A Subway Series sweep in the wrong direction, and a bad time for a hibernation
The Mets get swept in the Bronx. Plus, how Pete Alonso’s bat has gone cold at the worst time.
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾
The Mets lost to the Yankees 4-2 on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium (box)
RHP Taijuan Walker made his return to the starting rotation after dealing with back spasms and pitched well, allowing two runs over five innings in a no-decision
2B Jeff McNeil stayed hot, going 2-for-4 with a double an RBI in the loss
LHP Joely Rodríguez’s lost season continued as he allowed two runs and recorded just one out in the bottom of the 7th
The Mets went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position on Tuesday
New York’s offense has now scored two runs or less in eight of their last 13 games, and has gone 1-7 in those contests
The Mets lead in the NL East shrunk once again, down to two games, as the Braves continue to beat up on the Pirates
Roster Moves 📰
LHP Sam Clay sent to Triple-A Syracuse
Who’s Hot 🔥
Jeff McNeil is hitting .416/.493/.653 with 18 extra-base hits, 13 RBI, 15 runs scored and a 1.146 OPS over his last 26 games
Playoff Odds Tracker 🎲
The Mets are 79-46 and lead the Braves by two games in the National League East with 37 games to go. They are on-pace for 103 wins, which would be the second-highest mark in franchise history (108 in 1986)
The Mets have the easiest schedule down the stretch of the season (.447 opposing winning percentage, per Tankathon)
Playoff odds (FanGraphs):
Make the playoffs: 100 percent ↔️
Win the National League East: 77.4 percent ⬇️
Clinch a first round bye: 77 percent ⬇️
Win the World Series: 16.6 percent ⬇️
Today’s Game 🗓
The Mets are off on Wednesday before starting a four-game series vs the Colorado Rockies at Citi Field on Thursday night.
A bad time for the Polar Bear to hibernate 📝
Considering the massive year he’s had at the plate, it’s hard to ever get on Pete Alonso but man, has his bat gone cold at one of the worst times.
Despite becoming the quickest player in franchise history to reach 100 RBI in a single-season and looking like an MVP candidate for most of the season, the Polar Bear has entered a deep hibernation in the month of August.
Over the last 16 games where the Mets have faced the Reds, Braves, Phillies and Yankees, Alonso is batting .183/.258/.267 with just three extra-base hits (one home run), seven RBI, three ground ball double plays and 13 strikeouts over 60 at-bats.
During this stretch, and for even larger chunks of this entire month, the Mets’ slugger has been expanding his zone, getting under pitches and has been off on his swing timing. Time-and-time again he’s either been chasing breaking pitches low and out of the zone or popping out in RBI opportunities, specifically ones where the club only needed a semi-deep fly ball to drive a run home.
Alonso is what makes this entire Mets offense go and unfortunately for the club and himself, they cannot afford the luxury of having him go into extended cold streaks. It also doesn’t help that this club basically isn’t allowed to ever lose without consequence, as the Braves have made up ground on the Mets each of the last 12 times they’ve lost dating back to July 17th.
The importance of Alonso can be easily seen in how the club has performed on offense since his struggles began. Since August 8th, the day that really started this slide, the Mets have become far more of a boom-or-bust kind of offense. While the club has scored at least eight runs in four of those 16 games, they’ve also scored two runs or less in half of those games and are 1-7 in such contests. In that same time span, the Mets are averaging less than one home run per game as a club, which is slightly down from their already low season-average of 1.01 HR/9.
While the Mets schedule lightens up pretty soon — they have the easiest remaining schedule in baseball — there is still one more big regular season test on the way for them when the Dodgers come to town early next week. It would behoove the club and the Polar Bear himself to wake up from this offensive doldrum and get back to doing what he does best: hitting dingers.
They certainly need him to.
Down on the Farm 🌾
Francisco Álvarez (C, No. 1 Prospect, Triple-A): 2-for-3, HR (6), 3 RBI, 2 BB, 2 runs scored
Mark Vientos (1B/3B, No. 7 Prospect, Triple-A): 1-for-2, HR (23), 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2 runs scored
Blade Tidwell (RHP, No. 9 prospect, Low-A): 1.1 IP, H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K (loss)
Box Scores: Triple-A | Double-A | Single-A | Low-A
Around the League 🚩
The Braves beat the Pirates again, what else is new?
Rays catcher Christian Bethancort homered and drove in three runs while hitting 95 MPH on the mound in the club’s 11-1 drubbing over the Angels
Speaking of the Angels, the may finally be up for sale by owner Arte Moreno (Passan)
Phillies OF/DH Bryce Harper homered twice in his first rehab assignment for the club
The Blue Jays put up an eight-run inning as a part of their 9-3 victory over the Red Sox
The Cardinals saw their winning streak snapped at eight, but won the backend of their doubleheader vs the Cubs
Padres SS Fernando Tatis Jr. apologized to fans for his PED suspension