In His Second Act, Montero Flops, and So Do the Mets
Mets starter Rafael Montero took a step back on Tuesday after a strong debut performance last week, failing to pitch past the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers on a pristine night at Citi Field.
Five days earlier, the 23-year-old Montero matched the Yankees' Masahiro Tanaka nearly pitch for pitch in a promising first start, giving the Mets a glance at a possibly sanguine future. But Montero struggled with his command early against a much more potent Dodgers lineup and ultimately allowed five runs in a 9-4 loss that took 4 hours 8 minutes to complete.
That was just one minute short of the longest Mets nine-inning game ever, Aug. 4, 2005, against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Montero's second act was not without some moments of adroit work. With the bases loaded in the second inning, after Montero had walked three batters, he glared in against Yasiel Puig, one of the hottest hitters in the National League.
Puig unwound on a first-pitch fastball, his V-like upper body spinning almost completely around, but he missed the pitch. Four pitches later, Puig whiffed on an 82-mile-per-hour slider to end the threat.
But Montero could not surf that wave of momentum, allowing another couple of hits in the third inning and increasing his pitch count. In the fifth, he surrendered a two-run homer to Adrian Gonzalez and a run-scoring single by Carl Crawford to give the Dodgers a 5-1 lead before he was replaced.
On Wednesday, Jacob deGrom, a fellow rookie who was also impressive in his major league debut, will have a chance to prove he belongs in the rotation instead of Montero once Dillon Gee returns from the disabled list, although Gee said earlier Tuesday that he would like to make a minor league appearance before being activated. That could allow Montero another start to make up for this one, in which he allowed seven hits and walked four in four and a third innings.
The Mets loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth, but Dodgers starter Josh Beckett struck out Daniel Murphy. After fouling off multiple 3-2 pitches, David Wright grounded out on a breaking ball to end the inning.
Beckett ran out of gas in the sixth with a 6-1 lead. He gave up a leadoff home run to Curtis Granderson and a two-run homer to Lucas Duda, both towering blasts into the bullpen area in right-center field. When Beckett was replaced, he was seen jawing angrily at catcher A. J. Ellis before stamping off the field in a huff.
The Mets loaded the bases again with one out in the seventh but could not get a run around. They finished with 11 hits and left 10 runners on base.
Earlier in the afternoon, word trickled out that the Boston Red Sox had signed shortstop Stephen Drew for a prorated $14 million, ending any thought that the Mets might pursue Drew as a veteran option in the infield.
The Mets are left with the options they have had all along at shortstop, Ruben Tejada and Wilmer Flores, and Manager Terry Collins seemed satisfied with that. While Flores started Tuesday, Collins said before the game that he believed Tejada could be productive.
'Do I think he can still be a real good everyday player? Absolutely,' Collins said. 'He's shown it.'
The Mets' roster is cluttered with young, largely unproven prospects, whether they be Flores, Montero, de Grom or outfielder Juan Lagares, who missed the game because of a death in his family. It is Collins's job to sort and cultivate a winning product in the short term. General Manager Sandy Alderson indicated he was still thinking long term.
'I don't mean to suggest that the long term is the next five years,' Alderson said. 'But we have to make sure we give some of our young players a chance to realize whatever potential they have.'
INSIDE PITCH
Sandy Alderson said Tuesday that nothing had changed about Matt Harvey's rehabilitation schedule from Tommy John elbow surgery, despite Harvey's statements to Sports Illustrated that he hoped to make several starts this season. Harvey is on track to throw off a mound by early June, Alderson said. Whether Harvey is ready to return 'will be subject to the best medical information we can obtain from our doctors and whatever other information is out there,' Alderson said.
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