Buck Showalter is in his 22nd season as a manager in the major leagues, so he doesn’t like to spend too much time trying to recall the worst months any of his teams have endured.
But suffice to say, Showalter joined the rest of the New York Mets in being relieved to see the calendar turn to July this morning.
The Mets on Saturday will attempt to begin recovering from one of the most disappointing months in franchise history when they host the San Francisco Giants in the middle contest of a three-game series.
Justin Verlander (2-4, 4.11 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Mets against fellow right-hander Anthony DeSclafani (4-7, 4.28).
The Mets endured another demoralizing defeat Friday after closer David Robertson gave up a three-run homer to Patrick Bailey in the eighth inning of a 5-4 loss.
The Mets finished 7-19 in June and squandered leads in 13 of their defeats. They began the month in second place in the National League East, 3 1/2 games behind the Atlanta Braves, and ended it 18 1/2 games out of first place. That marks the furthest New York has been out of first place entering July since the 1993 team was 28 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies.
“I’m not going to go back and look at a lot of months and get bogged down in that negativity,” Showalter said. “We’re glad to see the month behind us now. So hopefully we get something started in July.”
The Giants also capped June in appropriate fashion Friday night. San Francisco finished the month 18-8 and mounted comebacks in three of its final four wins.
On Friday, Joc Pederson reached on a one-out error by Mets first baseman Pete Alonso and former Met J.D. Davis drew a walk to bring up Bailey, who homered on a 1-1 pitch.
“Every single one of us is ready to make an adjustment or (is) making our adjustments and getting to the next guy and passing the baton,” Davis said. “We know our pitching staff will keep us in games. Our defense has been playing solid, and I just feel like we as a unit (are) very cohesive and we’re confident in each and every one of us.”
Giants outfielder Michael Conforto sat out Friday’s game because of a left hamstring injury. Conforto, who played with the Mets from 2015-21, appeared to shed a tear during a video tribute before the start of the series opener on Friday.
On Monday against the Milwaukee Brewers, Verlander didn’t factor into the decision despite tossing five scoreless innings in the Mets’ 2-1 loss. He is 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA in two career starts against the Giants.
DeSclafani, who grew up a little more than 60 miles from Citi Field in Freehold, N.J., took the loss last Sunday after giving up two runs over six innings in a 5-2 setback to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
He is 0-5 with a 6.08 ERA in nine games (eight starts) against the Mets.
–Field Level Media
