Garrett Takes Blame for Spoiling Holmes’ Start

Reed Garrett entered with a man on in the sixth, a one-run lead and the first four Milwaukee batters he faced Wednesday did this: RBI double, single, walk, grand slam. After the game, he summed up his performance: “It just sucked. No other way to put it, it just sucked today.”

Garrett relieved Clay Holmes, who had thrown 90 pitches through 5 1/3 innings in what would be the Mets’ fourth straight loss.

“Obviously you never want to get pulled,” Holmes told reporters after giving up two runs on three hits and walking four. “You want to keep going, but it’s definitely a judgment call. It’s not really my call, can’t control it. So it’s definitely a hot day, definitely felt like I was getting a little tired but I didn’t feel like I was, you know, at the very end.

“So it’s one of those things where Mendy, the pitching coaches, guys made the decisions … when I’m out there I kinda give it all I have.”

Manager Carlos Mendoza, asked about pulling Holmes, noted that he walked three lefties in the fourth inning and that after he walked the left-handed hitting Christian Yelich to lead off the sixth he decided that the right-handed hitting Jackson Chourio would be his last batter. (Chourio flied to right and Garrett came in to face Brice Turang.)

“When you got a guy that is at 90 pitches in five and a third?” Mendoza said to reporters. “You asking what, 100? Ten more pitches? That wasn’t going to be the case.”

Garrett took the blame. “I’m not gonna make any excuses for myself. I’ve got to be better than that. Clay pitched really well today and I will find a way to be better than what happened today.”

Mendoza thinks “hitters are adjusting to (Garrett) and being aggressive on that cutter.” Garrett had a 0.68 ERA on June 3 before giving up 10 earned runs over his next eight outings. He left the mound Wednesday with a 3.31 ERA.

Garrett’s dreadful stretch has coincided with the team’s poor play.

“I think we’re all determined to find a way to stop it,” he said. “Everybody’s putting in the work. Nobody’s work ethic or drive to do the best they can is in question. I think we’re gonna find it out. This is, it’s a tough stretch. It’s something that we hadn’t experienced all year until I guess the last couple weeks. But I think the adversity and the challenge is something we’re embracing and we’re doing the best that we can to put an end to it.

“I think guys are going to continue to work and continue to put in the hours of trying to figure out where we can be better and I think we’re on the right path. As much as it sucks, especially today, like we had a lead and not doing the job you know it’s something that we’re not taking lightly and gonna keep challenging, keep pushing forward and trying to knock this dam down.”

Added Holmes: “Keep putting your head down and try to do one little thing at a time. Hopefully something sparks and we get some momentum and we can start riding that again.”

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