Mets Lose Game, Jonathon Niese
The Dodgers beat the Mets 7-2 at Citi Field Tuesday night, but the bigger story is that starter Jonathon Niese had to be removed early in the game after getting hit by a comebacker.
Niese allowed a run in the second when he walked the bases loaded and allowed a single. But in the third he took a drive from Mark Ellis in the leg and had to be removed from the game. X-rays were negative and he’s day-to-day with a bruise.
Clayton Kershaw was perfect until two outs in the bottom of the second when Robert Carson, who came in for Niese and got his first major league at bat, walked. Ruben Tejada also walked and Daniel Murphy singled to plate Carson and tie the game. David Wright followed with a single of his own to score Tejada as the Mets took a 2-1 lead.
Not content with just knocking Niese out of the game, Ellis hit a solo home run in the fifth to tie the game at two. Carson was lifted after the homer, going 2.1 innings and allowing the one run on two hits; a nice outing in an emergency situation.
Juan Lagares came in on that double switch to make his major league debut; he flew out to the warning track in left in his first at bat in the bottom of the inning. He singled in the seventh for his first hit.
Kershaw labored through five innings, throwing 111 pitches. He did not have his best stuff, walking four Mets. However he allowed only three hits and held the Mets to just two runs.
Ellis wasn’t done inflicting damage on the Mets. With two on and two outs in the seventh, Ellis connected off of Brandon Lyon, putting the ball into the seats in left. The three-run homer made it 5-2 Dodgers.
Josh Edgin’s troubles continued in the eighth. He allowed four hits in just a third of an inning of work as the Dodgers tacked on two more runs to make it 7-2. Edgin’s ERA now stands at 10.80. He is likely to be sent down to work things out in the minors when Shaun Marcum is activated for Saturday’s start, if he’s not demoted sooner than that.
Mets lose 7-2. Now they have to hope that Jonathon Niese can make his next start. They just cannot afford to lose him, unless Matt Harvey can somehow make two starts in each turn of the rotation.