The good, bad, and ugly from a tough loss on Friday
Ryan Helsley was electric in his Mets debut, but the offense doomed New York once again...
What’s up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets dropped their fourth consecutive game after losing 4-3 in extras to the Giants on Friday night at Citi Field (box)
LHP David Peterson pitched well again, allowing two earned runs on four hits and two walks with four strikeouts in six innings
RHP Ryan Helsley was electric in his Mets debut, striking out three and allowing just two hits in a scoreless ninth inning
1B Pete Alonso’s home run and sac fly, along with RF Juan Soto’s RBI single, helped to start a rally that made it a tied game late
The top of the order couldn’t come through with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th, with the Mets going 1-for-7 with RISP, leaving nine runners on base
Roster Moves 📰
CF Cedric Mullins - wearing No. 28 - was activated for Friday’s game
INF Luisangel Acuña optioned to Triple-A
LHP Jose Castillo outrighted to Triple-A Syracuse
LHP Brandon Waddell to begin a rehab assignment with Double-A Binghamton on Saturday
Stat of the Day! 📊
LHP David Peterson made his 21st start of the season on Friday, matching a career-high set in each of the previous two seasons
Peterson also achieved a new career-high in innings pitched in a single season with 127
Friday night marked the first time all season the Mets had lost a home start by Peterson. They had won the first 10, making it the second-longest such streak in franchise history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The 11 games won by Mets with David Cone as the starter in 1989 is the longest streak in franchise history
Who’s Hot 🥵
3B Mark Vientos extended his hitting streak to 10 straight games on Friday night. Over that span, Vientos is hitting .343/.361/.486/.847 with seven RBIs
Who’s Cold 🥶
Over the last four losses, the Mets have scored a total of just 10 runs
In that same stretch, New York has gone a combined 2-for-22 with RISP, leaving a whopping 25 runners stranded on base
CF Tyrone Taylor is now hitless in his last nine games. He’s hitting just .053/.143/.053/.195 over his last 10 games
Play of the Game 🙃
Here we go again.
The Mets struggled offensively yet again on Friday, unable to drive in a run until the seventh inning.
However, down 3-1 in the eighth, the top of the lineup did rally with Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, Pete Alonso, and Juan Soto all contributing to help tie the game.
They would have another opportunity to come up in the clutch in the bottom of the 10th.
Alonso, Lindor, and newcomer Cedric Mullins all got on base to load the bases. With two outs, Ronny Mauricio stepped to the plate with a chance to do something special and play hero.
Instead, Mauricio struck out swinging to leave the bases loaded and confine the Mets to their fourth consecutive loss.
Failing to cash in with runners in scoring position continues to be a huge problem for this offense.
Down on the Farm 🌾
RF Luke Ritter (Triple-A): 2-for-5, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 HR
RHP R.J. Gordon (No. 29 prospect, Double-A): 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
OF Carson Benge (No. 4 prospect, Double-A): 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 3B
DH Rafael Ortega (Single-A): 3-for-5, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR
BOX SCORES
Single-A STL | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓️
Match-up: Mets (62-48) vs. Giants (55-55)
Where: Citi Field - Flushing, NY
Starters: RHP Kodai Senga (7-3, 2.00 ERA) vs. RHP Kai-Wei Teng (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
When: 4:10 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
The good, bad, & ugly from Friday night… ✍️
The Mets are in another slump, having dropped the series opener to the Giants on Friday for their fourth straight loss.
It was an up-and-down night with six innings of zero offense followed by a late rally, which was then followed up by another failed opportunity with runners in scoring position.
There was also an encouraging debut out of the bullpen, but the offense continued to send out concerning red flags.
To that end, we’re going to try something a little different today by recapping ‘The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly’ from Friday night’s loss…
The Good
Ryan Helsley’s Mets debut wasn’t good; it was electrifying. The Trade Deadline arrival came out to AC/DC’s “Hells Bells” and immediately put Citi Field on notice. The signature walk-out was an entertaining one, giving the Mets two killer walk-out entrances with Edwin Diaz’s trademark walk-out.
And Helsley backed up the theatrics with an equally dominating performance, making it a Mets debut to remember. The righty showed his nasty velocity by hitting 100 mph on his first pitch. His fastball got as high as 101.4 miles per hour.
Helsley did allow two singles, but he struck out three in a scoreless ninth to keep the game tied. He became just the sixth Mets pitcher ever to strike out three batters in his debut inning. As a result, Helsley gave his team every chance to go on and win the game. The offense couldn’t return the favor, but even so, Helsley gave Mets fans a tantalizing glimpse of just how dangerous a piece he could become in this revamped bullpen.
