The Mets hosted the Home Run Derby Monday at Citi Field, and last night they put on an encore, though not one their fans shouted for, as they served up three round-trippers in a 13-8 battering by the Phillies.
It was a nightmarish start to the second half of the season — and one has to wonder when Jeremy Hefner has his own nightmares, are they of Phillies?
After going into the All-Star break on a great run, the Mets came out stumbling, kicking off the second half by getting kicked around in front of 35,021 hot, cranky fans at Citi Field. The Mets made three errors and fell behind 11-0 by the third inning, with Hefner allowing eight runs in just two-plus innings to dig them in a hole too deep to dig out of despite a spirited rally.
“I’ve got to execute better. I’ve got to be better. I put the team in a horrible situation,’’ said Hefner (4-7), who lost his new-found velocity and returned to his earlier woes of not finishing off hitters. “I needed to be a lot better than I was, especially coming out of the break trying to set a good tone, and I didn’t do that.’’
Hefner had been as hot as the weather, his 1.76 ERA since June 4 the best in the majors. But he has always suffered at the hands — and bats — of the Phillies, and last night was no different. He never gave the Mets a chance right from the start, and as much as it strains credulity, that was actually an improvement.
He had allowed seven runs in his last home start against the Phillies without recording a single out last Sept. 20. That’s 15 runs in his last two-plus home innings against Philadelphia, and his 13.75 career ERA against the Phillies is the worst of any active pitcher with at least 18 innings against them.
“I don’t know what it is with those guys. They’re a good team. I know how to get them out. I just didn’t execute,’’ said Hefner, who refused to use his seven-day layoff or the 95-degree heat as alibis. “I wasn’t out there long enough for it to affect me.’’
The Mets didn’t help with their shabby defense. Marlon Byrd committed an error in the third and Omar Quintanilla made miscues in the fourth and sixth. But Hefner needed 20 minutes and a mound visit from manager Terry Collins to get out of the first down 4-0, cheered sarcastically by the sweaty fans once he did.
“He didn’t hit a spot the entire first inning — we were as surprised as anybody,’’ Collins said of Hefner, who allowed five straight hits by Chase Utley, Domonic Brown, Darin Ruf, Delmon Young and John Mayberry Jr., before retiring Carlos Ruiz to sarcastic applause and needing 10 pitches to get Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick (9-6) looking. It got worse in the third, when the Phillies scored seven more.
Hefner saw Brown crush his 0-2 curve into the Pepsi Porch in right, then gave up an RBI single to Young and an RBI double to Mayberry before Collins pulled him.
But that hardly stopped the bloodletting. Ruiz greeted reliever Greg Burke by doubling to right to plate Mayberry and close the book on Hefner. The Mets’ deficit was 11-0, and Burke allowed four earned runs in 2 2/3 innings before the Mets tried to rally.
Byrd hit a three-run shot to cut it to 11-3 in the fourth, his 16th homer. They added a run in the fifth and two in the sixth before David Wright launched a two-run shot in the ninth, his 14th. But it was all cosmetic, and there was no way to beautify a game this ugly.
“I think it was the break. He was on such a good groove,’’ catcher John Buck (2-for-5 with a run scored) said of Hefner. “He was little erratic [but] I have complete faith he’ll get back.’’