Scrapping the game plan that had failed him so miserably so far this season, Mike Pelfrey was mediocre in the Mets’ 7-6 loss to Colorado last night.
Still, it’s a sign of how poor his start to the campaign has been that mediocre was a vast improvement.
After coming into last night with a bloated 15.63 ERA, below-average in his first start and awful in his next — his words — Pelfrey was solid if unspectacular against the Rockies.
He gave up four runs, three earned, in 5 1/3 innings, and actually gave the Mets a chance to win. They just didn’t come through.
“[It] was a step in the right direction,” said Pelfrey, who left ahead 4-2 in the sixth, with two on and one out. He got a no-decision as Ryota Igarashi allowed Carlos Gonzalez’ two-run single.
“I’m still not where I want to be, but we’ll get there. I’m not pleased with [last] night, but it was better than the previous two.”
That’s an understatement. Even after Pelfrey rung up a 113-pitch count last night — only 67 of them strikes — manager Terry Collins praised his bounce-back outing.
“[It’s] a huge step in the right direction,” Collins said. “Mike used his fastball effectively. He did throw a number of pitches, but [he was] much better.”
The Mets’ nominal ace with Johan Santana injured, Pelfrey allowed five earned runs in 4 1/3 innings on Opening Day, victimized by a grand slam. Then he got strafed for seven runs, six earned, in just two innings in Philadelphia last Wednesday.
“The last start was awful. The first start was OK. One pitch ruined the whole game for me,” said Pelfrey, who told pitching coach Dan Warthen he wanted to go back to his fastball-splitter bread-and-butter.
“[That] was my thing,” Pelfrey said. “I spoke with Dan about it. … I threw two sliders and two curveballs all game. When I’m successful is when I’m throwing fastball-split, and mixing the other stuff in occasionally. I did that, and the results were better.”
He didn’t have great command of his fastball, missed his spot with a 3-1 sinker to allow Troy Tulowitzky’s RBI single in the third then walked the shortstop on four straight sinkers in the fifth, one of his four walks issued.