Chris Young has three children, the newest addition to the family a son born 12 days ago. But on this Father’s Day the only gift he wanted was a victory, which he did not get, as the Mets fell to the Reds, 3-1 at Citi Field yesterday.
“It’s about wins and losses and we came up a little short today. Got outpitched, tip your hat to [Johnny] Cueto and the Reds,” Young said after suffering his first loss since June 14, 2009, missing large parts of the past three seasons with a shoulder injury. “They came in and the whole series they really showed they are a good team and outplayed us. It’s part of the game, it’s why you play 162 and we’ll come back tomorrow ready to go.”
Young allowed nine hits over seven innings, but was undone in the fifth inning. With the Mets clinging to a 1-0 lead, the right-hander quickly recorded the first two outs before allowing four straight baserunners: a double to Zach Cozart, a single to Wilson Valdez, an intentional walk to Joey Votto, and a Brandon Phillips single. Right fielder Lucas Duda made a throwing error on the play that allowed Votto to score.
“I felt like I made a pretty good pitch [to Cozart] and it was just off the plate,” Young said. “Next pitch, base hit followed by a base hit, then pitched around Votto a little bit, and then Phillips hits a ball through the hole that’s kind of a seeingeye grounder. But that’s baseball. You try to hold the team in the game and give them a chance to win, but ultimately it wasn’t enough today as Cueto was better.”
Young gave the Mets the lead in the bottom of the second inning. He drew a bases-loaded walk for the Mets’ only run of the day.
“I wish that we won the game. I need to make that RBI stand up and I didn’t do it,” he said.
It was Young’s third start of the year, and the first time he lasted past the sixth inning, an encouraging sign according to manager Terry Collins.
“Very happy. He pitched very, very well. I think he’s back,” Collins said, adding Young’s location was better [yesterday] than in his previous starts this season.
Despite the loss, Young agreed with his manager, adding he did see some positives in the outing.
“I don’t know what my pitch count was today, but the last two games, I think I’ve gone over 100 pitches or today close thereto, so it’s a good test for my shoulder,” Young said. “I’m 13 months out of surgery and to be at this point, to pitch seven innings is good.”