Mets Imploding
The Washington Nationals played a big role in the New York Mets collapse last season, and now they are threatening to do the same this year.
After falling into second place in the NL East, the Mets look to avoid a fourth straight loss when they continue a four-game series against the Nationals on Wednesday night.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global have made New York -125 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for tonight’s game, the over/under has been set at 9.5 total runs (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 75% of bets for this game have been placed on New York -125 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
With his team struggling and comparisons being made to last season’s historic collapse, Mets manager Jerry Manuel closed the clubhouse for about 15 minutes before Tuesday’s game. The meeting, however, didn’t help as New York (83-67) was held to four hits in a 1-0 loss after losing 7-2 on Monday.
With Philadelphia’s win at Atlanta, New York fell one-half game behind the Phillies in the East after leading by 3 1/2 as recently as last Wednesday. The Mets now lead Milwaukee in the wild-card race by one-half game, and the similarities between this year’s late-season struggles and last year’s are difficult to deny.
The Mets held a seven-game lead with 17 games left last season, but went 5-12 down the stretch and lost the division to Philadelphia on the final day of the season and missed the playoffs altogether. During the final month, they lost five of six to the Nationals.
"We’ve got to dig down deep," David Wright said. "This is what makes it fun. You’ve got, what, 12, 13 games left and that’s going to decide the season? This is what you work hard for, this is what you prepare for, and as an athlete, a competitor, you love this."
New York, however, has yet to find an answer in the series for the Nationals (58-93), who began the week having lost five straight. Washington’s starters have held the Mets to five hits over a combined 14 1-3 innings in the first two games. Odalis Perez struck out six over 7 1-3 innings on Tuesday while Cristian Guzman drove in the game’s only run on a ground-rule double in the fifth inning.
Carlos Delgado is 0-for-8 with four strikeouts in the series while Wright is 1-for-8 with four strikeouts.
"We’re a better-hitting club than what we’ve shown here," Manuel said. "We’ve just got to do a better job, period, offensively."
Already struggling to score, that got a little harder for the Mets when left fielder Fernando Tatis was lost for the season after he separated his right shoulder in the fifth inning. Tatis had been a pleasant surprise, hitting .297 with 11 homers and 47 RBIs.
Despite the slump, shortstop Jose Reyes says the team still has confidence.
"There’s no doubt," Reyes said. "We’re still in position, but we just have to start again. It’s getting tougher and tougher every day."
The Mets try to bounce back when they hand the ball to Brandon Knight (0-0, 6.43 ERA), who is making his second major league start and his fourth appearance this season.
Knight made his first start against St. Louis on July 26 and allowed four runs and seven hits over five innings of the Mets’ 10-8, 14-inning loss. He pitched one inning of relief against the Nationals on Sept. 9, yielding one run and one hit in his most recent appearance.
Shairon Martis (0-2, 2.70) counters for the Nationals.
Martis is making his third major league start and first at home. The 21-year-old right-hander has pitched five innings in each of his starts against Atlanta and Florida. He allowed two runs – one earned – in a 2-1 loss to the Marlins on Friday, striking out nine.
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