Hours after David Stearns said there were no plans to fire Carlos Mendoza, the New York Mets went out Friday night and finally authored the kind of victory necessary to ensure the heat is turned down on their manager.
The Mets will look to earn a rare series win Saturday night when they visit the Los Angeles Angels in the middle game of a three-game interleague set in Anaheim, Calif.
Right-hander Nolan McLean (1-2, 2.55 ERA) is slated to start for the Mets against Angels left-hander Reid Detmers (1-2, 4.28 ERA).
The Mets mounted their biggest comeback win of the season Friday night, when Ronny Mauricio hit the tie-breaking homer in the seventh inning and five pitchers combined to retire the final the 21 Angels batters in a 4-3 victory.
The win was just the fourth in the last 21 games for the Mets, who have the worst record in the major leagues at 11-21. The 32-game start is tied for the second-worst in franchise history behind only the 1981 team that opened 8-23-1.
The extended skid has made Mendoza’s job security a regular topic at his news conferences. Mendoza is in the final guaranteed year of his contract and surrounded by a spate of first-year coaches hired by Stearns after the president of baseball operations overhauled the staff and playing roster following last year’s second-half collapse cost the Mets a playoff berth.
But the Mets are off to their slow start in large part because many of Stearns’ off-season additions are hurt or ineffective. Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert Jr., the Mets’ Opening Day designated hitter and center fielder, are each on the injured list.
Relievers Luke Weaver and Devin Williams, expected to man the final two innings after the Mets were outbid for Edwin Diaz by the Los Angeles Dodgers, had a scoreless outing in the same game Friday for just the sixth time this season — and the first time in a win since April 7.
“We don’t view this as a manager problem and we don’t intend to make a change,” Stearns told MLB.com Friday.
The Mets looked more energized during their rally Friday, when Angels starter Walbert Urena limited them to one hit through the first five innings. He left after Bo Bichette lined a single off his right knee leading off the sixth. New York tied the game later in the inning by scoring three runs off relievers Brent Suter and Chase Silseth before Mauricio went deep off Jose Fermin with one out in the seventh.
“They fought back and they found a way,” Mendoza said. “That’s a good sign.”
Good signs have been hard to find for the Angels, who are tied for last in the AL West with the Houston Astros.
Los Angeles suffered its seventh straight loss Friday to fall to 1-11 since an 11-10 start. The Angels, whose 113 runs through Apr 17 were the second-most in baseball, have scored just 40 runs during their skid, the third-fewest in the majors ahead of only the San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers.
The bullpen has been an even bigger problem for Los Angeles. Angels relievers haven’t combined on a scoreless effort since April 19, when Sam Bachman and Suter teamed up to throw three innings behind Urena in a 2-1 loss to the San Diego Padres.
“What we can’t do is fold the tent,” Suter said. “Can’t do it. This is too hard of a league to fold the tent. We’ve got to stay the course, keep fighting, keep wanting the ball and then it’ll turn around. But it’s heavy right now, for sure.”
McLean took the defeat in his most recent start last Sunday, when he allowed two runs (one earned) over five innings as the Mets fell to the Colorado Rockies, 3-1, in the first game of a doubleheader.
Detmers didn’t factor into the decision Sunday after giving up three runs over five innings in the Angels’ 11-9, 10-inning loss to the Kansas City Royals.
McLean has never opposed the Angels. Detmers gave up one run in one inning of relief in his lone appearance against the Mets last July 21, when Los Angeles suffered a 7-5 loss.
-Field Level Media
