ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Mets’ revamped bullpen suffered its first major misstep Saturday.
Relief pitcher Huascar Brazovan, acquired from the Marlins on Tuesday just before the trade deadline, was given the leadoff in the seventh inning against the Angels and had an easy start, striking out two.
But the hard-hitting right-hander couldn’t get the third out, and the night at Disneyland turned into a car wreck on the I-5 freeway for the Mets.
Brazovan gave up a three-run homer to Zach Neto and the Mets never recovered from a 5-4 loss at Angel Stadium, their second loss in three games.
J.D. Martinez’s grand slam in the bottom of the seventh, which provided the Mets’ only run, should have dealt the Angels a decisive blow, but the Angels fought back against Brazovan in the bottom of the inning.
Brazovan struck out Jo Adell and Matt Theis early in the inning, but chaos ensued after that: Michael Stefanik singled, Nolan Chanuel walked, and then Neto hit a three-run homer with a cutter (his eighth pitch of the at-bat) to put the Angels back ahead, 5-4.
“I thought I made a good pitch, but I threw it too high in the zone,” Brazovan said through a translator. “In the end, it cost us the game.”
The right-hander is one of three major league relief pitchers the Mets acquired in trades in July.
The Mets also acquired Phil Mutton and Ryne Stanek in trades to bolster a team plagued by injuries and slumping performances.
“[Brazoban] “He’s gotten big outs before and he’s got a strong arm,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “That’s the kind of situation we’re here to get him in.”
The Mets had a chance to at least tie the game in the eighth following a leadoff double by Mark Vientos.
But Luis Torrens, Jeff McNeil and Tyrone Taylor were submissive against the Angels’ relief corps.
Ben Joyce, who recorded the Angels’ final out in the eighth inning, pitched a perfect ninth inning to earn the save, striking out Martinez with a 104.7 mph fastball to end the game.
According to Sarah Langs, this was the fastest strikeout pitch of the pitch-tracking era, which began in 2008.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fastball like that,” Martinez said. “The fastest fastball I’ve ever seen. I laughed after he threw it and I struck him out. I just laughed a little bit and I was like, ‘Whoa.’ I had to look up at the radar.”
Mets’ David Peterson pitched well, allowing six hits, one walk, four strikeouts and two earned runs in six innings.
It was a rebound performance for the left-hander, who gave up four runs in five innings against the Braves last Sunday.
Peterson walked the second batter he faced of the game, Neto, which led to a run.
With two outs, Kevin Pillar hit an RBI single to bring in the first run of the game.
Pillar, who played for the Mets in 2021, threw his all to stop a long hit by leadoff batter Francisco Lindor of the inning.
Pillar, in a defensive masterpiece, dropped to his stomach on the warning track in left-center field with the ball still in his glove.
In the second inning, Lindor lunged to catch a ball from Matt Theis behind the mound and threw it to an off-balance Pete Alonso, who lunged to catch the ball and managed to keep his foot on first base.
Brandon Nimmo doubled with two outs in the third inning and Martinez reached base on catcher’s interference, but Jose Soriano later struck out Alonso to get the ball out of the danger.
McNeil tried to turn a single into a double as the leadoff batter in the fifth inning, but was caught by Pillar.
The next batter, Taylor, hit a ball to left-center field, but the defensively sharp Pillar sprinted to get it.
Neto’s one-run single in the fifth inning gave the Mets a 2-0 lead.
Tice hit a broken grounder past third base for a leadoff double, then Neto smashed a solid single to right field with two outs.
Peterson was interviewed during his at-bat but was allowed to continue pitching without much discussion.
Torrence had a big at-bat in the sixth inning, when Alonso singled and Vientos walked with two outs before being ejected on a weak grounder.
The last batter Soriano faced was Torrence, who pitched six scoreless innings, allowing only five hits, striking out six and walking two.
The Mets loaded the bases in the seventh inning with walks by Jeff McNeil and Nimmo and a single by Lindor.
After working the count to 2-0, Martinez pounced on a Hunter Strickland sinker and drove it over the center field fence to give the Mets a 4-2 lead.
The grand slam was Martinez’s second in eight days (his first came against the Braves at Citi Field on July 26) and his 10th career grand slam.
“Anytime we’ve had a lead late in a game, I think we’ve been able to hang on because our bullpen has been good late in the game,” Martinez said.
