Mets fans were up in arms about a few decisions manager Luis Rojas made in Wednesday's extra-inning loss to the last-place Marlins, and Evan Roberts was among them.
So, Evan wasted no time grilling Rojas about those moves, particularly his decision to let Edwin Diaz pitch to the red-hot Bryan De La Cruz, who wound up hitting a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th to deny the Mets a much-needed win.
"Edwin Diaz, that's why," Rojas said on Carton and Roberts when asked why he didn't intentionally walk De La Cruz. "We liked the matchup of Diaz against Bryan in that moment, and we felt he was gonna get Bryan out. That didn't go our way, but Edwin being the closer and one of the toughest guys to hit I think in the game, that's why we made the decision to pitch to him."
Evan wasn't satisfied with the response, as New York had both first and second base open in a tie game with two outs in the 10th, and Lewin Diax and his .108 batting average waiting on deck.
"I don't get that answer," Evan said. "You can still trust Diaz and still walk a guy who is hitting .340."
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"I told you my answer, and I told you my decision," Rojas replied. "I understand where you're coming from and your thought process too, but that's the decision, that was the thought process in the game.
"At the moment, we had Diaz getting Bryan out…for me, it was just the mix of pitches that put Edwin in a tougher spot there."
Evan then questioned Rojas' decision to pinch hit third-string catcher and rookie Patrick Mazeika for James McCann in the top of the 10th, which ended in Mazeika grounding out to end the inning. Rojas had J.D. Davis available off the bench as well, but went with the lefty Mazeika against Anthony Bender.
"I get the righty/righty thing, but J.D. Davis is significantly better than Patrick Mazeika," Evan said. "Do you see what I'm saying? No?"
After a long pause, Rojas stood by his decision, but Evan's questioning echoed the sentiment of many Mets fans on Wednesday night.
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