The Mets allowed a season-high 11 walks in a 7-6 loss to Oakland on Thursday, the worst display of control by their pitchers this season, but it’s not a new problem.
They lead the National League in walks, and against the Athletics, all six pitchers manager Carlos Mendoza called up issued at least one walk.
“We’re going to continue to take a hard look at what’s going on,” Mendoza said. “When we struggled earlier in the year, that was one of the issues — we had too many non-competitive pitches. Today was just not a good day.”
It started with Jose Quintana, who gave up four walks in four innings, which led to him throwing 92 pitches in his short appearance.
Huascar Brazovan allowed two walks in his innings, as did Phil Maton, but they didn’t affect Maton as he was held scoreless.
“If we allow walks and don’t get the count going long, it’s going to hurt the other team,” Mendoza said. “We’ve got to get back and make adjustments right away.”
Quintana took responsibility for the loss “on his own account”, especially after leading 5-0 early on, and described the match as “frustrating”.
The game lasted 3 minutes, 45 seconds, making it the longest nine-inning game since MLB introduced the pitch clock.
Oakland closer Mason Miller has garnered a lot of attention for his ability to regularly top 100 mph, and he showed that ability again Thursday, striking out three batters to seal Oakland’s win and earn his first save in two innings.
“He’s got a good arm,” said J.D. Martinez, who struck out in the opening of the bottom of the ninth on three pitches — a 99-plus four-seam fastball and back-to-back sliders — “he throws 102. There’s a reason he’s the closer and they put him in for two innings. They really wanted to win this game.”
Luis Torrens’ two-run single was the latest success for the catcher with the bases loaded.
He has 10 hits in 22 at-bats and has 24 RBIs with the bases loaded.
Mendoza said Sean Reid-Foley’s shoulder is “structurally fine,” but the team is resting the right-hander for a few days to “make sure it’s stable.”
No more shoulder scans scheduled.
Reid Foley has been out for about two months with a right shoulder injury.
Mendoza said he expects pitcher Reid Foley to resume pitching within the next few days.
Mendoza said Christian Scott has been playing catch, but the right-hander, who is on the disabled list with a biceps strain, hasn’t yet been able to throw hard.
Senga Kodai (left calf strain) said, “I’ve been doing upper body training, but there’s nothing significant to report.”
The Mets signed outfielder Eddie Rosario to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Syracuse.
The 32-year-old left-handed pitcher most recently played for the Braves, appearing in 24 games before becoming a free agent.
He began the season with Washington and was released in July.
Rosario has an OPS of just .531 in 319 at-bats this year, but he was even better last year with the Braves when he hit 21 home runs.
The Mets have a deep outfield roster, so it’s unlikely Rosario will play a big role in Queens (if he even plays a role at all), but he could potentially replace Ben Gamel or DJ Stewart.
