NEW YORK -- The likely final start of 2015 for rookie Logan Verrett turned out to be a letdown. After two solid performances filling in for Matt Harvey, Verrett was having similar success Tuesday in a spot start in place of Jacob deGrom.
But after taking a scoreless effort into the fifth inning, Verrett surrendered a leadoff homer to Jace Peterson and three-run shot to Hector Olivera in the frame and the Atlanta Braves went on to beat the New York Mets, 6-2, at Citi Field.
The Mets had intentionally walked Nick Markakis with two outs, with a runner on second base and the score tied 1-1 ahead of Olivera’s three-run shot -- a decision manager Terry Collins labeled a no-brainer.
“One guy has got 175 hits and is hitting .300. And the other guy is hitting .240,” Collins said, contrasting Markakis with Olivera. “I thought it was pretty simple. That’s second-guessing."
Collins then turned playful as he continued.
The manager added: “I’m going to get home and my wife is going to tell me, ‘You’re an idiot. What are you doing walking that guy? The guy hit a homer.’ 'No s---. What the hell? ... I need you down in the dugout when these decisions are being made.'”
Verrett (1-2, 3.40 ERA) approved of pitching around Markakis to get to Olivera.
“I thought it set us up well. I liked the matchup against Olivera,” Verrett said. “I just missed with the pitch. Unfortunately, with two guys on base, you can’t do that. It makes it hard to come back from that.
"I was trying to go inside. I was trying to go sinker in on him. We had done that a couple of times to him already and he just chopped them into the ground at third base. I just missed on the outside part of the plate. I just yanked it a little bit. And it was up in the zone, so he put a good swing on it.”
