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The Mets wasted no time at all in getting to Bronson Arroyo, getting three straight hits to load the bases before recording an out. Then they started scoring. Three straight batters got three straight RBI. Two of the batters, Lucas Duda and Andrew Brown, knocked in a runner each on two sacrifice outs. The last batter, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, brought a runner home with single. After that, Arroyo managed to stop the bleeding, get the last out, and keep the Mets at three runs.
The next couple innings, Arroyo looked like he was settling down out there, sitting the Mets down in order in the second and third innings. Things were really looking up. We can't have good things, though. You know this. Eleven batters ended up going to the plate in the top of the fourth. Of those eleven, six of them ended up scoring. It was just brutal. Brown lead off the inning with a single, and was then brought home the next batter by a Nieuwenhuis home run, making the score 5-0, and they didn't stop there. The hitting parade continued until eight batters had come to the plate, running the score to 8-0. At that point, Arroyo was pulled in favor of Randell Delgado. He didn't have the greatest start ever, coming in and hitting Lucas Duda to start his night and load the bases. He then gave up an RBI force out, making the score nine to zip. But that was it, and he got the final out with no further damage.
Where was the Diamondbacks offense while all this was happening? No one really knows. The were sat down, in order, through the entirety of the first three innings, not getting a base runner until Geraldo Parra's lead-off walk to start the fourth, and the first hit coming two batters later courtesy of a Paul Goldschmidt single.
That pretty much was the way the offense went for the rest of the game. They managed a couple of walks and three hits, only one of which left the infield. Unlike some days recently, yesterday's game comes to mind, where the offense showed up and gave us something to point to as going right, that just didn't happen tonight.
However, there was one right spot tonight, and it was pretty nice. The bullpen came in and, after the fourth inning, didn't allow a Mets runner to move past first base, including sitting them down in order in the fifth, sixth, and ninth innings. As you'll see when we get to the Fangraphs in a moment, it really didn't effect our chances in the game at all, but it was still nice to see the bullpen come in and shut the door on the opposition. Hopefully, we'll see more of that in days to come, but instead when we have a lead.
Source: FanGraphs
The only person with a positive WPA tonight: Oliver Perez, 0.1%
Seriously: Addison Reed, J. J. Putz, Tony Campana 0.0%
And here's a big reason why: Bronson Arroyo, -35.5%
And there you have it, folks. I was going to close this recap with some deep thoughts on how bad the Dbacks were tonight, and how awful this game was. Really, though, what else is there to say? When your starting pitching is that horrible, and your offense is that anemic, you will never, ever get different result. What needs to be done? I don't know. Part of me thinks it's way to early to give up on the season. I mean, it's only Tax Day! We still have so much season left. I just don't see a recovery here, guys. I just don't.
Dual COTN. First, it goes to AzRattler and this plea to the Mets. Or the Baseball Gods. It could go either way
Stop plz
Then, it goes to Harry Doyle, from the movie Major League (or Kishi, who suggested it to me)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9myYc8Pn8o
A fairly lively GDT tonight, all things considered, with 715 comments at the time of writing. I, your guide through tonight's baseball wasteland, led the way with 86 comments, and JoeCB1991 and TolkienBard also joined me on the podium. All present were:
4 Corners Fan, AF DBacks Fanatic, AJV19, Airwave, AzRattler, BulldogsNotZags, Clefo, DeadmanG, Diamondhacks, Dirtdawg90, Edwong81, EzioExManAZ, Fangdango, GODSCHMIDT, GuruB, Jim McLennan, JoeCB1991, John Baragona, Majabe, Makakilo, MrMrrbi, PaulJonesAZ, Rockkstarr12, Rowdy Rawhide, TolkienBard, Zavada's Moustache, asteroid, azcougs, azshadowwalker, benhat, blank_38, cole8865, hotclaws, imstillhungry95, kishi, luckycc, onedotfive, preston.salisbury, soco, txzona
Tomorrow the game starts at 12:40, Arizona time, and it's a radio only game. Join us as we try to avoid the sweep, if you want, but if you have other plans, we understand.