Mets bumble their way to another loss against the Dodgers as their level of incompetence grows

The Mets dropped two popups, failed to turn a pivotal double play, didn't hit again, and have now lost four games in a row

What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️

• The Mets were wiped out against the Dodgers on Saturday, losing by a score of 5-1 at Citi Field (box)

• After mustering just one hit on Saturday, the Mets pieced together just a run on three hits on Saturday - Brandon Nimmo homered for the club’s only run in the fourth inning

• The Mets gave the game away thanks to an inability to catch two popups (one from DJ Stewart, the other from Brett Baty), an in ability to turn a double play in the eighth thanks to a poor feed from Pete Alonso to Francisco Lindor, and seeing eight pitches following a first and third, none out opportunity in the eighth

• The Mets have scored four runs in their last four games - they’re hitting .107 during that stretch

• The Mets have now lost four games in a row, been held to one run or less 19 times, 6-7-1 in home series, 6-4 in July, 8-30 when scoring three or fewer runs, and 27-5 when the starting pitcher goes at least six innings

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Injury Updates 🏥

• Starling Marte was scratched from Saturday’s lineup due to an undisclosed illness

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Who’s Hot 🔥

• Kodai Senga has a 2.61 ERA over his last ten starts, having allowed 26 walks and just 39 hits with 79 strikeouts over 58.2 IP during that span. Opponents have just a .578 OPS against him in those ten starts

• Dating back to April 7, a span of 36 appearances, Brooks Raley has a 1.20 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 30 innings during that span

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Today’s Game 🗓

Match-up: Mets (42-50) vs. Dodgers (53-38)

Where: Citi Field – Flushing, NY

Starters: RHP Max Scherzer (8-3, 4.31 ERA) vs. RHP Bobby Miller (5-1, 4.50 ERA)

When: 1:40 PM EDT

Where to Watch: WPIX, MLB Network

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There is no rock bottom for the 2023 Mets… ✍️

Ok. There’s a lot to unpack after that shit show on Saturday night.

First off, I sympathize with those who paid to go see the game in what was a non-competitive performance overall.

That’s going to be the word of this essay, by the way. Non-competitive.

Second, what the Mets did as a team will overshadow Kodai Senga’s stellar performance for the Mets last night. He gave the Mets a chance to win for sure with six stellar innings, allowing just a solo homer to Mookie Betts in the fourth. His forkball was typically un-hittable in large measure. He gets it here and the next 4 1/2 years should be really fruitful for him in the big leagues, assuming he stays healthy of course.

Now…

It’s hard to really know where to begin here. There’s a lot on my mind after that game.

I suppose I’ll start with Pete Alonso, who right now is a completely ineffective player. He did get a single in his first at-bat last night which broke a string of 15 straight at-bats without a hit. But he grounded into one of three team double plays on the night and in the eighth inning with an opportunity to get the Mets back in the dugout tied 1-1 with runners at the corners, he took a groundball hit right to him and turned and threw high to second. Francisco Lindor was lucky to get an out at second on the throw, and he obviously couldn’t execute the return feed fast enough because of the bad throw. Their only hope was the replay officials catching David Peralta missing first base, which of course he didn’t. The Dodgers had the lead and as far as the Mets having any chance was concerned, that was that too.

For Alonso, this is as miserable a stretch as he’s had in his career. Over his last 63 games, Alonso is hitting .180/.286/.425. And that mistake he made yesterday turning that double play wasn’t the first one of those, either. It seems as though his woes on offense have been carried out to the field with him. He’s wearing it on his face, too.

He can say whatever he wants to the media about all of this too - actions speak louder than words.

But of course it couldn’t be that simple, right?

The inning before, DJ Stewart - who somehow earned the start over Mark Canha to replace the ill Starling Marte (who shouldn’t be starting either right now even if he feels good) - dropped a routine fly ball in shallow right field. He got away with it but it prolonged the inning and kept the Dodger lineup moving, potentially setting up that botched double play in the eighth inning given who would’ve otherwise not come up.

Then, the inning after the botched double play, another popup was bumbled, this time at third base by Brett Baty. That opened the floodgates for three Dodger runs and thus, a fitting ending to the Mets night.

It was an embarrassing, cringeworthy game to watch. It wasn’t the Dodgers coming in and being the Dodgers by any means.

This was the Mets being the Mets.

It wasn’t big league. It was instead the team that beats themselves routinely, the team that can’t ever seem to hit rock bottom, the team that has no ability to function competitively in the modern game of baseball, the team with a bullpen that was willfully terrible from the jump, and the team with a roster construction that’s so poor they routinely play right into the hands of the opposing manager (look no further than the eighth inning last night when Buck Showalter was forced to bat both Baty and Luis Guillorme against LHP Caleb Ferguson, only because he literally had no other righty available).

Here’s some context.

The Dodgers had as many hits in the ninth inning last night as the Mets have had in this entire series.

Well, maybe that’s not context as much as it’s a gut punch.

Onto the bigger picture, which is this absurd and hopeless notion the Mets can be a playoff team.

All you need to do is watch the replay of innings 7-9 from last night. That’s all you need to know about what this team is and why it’s hopeless.

So, let’s end this nonsensical conversation about a wild card. Let’s be real - they can’t even catch two popups and turn routine double plays. Not to mention hit or pitch competently on a daily basis.

That’s what playoff teams do, and the Mets don’t do any of that.

Now, onto this endless conversation about Billy Eppler being a buyer or a seller ahead of the trade deadline, and this is a big two weeks for the Mets.

It isn’t a big two weeks. It’s not the strength of schedule ahead of them, where they are in the standings, beating the Dodgers, or anything of the kind. Again, watch last night’s game and that is all anyone should need to know.

Believe me - I spend every pitch in every inning looking for some kind of glimmer of hope that would suggest this is going to turn around. But it doesn’t - it gets worse. Last night was the worst game they’ve played in 2023, and I’ve said that about 10 times this season.

This is what they are.

They could arguably be a better team if they’re able to move some parts over the next two weeks. How could it get worse? At least at that point they might be able to get Mark Vientos and Ronny Mauricio up here, actually give them playing time and at-bats (that’s always the caveat around here), and see what they mean for the organization going forward.

Give me a call when the Mets actually have a pulse, and are at .500. Then we can talk about all of this playoff stuff.

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Around the League 🚩

• The Phillies swept a doubleheader from the Padres - they are now 50-42 and one game behind the Giants for the third wild card

• The Rays swept a doubleheader from the Royals in Kansas City - they kept pace with the Orioles who trail Tampa Bay by two games in the American League East. Baltimore edged the Marlins 6-5 for their seventh win in a row

• Shohei Ohtani homered, Mike Moustakas and Luis Rengifo each had three RBI, and the Angels won a wild 13-12 game over the Astros in Anaheim

• The Brewers have hurled three straight shutouts, the latest led by Freddy Peralta’s six inning shutdown performance on Saturday as Milwaukee took over sole possession of first place in the NL Central with a 3-0 win over the Reds