Sandy Alderson said on Tuesday night he hoped the Mets’ weekend sweep at the hands of the lowly Braves was the low point of the season.
The “nadir,” he called it.
That 10-dollar word was still hanging in the air at Citi Field when Bartolo Colon faced the first batter against the Royals. And a giant “uh-oh” went through the stands when a line drive on the fourth pitch of the evening clipped Colon’s right thumb and forced him from the game.
Fortunately for the Mets, the ball off the bat of Whit Merrifield did not break Colon’s thumb. It only bruised it.
From the ashes of that inauspicious beginning, the Mets’ bullpen got the next 26 outs almost without incident in a 2-1 victory over the defending World Series champions before 40,122 at Citi Field.
Hansel Robles replaced Colon and lasted 3 2⁄3 innings and threw 65 pitches — both career highs. Almost unbelievably, Robles was still pitching in the fifth inning with a 2-0 lead forged on home runs by Asdrubal Cabrera in the first and Yoenis Cespedes in the fourth off Ian Kennedy.
Robles (1-3) allowed one run and five hits, walked one and struck out six. A protégé of Colon’s, Robles even looked like his mentor with a couple of mighty swings in his second career at-bat in the third inning. Robles eventually struck out looking, but not before getting his money’s worth.
And the Mets got their money’s worth out of Robles. He left in the fifth after allowing an RBI single to Brett Eibner to bring the Royals to within a run in the third matchup of the season for last year’s World Series combatants.
Terry Collins double-switched in Erik Goeddel. Unconventional Royals manager Ned Yost decided to take his best shot even though it was only the fifth when he sent up his usual designated hitter, Kendrys Morales, to bat for Kennedy (5-6), who had only thrown 73 pitches.
Morales nearly made Yost the toast of Kansas City when he sent a long drive to right. But Curtis Granderson caught it at the fence. Cheslor Cuthbert moved to third to give the Royals runners at first and third with one out.
Goeddel then struck out Merrifield and got Alcides Escobar to ground into a forceout to end the inning with the Mets still up a run.
Goeddel ended up throwing two shutout innings. Jerry Blevins pitched a 1-2-3 seventh. Addison Reed did the same in the eighth.
In the ninth, Jeurys Familia, who had three blown saves against the Royals in the World Series, overcame a two-out single by Cuthbert for his 23rd save.
Colon, by the way, only started because the Mets flip-flopped him with Noah Syndergaard, who will face the Royals Wednesday afternoon. Collins said the Mets made the move because Syndergaard threw 115 pitches in his last outing. It also lines up Thor to face the Nationals next week in Washington.
The Mets welcomed back catcher Travis d’Arnaud from the disabled list. In his first game since returning from a rotator cuff strain, d’Arnaud went 0-for-3. He also threw out the only Royal to attempt a steal when he nailed Escobar on a strikeout/throw-out double play to end the first.
..... - Newsday