Marcus Stroman Shelled In Mets’ Loss To Phils

Coming off his best start as a member of the New York Mets on September 1 versus Philadelphia (six innings, two earned runs), right-hander Marcus Stroman was surely looking to build off of that strong performance with the Mets’ season wrapping up quickly and their postseason hopes still faintly alive.

The 28-year-old allowed a leadoff home run to Cesar Hernandez to start his night, and the foreshadowing couldn’t have been laid on any thicker.

Despite loading the bases with one out following three softly-hit singles via J.T. Realmuto, Corey Dickerson, and Jean Segura, Stroman struck out Brad Miller and got Scott Kingery to fly out, escaping a nearly-hellish first with a manageable one-run deficit.

The Medford, Long Island native navigated around back-to-back two-out base hits from Hernandez and Realmuto again in the second but struck out Dickerson on an inside-corner slider to leave them stranded.

Following a 1-2-3 inning in the third — striking out Rhys Hoskins and Miller, both swinging at outside-zone sliders, along the way — Stroman imploded in the fourth.

J.D. Davis misplayed a Kingery fly ball in left field to start the inning and the Phils jumped out to a 2-0 lead following singles from Adam Haseley and Cesar Hernandez.

Realmuto added an RBI base knock and Dickerson doubled down the right-field line to score two more, putting Philly ahead 5-0 and sapping the Mets of any momentum they had built after winning their series in Washington and taking the first-of-three from the Phils.

After the game, Stroman spoke to the media (quotes via Anthony DiComo, MLB.com), expressing clear frustration with his overall performance since coming to Queens, but doesn’t seem to be getting too down on himself.

“I definitely wanted to come out hot [with the Mets] and I haven’t, so it’s definitely frustrating. I put some pretty good starts together early in the year and I just haven’t been myself here,” he said. “I’m never one to get discouraged. I’m going to do everything in my power to work it out and get back to being who I am.”

Over 21 starts with Toronto this season, Stroman owned a 2.96 ERA with 99 strikeouts, 35 walks, and 1.23 WHIP. Through seven starts with the Mets, the right-hander’s pitched to a 5.05 ERA with 37 strikeouts, 14 walks, and 1.74 WHIP.