As far as first impressions go, Helsley made a pretty damn good one in Queens.
Mark Vientos may be turning a corner. The third baseman hit a single to center with one out in the fifth inning. That knock extended his hitting streak to 10 straight games. He’s now hitting .343/.361/.486/.847 with seven RBIs over that span.
Now, granted, there is still a long way to go. He still has just one home run in his last 21 games. That’s quite a power outage. However, the fact that Vientos is putting the ball in play and getting on base at a high clip is a positive. If he can now bring back some of the power and game-changing at-bats we saw throughout 2024, then that will help an offense that continues to struggle.
David Peterson continues to deliver. The lefty delivered another quality start and has now pitched at least six innings in seven starts since June 7. Peterson allowed just two runs and, once again, gave his team a chance to win. It is a shame his efforts on the mound were not rewarded.
After six innings of zero offense, the top of the lineup did start to come to life in the later innings. Pete Alonso hit a solo home run in the seventh to get his team on the board. That was Alonso’s 249th career homer, meaning he’s now just three away from tying Darryl Strawberry’s franchise record of 252. The blast also snapped a 0-for-19 skid. Then, in the eighth, Juan Soto, who was 0-for-8, brought a runner home with an RBI single, before Alonso tied the game on a sac fly. Unfortunately, that would prove to be the end of the offensive heroics.
The Bad
Look, every reliever is going to have a night off. That’s just baseball. And Edwin Díaz hasn’t really put a foot wrong so far this year. However, in a close game, just one hit can be the difference. And so it proved on Friday when Díaz gave up an RBI single to former Met Dom Smith in the 10th inning. Smith’s clutch pinch-hit ended up winning the game for the Giants, with Díaz being credited with the loss.
However, when looking at the bigger picture, you can hardly blame Díaz for the loss. Yes, he didn’t have it and just couldn’t miss bats. But, on the flip side, he gave up just one run and a one-run deficit shouldn’t be a problem for this offense.
Instead…
The Ugly
Oh man. Where do we even begin with this offense?
One of the biggest takeaways to emerge from the Trade Deadline was the fact that the front office didn’t do enough to fix this lineup. Cedric Mullins is a nice add, and he’s a huge upgrade offensively over Tyrone Taylor in center field. With that said, Mullins isn’t the offensive player he once was, and he alone isn’t enough to help what is supposed to be an explosive offense live up to its potential.
The Mets couldn’t figure out Giants starter Robbie Ray over seven innings, managing just four hits and one run, which came via Alonso’s home run.
Then, after the rally in the eighth, the offense reverted back to type. The lineup loaded the bases in the bottom of the 10th, but went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position in that inning. Ronny Mauricio struck out with the tying and winning runs on base, with the Mets finishing the night 1-for-7 with RISP overall.
For some reason, this lineup continues to fail to come up with the big hit in the biggest spots. This is now a year-long problem and it is one that could lead to a short October. Be it an approach issue or a problem with mentality, something needs to change. And quickly. The Trade Deadline has now passed, meaning there aren’t any more reinforcements coming through that door.
Ultimately, it will be up to the big guns to really step up and play to the back of their baseball cards. That is the key to this offense turning things around in time for the stretch run and then the postseason.
After all, while the top of the lineup did rally to tie the game, Brandon Nimmo, Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, and Juan Soto still went a combined 3-for-15 on the night. Furthermore, Soto is mired in an 8-for-59 slump, while Lindor is 9-for-63 in his past 14 games.
The time for excuses is over. The big hitters have to be better, and they have to be more consistent. And the lineup as a whole has to really go to work in trying to solve why taking advantage of runners in scoring position has been such a huge problem. Because if they don’t, this season could go down the tubes very, very quickly.
On a night when one of the Trade Deadline additions put on a show, it was a familiar bugaboo that ended up defining the night and sealing a fourth straight loss for the Mets.
Around the League 🚩
The Marlins secured their 27th comeback win of the year, beating New York 13-12, handing the Yankees their first loss on the road when scoring 12 runs or more since 1940
The Rockies wiped out a 9-0 deficit to surge back to beat the Pirates 17-16, thanks to CF Brenton Doyle’s two-run walk-off homer
RHP Jhoan Durán had a debut to remember for the Phillies, securing his first save in a 5-4 comeback win over the Tigers
DH William Contreras had a five-hit night as the Brewers piled up a season-high 25 hits on the way to beating the Nationals 16-9
Aside from the RISP issue, the biggest problem is the inability to hit lefthanded pitchers. It’s no surprise that Ray is completely shut down the offense.
Up till now this team has shown no competence in manufacturing runs. Too much swinging for the Apple, too many strikeouts, and not putting the ball in play with men on base. Streaky and inconsistent