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At least this time, there was a valid reason for a Mets starting pitcher coming out of the game early.
Unlike recent outings, when Mets starters departed with light pitch-counts, Carlos Carrasco was out after six innings and 82 pitches because of an injured finger.
“He could’ve kept going, but his thumb was killing him because of a foul ball in his last at-bat,” manager Luis Rojas said. “That’s why he couldn’t keep going.”
When Carrasco came out, the game got away from the Mets. Relievers Brad Hand and Trevor May combined to allow three runs and the Phillies went on to beat the Mets for the sixth straight time, 5-3, at Citi Field.
Carrasco did pitch the inning after his last at-bat, but the feeling in his thumb got worse. He was having trouble gripping the ball and his thumb became numb.
“I couldn’t hold the ball,” Carrasco said.
The performance followed a similar pattern for Carrasco: A shaky first inning, but a strong effort overall. He gave up a Jean Segura homer in the opening frame on a first-pitch fastball, but just one run the rest of the way, on another Segura homer. He gave up just three other hits, struck out five and walked two over six strong innings.
“If you take away those two bad pitches, the two homers, I feel really good,” Carrasco said. “I feel great about this start tonight.”
This year for the Mets, Carrasco has a 14.44 ERA in the first inning and a 2.60 ERA in all other innings. He hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in any of his past six starts, three of which the Mets have won.
Obviously, the Mets would have preferred he stay in longer on Saturday, but his finger wouldn’t allow it. Nevertheless, it didn’t sound like something that would prevent him from making his next start.
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