SAN DIEGO — The Mets have many issues, but at the top of the list is their little catching problem.
Josh Thole has regressed this year, and he had a dreadful game last night in a 3-1 loss to the Padres at spacious Petco Park. R.A. Dickey was at the top of his knuckleball game but it was all for nothing. The Padres scored three runs on four hits.
Call it Thole’s Troubles.
It has been a difficult year for the young catcher and it was a difficult night for the Mets, who simply could not do the basics. Without baseball basics, the Mets have no chance. If they make a couple of mistakes, they are dead in the water.
That’s how you lose 14 of 16. That’s how you lose a game you should have won after taking three of four from the Giants. Sometimes the Mets are their own worst enemies and last night was example No. 55.
Earlier in the year, Thole suffered a concussion in a game against the Phillies.
The Mets really have no young catcher around the bend. This year, they drafted Kevin Plawecki, out of Purdue, with the 35th pick. He has played 31 games at Brooklyn and is batting .246.
Dickey didn’t even surrender a hit until Yonder Alonso swatted a single to left field in the fifth with the Mets ahead, 1-0. The Padres scored the go-ahead run in the seventh when Carlos Quentin steam-rolled Thole at the plate on Alonso’s fly-ball double to right field that Scott Hairston could not get to even though the ball was in the air a long time.
“I thought we were going to have a play on it,’’ Dickey said honestly of the fly ball that dropped in front of a sliding Hairston.
Center fielder Andres Torres did a nice job backing up the play and was able to quickly get the ball into Ronny Cedeno. The second baseman made a terrific on-hop throw home and Quentin was going to be out easily. Thole, however, did not make an aggressive tag. He took the full brunt of Quentin’s charge into him and the ball squirted free up the first base line, allowing the Padres to take a 2-1 lead. John Baker followed with a run-scoring single and the Mets were down, 3-1.
It was the kind of play that spoke volumes about the Mets’ season. They staggered, then recovered, but could not finish the play.
“I just couldn’t get my free hand on the ball,’’ Thole said. “I was reaching for it, as I was getting to the ball, I got hit. At least you want to have the ball in your bare hand inside the glove. You couldn’t draw that play up any better I just couldn’t get my bare hand on the ball.”
In the eighth, Justin Turner led off with a pinch single and Ruben Tejada followed with a single to put runners on first and second against reliever Luke Gregerson.
Once again the Mets could not do the basic play. Just as Thole could not hold onto the ball, Torres could not get a bunt down. He struck out. David Wright followed with another strikeout and then Jordany Valdespin pinch-hit. Padres manager Bud Black called on Huston Street and Valdespin hit a sharp grounder to second to end the threat.
Thole is struggling mightily on this trip. The Padres’ first run was set up by a delayed steal of third base in the sixth by Everth Cabrera. Thole has only three hits in 21 at-bats on the trip. He ended the seventh by grounding into a double play. For the season, he is hitting .264, which isn’t terrible, but there has been no pop in his bat. The days of Mike Piazza are a long time ago. Thole has only one home run and 14 RBI this season.
Thole’s struggles are catching up to the Mets.