Mets shut out for second straight game in 9-0 loss to Brewers

MILWAUKEE — The smoke hung so thick on the field that it was tough to make out the numbers on the jerseys. The Milwaukee Brewers set off fireworks after each home run at American Family Field and there were five of them hit against the Mets on Tuesday night.

With the roof closed on a chilly, rainy night the smoke had nowhere to go.

Max Scherzer (1-1) gave up three straight bombs to Rowdy Tellez, Brian Anderson and Garrett Mitchell in the sixth after being tagged for two runs in the first inning. Brooks Raley gave up back-to-back homers to Anderson and Mitchell in the seventh, and for the second time in as many days, the Mets were shut out, losing 9-0 on Tuesday night.

Scherzer struggled to put hitters away.

“I feel like I’m generating swing-and-misses, so it’s not the stuff,” Scherzer said. “But I’m not having out pitches. I’m not generating swing-and-misses with two strikes, I’m not generating strikeouts the way I can. They did a good job of fighting me off.”

Scherzer has pitched well in the past against this particular group of hitters, with the exception of Christian Yelich, whom he faced frequently when the outfielder was in the NL East with the Miami Marlins. They seem to have figured out the three-time Cy Young Award winner this time.

“I can definitely tell, just given the history of how I’ve faced those guys before, some guys did a couple different things in some situations that were letting me know that they were thinking differently today,” Scherzer said.

It was another dismal showing for the Mets (3-3)at the plate. The Brewers (4-1) have scored 19 unanswered runs over the first two games of the series. The Mets couldn’t figure out left-hander Wade Miley (1-0), who allowed five hits, struck out three and hit one over six innings.

Brandon Nimmo went 3-for-4 and Jeff McNeil went 3-for-3, but the Mets failed to capitalize on the opportunities they had to create any offense. Manager Buck Showalter is standing by the group, saying he knows they can turn it around.

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“It’s a well-seasoned group that’s going to work itself out of it,” the manager said of the team’s offensive woes. “I’ve got a lot of confidence in them.”

The Mets were down two after the first inning. Scherzer started the game by issuing three straight singles and a one-out, two-RBI double to Anderson, who has killed the Mets through two games of the series with three home runs and nine RBI. The ace cruised through the second, third and fourth inning and received some strong defense in the fifth. Scherzer got one out in the sixth before the three straight homers, something he has done only one other time in his career (July 21, 2017, against the Arizona Diamondbacks).

“That’s one of those things we don’t see very often from him,” said catcher Tomas Nido

All three pitches were of the offspeed variety, left right out over the middle of the plate and he had two strikes on both Anderson and Mitchell.

“I can’t put my finger on it today. It might be some late nights thinking about it,” Scherzer said. “I’ll look at video and come up with it, but odds are it’s just location. I’ve got to locate the ball better with two strikes and put yourself in positions to get those outs.”

After walking the next batter, Scherzer was then pulled for right-hander Denyi Reyes, who was called up earlier in the day to replace Tommy Hunter on the roster after the reliever was placed on the 15-day injured list with back spasms.

Raley had two on and two out before Anderson hit one right to the batter’s eye, 408 feet to dead center. It was just over the reach of a leaping Nimmo and put the Brewers up 8-0. Mitchell pulled the ball over the right field fence to make it 9-0.

It was the first time since June 13, 1998, that a pair of teammates hit back-to-back home runs in back-to-back innings (Javy Lopez and Andruw Jones of the Atlanta Braves hit them against the Montreal Expos).

The good news is that Scherzer is healthy. After so many recent injuries to pitchers, the Mets take solace in being able to count on their ace to take the ball in five days. The bad news is that the Mets have to face 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes on Wednesday.

The Mets have played two ugly games in Milwaukee and will play one more Wednesday afternoon before returning to Citi Field for the first home series of the 2023 season. If the Mets continue to play like this, the boos in Queens will be even heavier than the smoke in Wisconsin.