ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Mets’ revamped bullpen hiccupped loudly for the first time on Saturday.
Huascar Brazoban, a reliever acquired from the Marlins on Tuesday just ahead of the trade deadline, was entrusted a seventh-inning lead against the Angels and started easily enough with two strikeouts.
But the fireballing right-hander never got the third out, and this night at Disneyland became a car wreck on the I-5 Freeway for the Mets.
Brazoban surrendered a three-run homer to Zach Neto, and the Mets never recovered in a 5-4 loss at Angel Stadium. The loss was the Mets’ second in three games.
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J.D. Martinez’s grand slam in the seventh that gave the Mets their only runs should have provided the knockout punch, but the Angels rallied against Brazoban in the bottom of the inning.
Brazoban struck out Jo Adell and Matt Thaiss to begin the frame, but then it got messy: Michael Stefanic singled and Nolan Schanuel walked before Neto’s three-run blast on a cutter — the eighth pitch of the at-bat — put the Angels back in front at 5-4.
“I felt like I pitched well, but I left that pitch up in the zone,” Brazoban said through an interpreter. “That was the pitch that ended up costing us the game.”
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The right-hander is one of three relievers on the major league roster the Mets traded for in July.
The Mets also traded for Phil Maton and Ryne Stanek in an attempt to bolster a unit that has suffered from injuries and underperformance.
“[Brazoban] has gotten big outs before and he’s got a big arm,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We brought him in here to be in those situations.”
The Mets had their chance to at least tie in the eighth following Mark Vientos’ leadoff double.
But Luis Torrens, Jeff McNeil and Tyrone Taylor went meekly against the Angels bullpen.
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Ben Joyce, who recorded the final out in the eighth for the Angels, worked a perfect ninth for the save. Joyce struck out Martinez on a 104.7 mph fastball to end the game.
It was the fastest strikeout pitch in the pitch-tracking era that began in 2008, according to Sarah Langs.
“I don’t think I have ever seen a fastball like that,” Martinez said. “It’s the fastest fastball I have ever faced. He threw it and I laughed after he struck me out. I was kind of smiling and was like, ‘Whoa.’ I had to look up at the radar.”
David Peterson was sharp for the Mets, allowing two earned runs on six hits with one walk and four strikeouts over six innings.
It was a rebound performance from the lefty, who allowed four earned runs over five innings in a loss to the Braves last Sunday.
Peterson walked the second batter he faced in the game, Neto, and it cost him.
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With two outs Kevin Pillar delivered an RBI single that produced the game’s first run.
Pillar, who played for the Mets in 2021, went full extension in the top of the inning to rob Francisco Lindor of an extra-base hit leading off the game.
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Pillar belly-flopped on the warning track in left-center with the ball in his glove for the defensive gem.
Lindor had his own defensive beauty in the second when he charged to field Matt Thaiss’ chopper behind the mound and threw off balance to Pete Alonso, who lunged to receive the ball and somehow kept his foot on first base.
Brandon Nimmo doubled with two outs in the third and Martinez reached on a catcher’s interference before Jose Soriano struck out Alonso to end the threat.
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McNeil tried to extend a single into a double leading off the fifth and got thrown out by Pillar.
The next batter, Taylor, hit a shot to left-center that the defensively sharp Pillar raced to snag.
Neto’s RBI single in the fifth put the Mets in a 2-0 hole.
Thaiss hit a broken-bat grounder past third base for a leadoff double before Neto delivered a solid single to right with two outs.
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During the at-bat Peterson received a visit, but without much discussion was allowed to continue.
Torrens faced a big at-bat in the sixth, but was retired on a weak grounder after Alonso had singled in the inning and Vientos drew a two-out walk.
Torrens was the final batter faced by Soriano, who allowed only five hits with six strikeouts and two walks over his six scoreless innings.
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The Mets loaded the bases in the seventh on walks to Jeff McNeil and Nimmo with a Lindor single sandwiched in-between.
Martinez worked ahead in the count to 2-0 before jumping on a sinker from Hunter Strickland and clearing the center field fence to give the Mets a 4-2 lead.
The grand slam was Martinez’s second in eight days — he blasted one against the Braves on July 26 at Citi Field — and the 10th of his career.
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“Any time we get the lead late in the game, the bullpen has been good at the back end, and we definitely think we are going to hold off,” Martinez said.
