzo on Twitter (@ragazzoreport), be sure to bookmark Inside The Mets and check back daily for news, analysis and more.