Mets beat themselves in a sloppy loss as they continue their spiral into baseball's oblivion

The Mets have now scored seven runs seven times in their last 22 games, and won only one of those games

What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️

• The Mets lost an embarrassing game to the Astros by a score of 10-8 on Wednesday in Houston (box)

• Tylor Megill started for the Mets and he was ineffective, lasting just 2.1 IP while allowing five runs, four earned

• Dominic Leone threw fuel on Megill’s fire, allowing four earned runs himself over 1.1 IP

• The Mets went 4-for-18 with runners in scoring position and left ten runners on-base

• The Mets have scored seven runs seven times in their last 22 games, and won one of those games

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Who’s Hot 🔥

• Daniel Vogelbach is hitting .412/.444/.824 with two home runs and seven RBI over his last five games

• Francisco Lindor is hitting .333/.500/1.000 with two home runs and seven RBI over his last four games

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Injury Updates 🏥

• LHP Josh Walker left Wednesday’s game with a bruised quad. He is listed as day-to-day

• LHP José Quintana (rib surgery) is expected to make his third rehab start today, and could join the Mets rotation in early July

• RHP Sam Coonrod (lat strain) is close to beginning a rehab assignment

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News and Notes 📰

• Mets manager Buck Showalter did not announce his starting rotation for the team’s series against the Phillies - he suggested they could split up both Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander in an attempt to help the bullpen

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Today’s Game 🗓

The Mets are off today. They open a three-game series with the Phillies on Friday in Philadelphia…

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The pressure of what is evolving into a lost season is sinking the Mets like quick sand…✍️

That was about as ugly a loss as the Mets have endured all year.

Of course, we seem to say that in one way or another every week at this point, as the Mets lost for the 13th time in their last 17 games and are now unbelievably six games under .500, 13 1/2 games out of first place and seven games out of a wild card spot.

There was nothing that came out of this game that would suggest the Mets should be in a better spot, either. Their starting pitching was dreadful - Tylor Megill got shelled and was gone in the third inning and their bullpen was worse. And while their pitching woes have certainly led the Mets through this season-long tailspin, they’ve reached a point where that is now only a part of their problem.

Simply put, there isn’t a whole lot the Mets do well. And spare me any of these advanced metrics at this point which might suggest this $400 million team is going to turn it around and erase a 13.5 game deficit in the standings on the Braves.

Seriously, don’t bother. They are what they are.

It all started yesterday when the Mets squandered a bases loaded, opportunity right out of the gate in the first inning.

Actually, they had two bases loaded opportunities in the first inning, and couldn’t score.

That missed chance was highlighted by a mental mistake from Pete Alonso who was called out for running inside the baseline.

Then, in the bottom of the first, Omar Narváez was hit with a catcher’s interference call (one of a couple of strange mistakes by him on the day) and Megill was just all over the place himself as he threw two wild pitches which led to two runs.

Mind you, this was the circus that was only the first inning for the Mets.

The Mets actually carried a 4-2 lead going to the bottom of the third inning before Megill’s final implosion on the day took place and Mets manager Buck Showalter - yet again - had to go to his bullpen for more than nine outs and, in this case, more than 18 outs, a formula which he’s had to employ way, way, way too often in 2023 thanks to the starting rotation being largely inept.

Showalter asked for Dominic Leone in the third and that move simply blew up in his face, as Leone allowed four runs really rather easily over 1.1 innings thanks in part to two home runs against his ledger.

But again, the poor pitching on Wednesday doesn’t tell the complete story for the Mets.

In between all of this, there was poor base running from Brandon Nimmo in the seventh inning when he tried to stretch a single into a double while he represented the tying run. And that mistake was compounded by a strategic mistake from Showalter who opted not to challenge the call on the field for that potential tying run.

We already talked about the catcher interference from Narváez, but he also mysteriously attempted to throw out the trail runner at second base on a double steal attempt at one point as well, rather than the runner attempting to steal third (I don’t even remember what inning that was, to be honest).

There was Josh Walker’s inexplicable throwing error in the seventh which allowed Corey Julks to get to third and resulted in an injury to Walker in the process. That run would later score on a botched glove flip by Adam Ottavino on a squeeze from Martin Maldonado.

In the end, it was a miserable 10-8 loss to the Astros, a game the Mets beat themselves the moment they suited up for the game. It was a winnable game they only deserved to lose thanks to their own poor play.

These mistakes are the result of a team playing desperate and trying to make desperate plays they’re simply not capable of making. They’re playing tight and timid as though the pressure of what is evolving into a lost season is sinking them like quick sand.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how if this quality of play should continue (and I’d easily argue it’s gotten worse), something will have to give. The Mets simply cannot roll with this unprecedented payroll and keep the status quo. I know it’s a product of underperformance from the players, but teams can’t dismiss players as easily as they can make other changes. I also know the coaching staff is working their ass off, and I never am one to believe coaches should be fired in an effort to light a fire under the asses of a baseball roster.

But at the same time, change is necessary. Somewhere, somehow. Voices need to change. Philosophies need to change. Approaches need to change. Feelings need to change. Skills need to change. The $400 million New York Mets with the two highest paid players in baseball history are closer to the bottom of the league than they are the top, they are unquestionably unwatchable, nowhere close to a playoff race and nowhere near deserving of one either. They are consistently out-skilled and outplayed on the field, seemingly unfit for this version of baseball.

Remember - the main reasons why companies fail is not because of the idea or the product. It’s the people driving those ideas and producing the product. It’s always the people. The product can always improve if those in charge have the right people in place.

I’m not saying one person or the other should be fired, but nobody right now can sit here and say, “well yeah, everyone is doing a fantastic job for the Mets,” because the 34-40 record on June 22 would say otherwise.

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Around the League 🚩

• The Reds won their 11th game in a row, defeating the Rockies 5-3 at Great American Ballpark - they are 40-35 on the year and it’s their longest winning streak since 1957

• The Giants have now won 10 games in a row - they defeated the Padres 4-2 in San Francisco

• The Dodgers edged Shohei Ohtani and the Angels 2-0 - Ohtani allowed just a run over seven innings with 12 strikeouts

• The Rays held off the Orioles 7-2 to push Baltimore back to five games behind in the AL East