Zack Wheeler stood on the mound in the fifth inning yesterday as the Mets, Marlon Byrd in particular, paid tribute to mayhem, madcap and Marvelous Marv memories.
So while an all-powerful Way Back machine apparently transported this group back to 1962, manager Terry Collins looked for Wheeler to show some of the dominance the Mets have seen in his present and expect in his future.
Didn’t happen.
“When you have a day like we did today this is when, in my opinion, the pitcher steps up and says, ‘I’m putting an end to this. This inning is going to be over,’ ” Collins said.
But instead, it was an inning seemingly without end. There were three runs, three walks, two hits, two outfield misplays (one an error, one a gift double), two wild pitches, one passed ball. So the Mets, in their second game without All-Star David Wright, took a 6-2 drubbing from the Royals at sunny — which was part of the problem — Citi Field.
Look at the bright side — it truly was bright, but in the wrong way for the Mets — they never had to decide on a closer. That was a pregame worry. The in-game concern became fielders not getting conked by balls lost in the sun.
“Even their guys … [second baseman Miguel] Tejada told me, ‘Don’t hit a fly ball to second, Papi,’” said Mets catcher John Buck.
Wheeler blamed himself.
“If I would have made my pitches, quality pitches down in the zone, that would have never happened. I would’ve had ground balls. It’s not their fault. The sun was terrible,” Wheeler said.
Wheeler (4-2) got through three innings unscathed (despite yet another ball lost in the sun, by Daniel Murphy at second). In the fourth, Mike Moustakas drilled his 10th homer for a 1-0 lead. Then came the fifth inning and right fielder Byrd’s month to forget.
David Lough led off with a double on a high fly that Byrd lost in the sun. A sacrifice and the first of two Wheeler wild pitches made it 2-0. After a walk, Alex Gordon flied to the warning track in right. Byrd fought the sun again and missed the ball again. The ball hit off his glove for an error, setting up second and third. Collins said Byrd did everything right.
“Marlon Byrd has done nothing but play sensational right field. Today he showed exactly why playing right field in Citi Field is tough,” Collins said.
“It’s just two balls I misplayed that basically killed any momentum he had,” Byrd said of Wheeler. “He was throwing well. I wish I could have made both those plays, at least one to help him. When you misplay two balls against a good team, they capitalize.”
Lorenzo Cain’s single made it 4-0 (Byrd dropped the exchange, no damage). The scoring for the inning ended, despite another wild pitch, passed ball and two walks, one intentional.
“About the fourth inning, something happened with my mechanics. I couldn’t pick out what it was. You got to make adjustments on the fly up here,” Wheeler said.
It was what Collins waited for from Wheeler.
“He’s a young guy. … So once in a while you’ve just got to reach back and say, ‘Hey, I’m picking him up today,’ ” Collins said. “And I’m not saying Zack wasn’t giving us effort. I’m saying that would have been the time to get off the mound, take a deep breath and say, ‘This is it, boys. This is going to be my inning.’”
Byrd’s awful inning got worse. The Mets got an Eric Young Jr. RBI hit against starter Ervin Santana (8-6) and had the bases loaded, down 4-1, in the fifth. But Byrd fanned for the third out.