Brewers: Matt Garza rocked by Mets in 14-1 laugher
By Phil Watson
A poor throw by a young shortstop making his Milwaukee Brewers’ debut opened the floodgates Saturday night as the New York Mets piled up a Citi Field-record 10 runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and went on to hammer the Brewers 14-1.
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With one out and runners on second and third, Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell opted to bring the infield in with Kevin Plawecki at the plate. Plawecki’s grounder went to shortstop Luis Sardinas, who threw wide of the plate, allowing Michael Cuddyer to score the first of the 10 runs in the inning.
It could have been a very different affair had the Brewers gotten the out there—pitcher Jacob deGrom would have come up with runners at first and third with two outs.
“I’m going to have to go back and look on it, but [Cuddyer] needs to be out if we are playing in,” Counsell told MLB.com. “It was a pretty well-struck ground ball. We should be able to get an out there with a good throw.”
Garza (2-5) surrendered a career-high 10 runs on 10 hits with three walks and two strikeouts in just 3.1 innings as his ERA shot up to 5.72.
“It’s on me,” Garza said. “My job is to go deep; I didn’t. I didn’t get anywhere close to what I wanted to accomplish. You just ‘wear it’ and move on.”
After Sardinas’ poor play, deGrom singled to left field to load the bases and Wilmer Flores—the Mets’ home run leader who was batting in the No. 9 spot—hammered a grand slam to center field to make it a 6-0 game.
May 16, 2015; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets shortstop Wilmer Flores (4) watches the ball after hitting a grand slam home run in the fourth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports
It was his sixth homer of the season.
The Mets would later get a two-run double from Cuddyer, a two-run double from Daniel Murphy and an RBI single by Eric Campbell to cap the 10-run barrage.
New York (21-16), which snapped a five-game losing streak, opened the scoring in the second on an RBI single from deGrom, who was 3-for-3 at the plate and held Milwaukee (13-24) to one run on five hits in six innings, fanning six and walking one.
The Brewers got their only run in the sixth. Sardinas led off with a single, moved to third when Carlos Gomez sneaked a grounder into right field for a base hit and, with one out, scored on Ryan Braun’s fly ball to right field.
The Mets scored one run in the fourth off reliever Brandon Kintzler and got three more in the seventh off struggling left-hander Neal Cotts, who surrendered home runs to Plawecki and Curtis Granderson in the inning.
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Cotts worked two innings and struck out three, but now has a 6.19 ERA. Jeremy Jeffress struck out two in a perfect eighth—about the only thing that was perfect for Milwaukee Saturday night.
Gomez was 2-for-3 and Sardinas, batting ninth behind the pitcher’s spot, was also 2-for-3. He was recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs earlier this week when regular shortstop Jean Segura went on the disabled list with a broken pinky finger.
The Mets pounded out 16 hits on the night, seven for extra bases, and were 6-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
The Brewers will send right-hander Wily Peralta (1-4, 3.80 ERA) to the mound Sunday at 12:10 p.m. Central to try to win the series. The Mets will counter with rookie right-hander Noah Syndergaard (0-1, 5.06), who made his big-league debut Tuesday against the Chicago Cubs and will be making his first appearance in front of the home crowd at Citi Field.
Peralta is a perfect 3-0 in three career starts against the Mets with a 1.35 ERA in 20 innings. He got the win in his last appearance against them last July 26, working 5.2 innings and allowing two runs on six hits.
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