No dream start for Zach Lee, or game for Dodgers, in 15-2 loss to Mets

Poor Zach Lee. The former No. 1 draft pick waited almost five years to make his major league debut, and then when it finally happened?

Straight out of Stephen King. You just hope he wasn’t permanently scarred. Does the collective bargaining agreement provide for psychological counseling?

Lee gave up four runs in the first inning on five hits and a walk, and it didn’t get much better for him or the Dodgers on Saturday night, the anemic hitting Mets suddenly pounding every pitcher the Dodgers sent to the mound on the way to a 15-2 victory at Citi Field.

The struggling, and presumably nervous, Lee ended up throwing 90 pitches in his 4 2/3 innings, giving up seven runs on 11 hits. He missed spots with fastballs, hung curveballs and looked more like the guy the Dodgers were hesitant to call up and a lot less like the one who was 7-3 with a 2.36 earned-run average at triple A.

Lee was the 14th starting pitcher the Dodgers have used this season, but he was the worst. And with the Mets starting ace Matt Harvey, the game felt over quickly.

Just to make Lee not feel all alone or something, reliever Chin-hui Tsao came on and actually pitched worse. True story. Tsao was charged with six runs on seven hits -- but in only two-thirds of an inning.

Josh Ravin calmed things down by giving up only two runs in his 1 1/3 innings.

All this from a Mets squad that is the worst hitting team in baseball. The Mets started the night ranked 28th in on-base percentage (.297), 29th in runs and 30th and dead last in batting average (.233) and slugging percentage (.355).

So they went out and collected a season-high 21 hits and scored more runs against the Dodgers than any team has this season. They managed nine hits with runners in scoring position. Hey, it’s baseball.

Odds are they may struggle a tad more Sunday against Zack Greinke.

It was a tough night for Lee, who was making a spot start and expected to be sent back down regardless of Saturday’s outcome. Now you just hope he gets another opportunity and doesn’t have that nightmare as his only memory of the majors.

Harvey went seven innings for the Mets, surrendering his two runs on solo homers to Jimmy Rollins and Joc Pederson. For Rollins, it was his third home run in as many games. For Pederson, it was his first home run since June 21 (21 games, 86 plate appearances).

Harvey (9-7) gave up six hits in his seven innings, with one walk and four strikeouts.

Nine of the Mets’ hits went for extra bases. Lucas Duda hit two home runs, Kelly Johnson added one in his Mets debut and Daniel Murphy had another.

The Dodgers were forced to use Joel Peralta and J.P. Howell to finish the game. Their five pitchers threw a total of 204 pitches.