That familiar 2023 feel was back on Sunday in the Mets 7-3 loss to the Cardinals

Carlos Carrasco was ineffective, the offense was mostly quiet, and the bullpen put the game out of reach

Michael Baron

Aug 21, 2023

What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️

The Mets lost to the Cardinals by a score of 7-3 in St. Louis on Sunday (box)
Carlos Carrasco started for the Mets and struggled again, allowing three runs over four innings on nine hits
Trevor Gott allowed four runs in the seventh, which put the game out of reach for the Mets
1B Pete Alonso hit his 39th home runs of the season, and Francisco Álvarez went 1-for-2 with an RBI off the bench
The Mets four game winning streak came to an end, they fell to 8-12 in August, 12-17 against the NL Central this season, and 16-19 since the All-Star Game

Injury Updates 🏥

Starling Marte (groin) is progressing, but will receive a second opinion on Monday. Buck Showalter is hopeful he will rejoin the Mets soon

Prospect Watch 🔎

3B Brett Baty (Triple-A): 2-for-3, 2B, RBI, R
RHP Mike Vasil (No. 9 prospect, Low-A): 6 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 4 K
INF Luisangel Acuña (No. 1 prospect, Double-A): 2-for-4
INF Jett Williams (No. 3 prospect, Single-A): 2-for-3, BB, R, RBI

Today’s Game 🗓

Match-up: Mets (58-67) vs. Braves (80-43)

Where: Trust Park - Atlanta, GA

Starting pitchers: LHP David Peterson (3-7, 5.45 ERA) vs. RHP Allan Winans (1-0, 1.59 ERA)

When: 7:20 PM EDT

Where to Watch: SNY

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Sunday’s game had that familiar feel to it… ✍️

Well, Sunday’s loss had 2023 written all over it, didn’t it?

Not enough innings from the starter, an inconsistent offense, and a bullpen implosion putting the game out of reach.

Yep, that’s the story of the 2023 Mets.

Carlos Carrasco set the unfortunate tone of the Mets in this one. For the 10th time in 19 starts, Carrasco failed to give the Mets at least five innings and on this occasion left the Mets bullpen needing to get 15 outs.

Outside of Trevor Gott, they pitched well but unfortunately for Gott, things didn’t go well for him when his name was called. He entered in a 3-2 game and allowed two runs before even recording an out, ending his scoreless streak of 12 appearances (11.1 IP). It’s unfortunate because Gott had emerged as one of Buck Showalter’s most reliable relievers and, if these games were less of a tryout and more meaningful in the standings, perhaps Showalter would’ve maneuvered the inning differently to keep the game a little more competitive.

But, I get what Showalter did (or didn’t do really). He has to see what these players can do - they can’t be evaluated if he’s going to manage the game unnecessarily like they’re in a pennant race.

So, Gott ended up allowing four runs, the Mets scattered six hits around another Pete Alonso homer, and that was that. A series win against the lowly Cardinals, a nice week overall against St. Louis and Pittsburgh.

And now, its onto Atlanta.

Can the Mets just skip these games or something?

The only prayer they have is they don’t know who is pitching for Atlanta tonight.

I guess you never know, but the Braves have absolutely tortured the Mets in 2023. They are the best team in baseball by far and if you’ve watched them at all this season, you wouldn’t need the record to help tell their story. They’re destined for a deep run into October if they can get their starting pitching straight, featuring perhaps the best 1-4 lineup in the game, a quality bullpen and just that weird mojo the Braves always seem to have going on with them.

Thankfully, these are the last three games the Mets play against the Braves this year. It couldn’t come to an end soon enough.

Anyway, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Pete Alonso who had himself an interesting week against the Pirates and Cardinals.

He hit four home runs and drove in seven over these seven games. He had an 1.124 OPS and a .355 on-base percentage, but the 10 strikeouts watered down his average for the week to .231. I know, batting average doesn’t matter (it does, just admit it to yourself), but given how much he produced this week, I was surprised to see that final average so low.

I am not complaining of course, but I was hoping he would be in-line for another player of the week award, but that average will probably keep that from happening.

Still, there’s no question Alonso has brightened his season up with a strong second half. It’s going to be close but he has an outside shot at 50 home runs this season and unquestionably would be in that range if not for his stint on the injured list in June. He has 37 games left to hit 11, and the contending teams may not have much interest in pitching to him down the stretch of the season.

But it’s something to hope and root for among other things, like Kodai Senga’s candidacy for rookie of the year.

And yes, I’d like to see Alonso get that average up a little higher too, even if many people don’t think it matters.

Around the League 🚩

The Yankees losing streak reached eight games on Sunday with a 6-5 loss to the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium - they are now 60-64 and this is their longest losing streak since an eight-game streak from 8/19-26/95
Zack Wheeler allowed four runs in the first inning, which was enough for the Nationals to hold off the Phillies 4-3 at the Little League Classic in Williamsport, PA
The Mariners built a six-run lead on the Astros through 2 1/2 innings and were able to hold off the Astros 7-6 for a series sweep in Houston and their sixth win in a row - Seattle is now within a 1/2 game of Houston for the second wild card spot
The Cubs maintained their slim one game lead on the Diamondbacks for the third wild card spot with a 4-3 win over the Royals in KC