Verlander's Citi debut marred by frustration

NEW YORK -- At least the Mets still had Justin Verlander.

When the team wasn’t hitting and the rotation was crumbling, when Max Scherzer was battling injury and Francisco Lindor was slumping, when the crowds at Citi Field began booing and the narratives began darkening, at least the Mets knew they could take the field Tuesday with Verlander -- the showpiece of their nine-figure offseason spending splurge -- leading the way, ready to help them rediscover winning baseball.

When that didn’t work either, the Mets were left wondering just how they might turn this season around.

Verlander allowed six earned runs in his home debut, sending the Mets to an 8-5 loss to the Rays that never felt quite that close. And while Verlander’s issues against baseball’s best team raised some concern -- more on that later -- it was an overall malaise that defined this loss in Queens.

“People come out here and want to see the Mets win,” manager Buck Showalter said of a crowd that routinely booed the Mets throughout the middle innings. “They want to see us do well. They get frustrated as much as we do.”

Things began going south for the Mets in the third inning, when Verlander allowed the first two runners to reach base, battled back to retire the next two, then allowed a three-run homer to Isaac Paredes. It was as close as the Mets would be to the Rays for the rest of the night. Verlander gave up another run in the fourth inning and a second Paredes homer in the fifth, rendering New York’s late comeback attempt -- highlighted by homers from Brett Baty, Pete Alonso and Eduardo Escobar -- mostly moot.

It was an extension of how the Mets performed on their recent 13-game stretch against sub-.500 teams, when they dropped nine of 13 to the Tigers, Rockies, Reds and Nationals. Only this time, the opponent on the other side was a legitimate World Series contender -- the type of team that can routinely punish mistakes.

The Mets gave them plenty of opportunities.

Most jarring, of course, was the performance of Verlander, who was coming off a successful second start after missing the season’s first five weeks due to injury. Facing the most homer-happy lineup in baseball, Verlander faced traffic in all five of his innings, allowing eight hits and two walks. He struck out only three Rays batters.

“I was hoping that today I could be a catalyst and go out and have a great start against a good team and help us win, and I wasn’t able to do that,” Verlander said. “Onto the next guy. I know that everybody in here is working their [butt] off to do just that.”

Verlander may be part of the Mets’ struggles, but he’s not the root cause. Scherzer has played a role in all this as well. Lindor, Alonso, Starling Marte and Mark Canha have done their share. Injuries to Carlos Carrasco, José Quintana and many others have affected things. The depth pieces tasked with replacing them have struggled.

It is therefore impossible to assign blame to Verlander or any other singular figure, because such a large percentage of the roster has had a hand in the Mets’ 20-23 record. But the good news is this: the season only recently reached its one-quarter mark. There’s more than enough time for the Mets to turn things around -- to receive more from their slumping players, to nurse their injured players back to health, to add reinforcements from the Minor Leagues or at the Trade Deadline.

Urgency exists, but it’s not yet pressing, even if the 28,296 unhappy fans at Citi Field on Tuesday offered hints to the contrary. They booed Verlander. They booed various offensive players. They booed the new center-field scoreboard when it briefly went dark, then came back to life with the image of an oversized Rays logo.

“I understand the fans are frustrated,” Verlander said. “We’re frustrated, too. Everybody’s frustrated. We expect to be better. I expect to be better. I think this entire organization expects to be better. There’s only one thing left to do, and that’s put your head down, work hard, and find your way out of this slump.”

No, Verlander may not have been the Mets’ savior on this night. But he still can be. So can any number of his teammates.

At least the Mets have that.