Anthony Recker Pitches 9th Inning

How bad have things gotten for the Mets? Backup catcher Anthony Recker pitched the ninth inning of a blowout loss to the Nationals on Sunday.

After Brandon Lyon gave up six runs in the eighth inning to make it an 11-0 game, Terry Collins did not want to waste a pitcher and used Recker instead.

He walked Jayson Werth to lead off the inning, then Ian Desmond hit an absolute bomb to left field to make it 13-0. He settled down and got the next three outs.

Anthony Recker reached as high as 88 mph on his fastball, which still makes him a harder thrower than Shaun Marcum.