Mets’ record pitch-clock mishaps epitomized sleepy performance

MILWAUKEE — Had any Met participated in the home opener running of the Famous Racing Sausages here — they likely would have finished dead last, well behind the brat, the Italian, the hot dog, the chorizo and even the plodding Polish.

It was that kind of day.

Coming off their rousing season-opening series in fast-paced Miami, the Mets seemed a step or three slow for the series opener in this unhurried Midwestern town. Mets starter Carlos Carrasco was just plain slower than needed — with both his pitches and his pace.

The Mets actually received an early record four pitch-clock violations — two by Carrasco, and one apiece by hitters Omar Narvaez and Mark Canha, who was rung up with the dreaded violation strikeout while admittedly being distracted by the intermittently working scoreboard radar readings.

“The clock was a little different pace today, and we didn’t make a very good adjustment to it,” manager Buck Showalter said. “Everyone is going through some adjustment period. It’s umpires, it’s clock operators, it’s us, it’s the other team we’re playing. You better figure it out because it’s not going away.”

Showalter said he will review all their violations with the intention of going over them with his troops. He didn’t make the case the “different pace” put them at a disadvantage. In so many words, he said it’s on them.

Speaking about the Brewers, Showalter said, “They didn’t have a problem with it.”

Poor Carrasco was cited for his first clock violation before even uncorking his first pitch — the very first starter to begin his outing with an 1-and-0 count. Carrasco said he tried to plead his case for only a warning with home-plate umpire Alan Porter. But that’s not how it works.

“It’s crazy, especially on the first pitch of the game,” Carrasco said. “[But] that’s part of the game. I respect that.”

The Mets looked so sleepy one wonders if the packed early slate of games simply caught up to them. Showalter pointed out they are one of only three teams to begin the season with eight games in eight days — although this was only the fifth game. He didn’t say it, but the fresher Brewers had a day off already, plus the shorter trip here, from Chicago.

“It was a quick turnaround,” Canha agreed without sounding like he was alibiing.

Showalter didn’t claim they were at any major disadvantage but he suggested they’d be better Tuesday, after “a good night’s sleep.”

Perhaps a lack of shuteye is why the Mets looked like they were moving in slow motion. Carrasco’s pitches also became noticeably slower as his outing lingered — though he threw quite a bit harder than infielder extraordinaire Luis Gulliorme, who finished the day with a scoreless frame on his 66-to-77 mph slowballs.

Carrasco’s average fastball was a bit quicker, as it was clocked at 91 mph, below his typical 93. He said his elbow felt fine but admitted the clock might have affected his strength as the day went along.

“Listen, we are human beings,” he said. “We are going to get tired every time we throw 93, 94.”

The decisive pitch — if there is such a thing in a 10-0 defeat — was a nothing fastball clocked at 88.7 mph that Brian Anderson drove well over the center-field wall for two runs and a 3-0 lead. The former Marlin did more damage than the current Marlins did in four games versus the Mets.

“It was a bad pitch — bad location right there,” said Carrasco, who was aiming up and in, not down and in.

The game was reminder how quickly things can change. The Mets basically had their way down in South Florida, where about two-thirds of the fans were cheering on the visitors. Here on an Opening Day that’s a big deal in arguably baseball’s smallest market (they compete with the Reds for that title), the sellout crowd made it known: This was the Mets’ first true away game.

Brewers starter Freddy Peralta dominated, delighting the crowd of 42,017. The one chance the Mets had to register an extra-base hit, ex-Brewer Daniel Vogelbach seemed to run out of gas just as he was sliding into second base after lining the ball into the right-field corner. It seemed like a reasonable gamble at the time, but rookie Joey Wiemer’s throw from right nipped Vogelbach, who seemed to stick in the dirt just before reaching second.

Everyone seemed a step or two off his game. While Carrasco was struggling with his pace late, conversely Peralta got faster as the game went on, and he blew two straight 96 mph fastballs past Pete Alonso to end the sixth inning.

The Brewers did not let up. This whole game following the Mets’ masterful start in Miami was quite the letdown.