ANAHEIM — The Mets have been waiting for the big hit that doesn’t seem to come.
Against a depleted Los Angeles Angels team and a pitcher with an ERA over 5.00, the Mets stranded seven men on base and went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position in a 3-2 loss Sunday afternoon at Angel Stadium. They dropped two of three to a team that just traded away all of its best players with the exception of Mike Trout, who is out for the season with a knee injury.
Not exactly the start to a long road trip the Mets were hoping for.
“We were always just one swing away on the whole game,” said outfielder Brandon Nimmo. “Sometimes you don’t get the big hit.”
Facing right-hander Griffin Canning, the Mets managed only two runs (one earned) on three hits over five innings. He gave them chances with three walks, but Canning was able to dial up inning-ending strikeouts twice and retired Pete Alonso three times with two outs and runners on base.
The last time Canning (4-10) pitched, he was tagged for six earned by the lowly Colorado Rockies.
The Mets’ best hitters might be slumping at the wrong time.
“We chased,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “That’s what we did today. He kept making pitches and we kept chasing.”
However, Nimmo didn’t see it that way. He saw borderline pitches from Canning Sunday and from the rest of the Angels arms Friday and Saturday.
“Unfortunately, that’s a split-second decision,” Nimmo said. “I don’t think that teams are going to just come right after us. I mean, they know we have a good offense, no doubt, but it’s also a dangerous game to try and pitch on the corners and around people. You’re going to hang some every now and again and it’s going to go our way. But like I said earlier, I think they made good pitches.”
Their luck wasn’t much better against right-hander Jose Marte, who blanked them over two innings. With one out in the top of the seventh, Francisco Lindor ripped a low liner into the right field stands for what the umpires initially determined to be a home run, but it was overturned after a review showed that it was foul.
The Mets (58-53) had runners on the corners with one out in the eighth, but Mike Baumann induced a double-play to Mark Vientos. It was the Mets’ best chance to create some offense late in the game.
The Halos don’t have anything to play for other than being a spoilsport, and they seemed to revel in that role over the weekend.
“They made a lot of quality pitches that were on the edge of the zone,” Nimmo said. “They really stepped up to the occasion and enjoyed these tight games, and they flourished in it.”
Left-hander Jose Quintana struggled to find his mechanics early, giving up two earned runs in the second inning and another in the third. The mechanical change altered his timing and made it easy for the hitters to see his release point. He was able to adjust, but not before giving up three runs.
With the Angels trailing 1-0, Quintana gave up a leadoff single to Taylor Ward and a double to Jo Adell, before throwing one wild to Charles Leblanc. Ward scored on the wild pitch and Adell advanced to third.
Leblanc drew a walk to put runners on the corners with none out and a fly ball by Matt Thaiss scored Adell easily.
Zach Neto took a leadoff triple off Quintana in the third and he walked Logan O’Hoppe. Kevin Pillar popped one up to center field just deep enough to score Neto. The Halos went up 3-1.
Quintana (6-7) went five innings, allowing three earned runs on three hits, walking four and striking out four.
“I wanted to go deeper in the game, but to do that, I have to get shorter innings,” Quintana said.”I was throwing too many pitches.”
That third run proved to be crucial for the Angels (49-64). A leadoff double by Jeff McNeil and an RBI single by Lindor in the top of the fifth cut the deficit to one run, but after Nimmo walked to put two on with one out, Canning got J.D. Martinez and Alonso to fly out to right field.
Right-hander Roansy Contreras retired the side in order in the ninth to earn the save (seven) for the Halos and send the Mets to St. Louis on a tough note.
The Mets went 6-for-35 with runners in scoring position over three games in Orange County. Since they’ve shown an ability to produce runs at a good pace already this season, the team isn’t worried, but there is some urgency in the midst of a playoff chase to figure out why their approach with runners in scoring position isn’t working.
“I wouldn’t read too much into it,” Nimmo said. “This offense has been really, really good this year and I don’t think that’s going anywhere. I just think they made good pitches this weekend and we did have a few balls that were hit but didn’t find space to get down.”
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