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The New York Mets’ return from the All-Star break did not go how starting pitcher Justin Verlander hoped.
Verlander allowed two hits and three runs through 5.0 innings as the Mets were shut out 6-0 Friday by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“It sucks. This was not a good game of baseball in any facet, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t go on a role,” Verlander said after the loss, per SNY. “We played good baseball going into the break, and I’ll be damned if one game is going to be the thing that says, ‘Oh, well, we sure can’t go on a run.'”
With the loss, the Mets dropped to 42-49 on the season, 8.0 games out of an NL Wild Card spot.
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“It sucks. This was not a good game of baseball in any facet.”
Justin Verlander talks about starting the second half the way the Mets did tonight: pic.twitter.com/MfmK35vQ5f
New York gained some momentum with a six-game win streak the week before the break but stumbled on their final weekend before the All-Star competition with two straight losses to the San Diego Padres.
Those losses—a 3-1 July 8 decision, followed by a 6-2 loss the next day—felt different than the Dodgers shutout, Verlander said.
“We need to get back to that baseball. Even the losses that we had going into the break were good losses,” Verlander said. “It felt like we stayed in the game, we had a chance. You walk in the locker room afterward and you have your head up, and you say, ‘Alright, we did everything we could, and we lost that one. Let’s come back tomorrow.’ Today doesn’t quite feel like that.”
Verlander’s record will fall to 3-5 in 13 starts. The defending AL Cy Young Award winner has a 3.72 ERA and 1.23 WHIP in 75.0 innings pitched.
The Mets will need to shake off the demoralizing loss quickly. New York faces the Dodgers again on Saturday and Sunday, and the team needs to start winning now if they want to be competing for a wild card spot by the August 1 MLB trade deadline.
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