In need of a spot start with the rotation banged up, the Mets decided to call upon Blade Tidwell to make his second big-league start.
The young righty played a similar role earlier this season but things didn’t quite go as planned, as he allowed six runs on nine hits over just 3.2 innings while slotting in for a doubleheader against the Cardinals for his debut.
Fortunately for him and the Mets, Friday’s outing in Philadelphia was a bit better.
Tidwell did enough to keep New York in the ballgame, as he worked his way efficiently and effectively through the red-hot Phillies lineup before running into some trouble with two outs in the bottom of the fourth.
A pair of singles from Nick Castellanos and J.T. Realmuto, then a Bryson Stott walk loaded the bases with one out — Tidwell then got Otto Lopez to roll into a fielder’s choice before his night came to an end.
José Castillo entered and allowed another run scoring hit but was able to close the youngster’s line with just the two runs allowed on four hits while walking three and striking out four across 3.2 innings of work.
While Tidwell didn’t provide the Mets with the length they were hoping for, and the bullpen ended up blowing things up behind him, he was still solid.
“Compared to that last outing, a lot better,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “The fastball had life, the cutter and slider to go with the sweeper a lot better as well — obviously in the fourth he left a pitch up to Realmuto and then we knew we were going to keep him to that pitch count.”
This continues a stretch of strong pitching for the 24-year-old former second-round pick — who had put together five consecutive outings with three earned runs or fewer prior to his rough last start before the unexpected call-up.
While it’s an encouraging sign, he knows he just has to keep grinding when he returns to Syracuse.
“I thought I executed the ball better tonight,” Tidwell said. “I had command of the fastball, but wish I had a couple of pitches back. Overall I thought it went better than the last, but there’s still more work to be done.”
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