Rangers Lose To Mets
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NEW YORK — The New York Mets almost certainly won’t reach upper management’s preseason goal of 90 wins. But the Mets seem likely to lead the majors in most wins when a starting pitcher lasts one inning or less.
Four Mets relievers combined to throw 8 2/3 innings Friday night and catcher Travis d’Arnaud broke an eighth-inning tie with a two-run double to lift New York to a 6-5 win over the Texas Rangers at Citi Field.
The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Mets (38-48), but their 10-game homestand began in ominous fashion when left-hander Jonathon Niese, the Mets’ most reliable starter this season, left after taking a line drive off his lower back with one out in the first inning.
X-rays were negative and Niese was diagnosed with a contusion.
But right-hander Carlos Torres — who threw four innings of emergency relief in the Mets’ 3-1 win over the San Diego Padres on June 15 when right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka exited after one inning because of illness — tossed 4 2/3 innings of two-run ball Friday.
That allowed Mets manager Terry Collins to piece together the final four innings with his usual trio of late-inning relievers: right-handers Vic Black, Jeurys Familia and Jenrry Mejia.
“Nobody expects stuff like that to happen,” Torres said. “It does, this is baseball. So when it
does, whoever they call down for, they step up and go out and do their job.”
Torres, who was staked to a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the first via an RBI single by right fielder Bobby Abreu and a two-run homer by first baseman Lucas Duda, gave up a run when he allowed the first three Rangers to reach base in the third before retiring the next three batters.
Black, Familia and Mejia worked out of trouble throughout the final four innings, a stretch in which they allowed two unearned runs and nine baserunners (five hits and four walks) but stranded six Rangers baserunners, including four in scoring position.
“They did a tremendous job today,” d’Arnaud said. “I think all of them are the players of the game.”
Mejia (5-3) bailed Familia out of a two-on, two-out jam in the eighth to preserve a 4-4 tie before the Mets rallied in the bottom of the inning against left-hander Aaron Poreda (2-1) and right-hander Jason Frasor.
Abreu drew a leadoff walk against Poreda before Duda struck out. Third baseman Eric Campbell (3-for-3 with an RBI double) greeted Frasor with a single before d’Arnaud’s opposite-field shot split the gap in right field.
“Everybody in here works hard at what we do,” Torres said. “It’s good to see us relying on each other in a game such as this and the outcome is we win.”
The Mets would rather not rely on their relievers to get 26 outs, but manager Terry Collins and trainer Ray Ramirez thought they had no choice but to pull Niese after he absorbed a line drive off the bat of Rangers center fielder Alex Rios.
Ramirez was the Mets’ trainer for Niese’s previous shortest start on Aug. 5, 2009, when Niese tried to stay in the game after hurting his hamstring against the St. Louis Cardinals but tore the hamstring on his first warm-up pitch.
“Ray said on the mound, ‘Jon, we’ve done this before with such an injury and you’ve reinjured something,'” Collins said. “I said, ‘Jon, I can’t let you continue.'”
Niese allowed a leadoff homer to Rangers left fielder Shin-Soo Choo and an infield single to shortstop Elvis Andrus before throwing out Rios at first.
“I’m fine. I didn’t want to be taken out,” Niese said. “I just felt like I was cheated there a little bit.”
Rios had an RBI single in the third and third baseman Adrian Beltre hit a solo homer in the fifth for the Rangers (37-49), who have lost six straight and 14 of 16. Catcher Chris Gimenez had an RBI groundout in the seventh.
Rangers right-hander Yu Darvish allowed four runs, five hits and two walks while striking out six in five innings.
“It’s something every day,” Choo said. “One day the pitching is really good and one day the offense isn’t helping. (On) winning teams, (the) pitching’s good and hitting’s good at the same time.”
