The New York Mets suffered a brutal 7-6 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday, which involved a blown 6-3 lead in the eighth inning, and manager Buck Showalter's comments after the game will have Mets fans confused due to not using David Robertson during the eighth inning.

“It's frustrating for the players and everybody, but we shot every bullet we had just about, and we were hoping to get Robby there (David Robertson) but he pitched almost yesterday, Otto (Adam Ottavino) pitched the equivalent of two innings yesterday” Buck Showalter said, via SNY. “We scored some runs, we had the chance to open some things up, we didn't. The hit by pitches and things, you know, Brig (Jeff Brigham) has had some good outings for us, and it was tough for him today. We made a couple errors that cost us, and we can't come in and walk those two left-handed hitters either.”

Showalter said that Adam Ottavino and Brooks Raley were unavailable for the Mets on Sunday, according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. He also said he did not use David Robertson in the eighth because he wanted to save his closer for the ninth inning.

That combined with the comment about using every bullet they had will confuse Mets fans. Not using your best relief pitcher in the spot with the highest leverage will almost always draw criticism.

Showalter opted to use Josh Walker, Jeff Brigham and Vinny Nittoli in the eighth inning. The Phillies scored four runs on a fielder's choice, a walk and two hit-by-pitches.

The pitching has been the fatal flaw for the Mets this year, as they fall to 35-42 and remain in fourth place in the National League East.