|
NEW YORK -- You cannot ignore the World Series, when Jeurys Familia suffered three blown saves. But since last season's July 31 trade deadline, Familia has been nearly automatic for the New York Mets. Until, that is, twice stumbling against the Los Angeles Dodgers this weekend in non-save situations. Familia surrendered four runs in the ninth inning on Friday night, including a game-tying, three-run double to Chase Utley. But Curtis Granderson's walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth salvaged a win for the Mets in that game.  This time, Granderson had pulled the Mets even with an RBI triple in the bottom of the eighth inning on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. But Familia proceeded to load the bases in the ninth inning. He then surrendered a tiebreaking, two-run single to Adrian Gonzalez as the Dodgers beat the Mets 4-2 in the rubber game.
Familia (2-1, 4.07 ERA) walked two batters in the frame. He walked a combined three batters while stumbling twice this weekend. Before then, Familia had made 15 straight appearances without allowing a pass. "He and I talked a little bit today," manager Terry Collins said. "One of the pitches that's really hurting him is the slider with right-handers. You saw it again tonight. He got ahead in the count and he left the slider on the plate for the initial base hit. The same thing the other day. The same thing in Washington with [Jayson] Werth. His stuff is fine. He's got to go back and make the pitches he knows that he's capable of doing so that he can get some outs. He's got that great sinker, and I hate to see him start relying on those off-speed pitches." Famila actually had established a new franchise record for consecutive regular-season save conversions last week in Washington with his 32nd in a row, which broke a tie with Billy Wagner. That streak, despite the pair of weekend letdowns in non-save situations, remains intact. Familia reviewed video of his appearance after Sunday's defeat. He echoed Collins' statement about the location of his slider. Sunday's letdown by Familia particularly stung the sellout crowd at Citi Field because the Mets had rallied in a game Clayton Kershaw had dominated for 7 2/3 innings. Granderson's game-tying triple against southpaw Adam Liberatore in the eighth plated a runner inherited from Kershaw, who received a no-decision. Familia allowed six runs in the series after previously allowing five this season. "I'm just trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong," Familia said. "At the same time, I know everybody has a hard time. You just try to move forward, and tomorrow is a new day." Said Granderson: "The big things that you take away from it: The velocity is good. The movement is good."
|
