Mets bullpen struggles with 'execution,' 'finishing off hitters' in loss to Nationals

The Mets needed just nine outs to grab a win over the Nationals as the fans stood to stretch on Sunday afternoon in Washington. And carrying a 7-1 advantage, thanks to a five-run top of the first inning, things should have been comfortable.

The Nats’ five-run seventh made things tight, but it wasn’t fatal as the 98.6 percent win probability was still at 83.5 percent come the bottom of the ninth, per ESPN Analytics. 

With closer Edwin Diaz unavailable after pitching on Saturday, it was up to Ryne Stanek to end it.

“You get to the seventh inning with a pretty comfortable lead there and not be able to finish things off is frustrating,” manager Carlos Mendoza said after Stanek managed to get just one out and allow two runs in the 8-7 loss. “Got to move on.”

Sunday’s script was similar to his blown save on Friday: A leadoff extra base hit (this time a double), a groundout, a single to tie the game on a grounder, a walk to put the winning run at second, and an error from first baseman Pete Alonso to score the winning run.

What went wrong for Stanek? “Execution,” Mendoza said, pointing to the 0-2 pitch that he left up in the zone for a leadoff double in the ninth. “Got too much over the plate and they put it in play and found a hole down the line. Not putting guys away. He’s getting ahead and not finishing hitters.”

Stanek felt like he executed a lot of pitches, but the results weren’t there for him.

“The only thing I can control is executing pitches. I felt like I did an alright job with that. The results just didn’t go my way,” he said. “The main thing over the course of a long season is you just go execute as best you can, and more times than not the ball’s gonna bounce your way.”

In the seventh, Jose Butto was the first man out of the bullpen, entering with the lead at five and a runner on first and one out. After making short work of Dylan Crews on four pitches for a strikeout, Butto allowed back-to-back singles on the next six pitches to score another run.

“Sinker got too much of the plate, couldn’t finish hitters, got a ground ball that found a hole,” Mendoza said.

The big blow came when Riley Adams smacked a 405-foot three-run homer to right center. “Got behind the nine-hole hitter, 3-1 count, and left a four-seamer there to a guy that’s a pretty good four-seam fastball hitter.”

The next step for the bullpen: get back on the horse.

“You just go back to work. That’s the job,” Stanek said. “They get paid to play ball, too. You go out there and you execute your game plan. A couple balls fall or squeak through or whatever happens, that’s out of your control. You go out there and you execute and you move on, go to the next day and execute the next day and that’s it.”

The skipper said the veteran reliever will continue to get opportunities.

“He’s been in the league for a long time and he’s been through it before,” Mendoza said of Stanek. “As long as he’s healthy and feeling well, we’ll get him back on track. The velo’s there, he’s getting ahead, he’s just not finishing hitters. It’s part of it. 

“We’ll watch some film and make some adjustments and he’ll be alright.”

The Mets’ bullpen, which had been a strength early in the year, has been touched up in the series. Could this be a result of some heavy workloads recently?

“Probably, we’ve been using these guys pretty hard,” Mendoza said. “And when you look at the usage, especially today, the guys who pitched were the guys that we had available, we just couldn’t finish the game.

“We will continue to take care of those guys, and guys will continue to get opportunities and they will get the job done.”

For Stanek, the bullpen’s struggles are “a little surprising” because they have “thrown the ball so well” to start the year, but bad runs happen.

“You’re not gonna be perfect,” he said. “It’s just a blip on the radar over the course of a full season. We play 162 and we scuffle for a couple and you forget about it and move on to the next day.”

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