Mets hit six homers and throttle Phillies, 11-1
Vince Velasquez had not allowed a run this season in his first 15 innings. His first two starts with the Phillies were nearly perfect. A night like Tuesday's 11-1 loss to the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park seemed as if it was bound to happen.
Vince Velasquez had not allowed a run this season in his first 15 innings. His first two starts with the Phillies were nearly perfect. A night like Tuesday's 11-1 loss to the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park seemed as if it was bound to happen.
The Mets tagged Velasquez for a pair of home runs (on a night when they hit six) just 10 days after the pitcher had blanked them for six innings. The righthander allowed five runs - two of which were earned - in 41/3 innings. Velasquez threw just 74 pitches, perhaps still a bit worn out from firing a career-high 113 pitches five days earlier.
The pitcher's still-developing curveball - which dazzled the Padres last week - did not cooperate. Velasquez worked two quick strikes in the first inning to Michael Conforto before hanging a curveball over the center of the plate. Conforto connected, driving a two-run homer just over the right-field wall.
Velasquez worked another 0-2 count, this time to Yoenis Cespedes in the third inning. And again the 23-year-old's curveball broke over the middle of the plate. Cespedes drove it to left for a three-run homer. The runs on Cespedes' home run were not earned because an error by Ryan Howard allowed the leadoff batter, Logan Verrett, to reach base. Velasquez retired the next two batters after the error.
"We're all humans. You make mistakes and you have to see how your next outing is. You bounce back. That's what it's all about," Velasquez said. "You have great outings and you have bad outings. It just comes to show that I'm human, just as you all are."
The Phillies did not score a run until there were two outs in the eighth inning. They are the fourth team since 1992 to start the season with three runs or fewer in 13 of their first 15 games. The team is averaging a National League-worst 2.46 runs per game. And the bullpen did not help. Brett Oberholtzer was tagged for three homers. James Russell allowed another. The Mets bashed 10 homers in the first two games of the series.
"They take advantage of mistakes by pitchers. They don't miss mistakes," manager Pete Mackanin said. "We haven't been hitting mistakes."
All was not lost for Velasquez, who is navigating his first full season in the majors. His fastball - which zipped as fast as 96 mph - continues to work against major-league hitters. The curveball, although it bit him twice, still showed glimmers. He used it to record three of his four strikeouts.
And the pitcher displayed an ability to manage adversity. Velasquez used seven pitches to strike out the two batters after Conforto's homer. He hit Curtis Granderson in the fifth to put runners on first and second with no outs. Pitching coach Bob McClure visited the mound and granted Velasquez one last batter to end his night. He struck out David Wright on six pitches, freezing him on a 76-mph curveball.
"That's what baseball is. It's 162 games and you're not going to win all of them," Velasquez said. "You have more starts ahead of you. You just have to pinpoint little things that had an impact on today's game and change it for the next game."
Three hours before his start, Velasquez sat alone at his locker, headphones in his ears. He stared into his stall, nodding and pumping his arms to the music. It was a stark contrast to his pitching counterparts, who often unwind as the game nears. Velasquez looked like a prizefighter preparing to make his way to the ring. He could not have appeared more ready. But as the pitcher learned, not every night in the majors will be a knockout.
@matt_breen