These ain’t the OMG Mets…
The Mets come back from a 5-0 deficit, only to blow it in the end.
The latest episode of The Just Mets Podcast is now available! Become a paid subscriber on Substack or Patreon for exclusive access & additional bonus content…
What’s up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets blew a golden opportunity for a win, losing to the Guardians by a 7-6 score in 10 innings (box)
New York overcame a 5-0 deficit but blew chances in the 8th and 9th innings to score the winning run, before losing in extra innings after a crucial Brett Baty throwing error
LHP Sean Manaea cruised through five innings before getting blown up in the 6th as he allowed five runs on seven hits over 5.2 innings
1B Pete Alonso went 4-for-5 with a home run (25) and four RBI before striking out with the winning run on third in the 9th
Alonso is now one home run shy of tying Darryl Strawberry for the franchise record (251)
The Mets bullpen did not allow an earned run over 4.1 innings pitched in the loss
After their seven-game winning streak, New York has now lost six of their last seven games
David Stearns spoke before the game, saying that Nolan McLean and Brandon Sproat are both “close” to being ready for the big leagues
Roster Moves 📰
RHP Adam Warren optioned to Triple-A Syracuse
RHP Dom Hamel recalled from Triple-A Syracuse
The Just Mets Podcast 🎙️
This week’s episode of The Just Mets Podcast is unlocked & free for all! Listen as The Athletic’s Will Sammon talks about the club’s action (and inaction) at the trade deadline.
Playoff Race 🏁
The Mets lost while the Phillies won again on Monday night, putting the Mets 1.5 games out of first place in the NL East.
The Mets are three games behind the Cubs for the first Wild Card, have a one-game lead over the Padres of the second Wild Card, and are four games ahead of the Reds for a playoff spot.
Who’s Cold 🥶
Brett Baty is hitting .214/.289/.349 with five home runs, 15 RBI, 38 strikeouts and .638 OPS while committing five errors at third base over his last 50 games
Play of the Game 🌟
In a tie game in the 9th inning, Francisco Lindor pulled a ball into the right field corner for an extra-base hit. Tyrone Taylor motored around the bases but was held up by third base coach Mike Sarbaugh at the last moment.
It appeared as if Taylor had a very good chance of scoring based on where the ball was in the outfield at that point, and it was only made worse that Carlos Santana dropped the ball in the infield on the throw which would have guaranteed a Mets walk-off win.
Instead, Taylor stood at third and would never leave the base as Pete Alonso struck out and Jeff McNeil hit a soft line drive right into a glove.
Down on the Farm 🌾
All four Mets minor league affiliates were off on Monday.
Today’s Game 🗓️
Match-up: Mets (63-50) vs. Guardians (57-55)
Where: Citi Field — Flushing, NY
Starters: RHP Clay Holmes (9-6, 3.45 ERA) vs. LHP L.T. Allen (7-9, 4.06 ERA)
When: 7:10 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
The Mets are their own worst enemy (and mine, too) ✍️
Of course my first morning newsletter in almost a month comes after what you could easily argue was the newest worst loss of the season for the Mets.
I don’t know, maybe it’s me.
If you thought things couldn’t get worse after the Mets lost two of three to a team that just sold their top reliever to them, the beat rolled on for New York as they topped themselves with yet another hair-pulling loss. The list of those kinds of losses has only grown in recent weeks.
Monday night’s game against the Guardians was a familiar roller coaster ride of emotions that Mets fans are beyond accustomed to at this point. The game started with a lot of optimism, at least on the pitching end, as Sean Manaea cruised through five dominant innings without barely breaking a sweat.
“Our true ace is officially back,” I thought to myself.
“At this rate he might pitch into the 8th,” I foolishly led myself to believe.
In the blink of an eye, all of that hope morphed into agony as Manaea walked off the mound in the very next inning after allowing five runs and only recording a pair of outs.
With the way the offense has performed of late, not to mention how it looked five innings into this game, and acceptance quickly sank in. In that moment, I’d have to imagine that most fans either flipped the TV off or abandoned any true hopes of pulling out a win.
But much to our surprise, the Mets gave us a glimmer of hope. The kind of glimmer that is oh so tantalizing. Enough to get you emotionally invested again just moments after you’d turned that plugged that spigot.
Pete Alonso, who all of a sudden can’t stop hitting home runs, crushed a three-run bomb to get the Mets right back into things.
And just like that, we were right back on the hook.
Not two innings later, the Mets offense came alive again as they ambushed reliever Hunter Gattis so fast that Cleveland didn’t even have enough time to making a pitching change. Hit after hit kept the line moving, and before you knew it Mark Vientos had tied the game with a sac fly.
With the go-ahead run at third and less than two outs, the Mets had a golden opportunity to take their first lead of the night.
“This is the moment they finally break-through, right?” I asked.
“This is how they get their season back on track,” I convinced myself.
But this is the New York Mets we’re talking about. When has it ever come that easy?
No, instead Cedric Mullins was absolutely robbed of what likely would have been a game-winning hit on a spectacular diving stop. Brett Baty had an opportunity to make that a moot point, but as you likely expected, he grounded out meekly to end the threat.
The game was tied, the excitement was back, and yet there was still a bit of a bitter taste in your mouth after the offense left some meat on the bone. Before you knew it, the Guardians suddenly had a runner at third with nobody out in the top of the 9th against Edwin Díaz after a single, a stolen base and a throwing error.
The emotional yo-yoing of the night continued, as that sinking feeling began to creep up yet again. But yet again, things wouldn’t go down they way you’d think.
A strikeout. A pop up. Suddenly Díaz was an out away from getting out of this thing.
“Struck him out!” Gary Cohen exclaimed on the broadcast, likely pumping his fist in the same manner we all were in our living rooms at that moment.
We’re back up, baby. The emotions went back to their highest peak, and the Mets had a chance to walk this thing off and cement one of their best wins of the season. Yet again I was fully bought in, which is often times one of the most dangerous places to be as a fan of this team.
When Francisco Lindor ripped a ball into the right field corner and Tyrone Taylor was streaking along the base paths, it looked as if the Mets had pulled the damn thing off. I clapped, I cheered, I began to celebrate but wait. Mike Sarbaugh, the Mets third base coach, held Taylor at third?!
It’s up for debate if Taylor would’ve scored if the relay throw had been clean, but Carlos Santana dropped the throw in shallow right field. Taylor would’ve scored! The Mets would’ve won! But like I said… things rarely come easy around these parts.
With the bases loaded, Pete Alonso – who already came through multiple times on the night – came up with the chance to win the game with just a fly ball. A medium-deep fly ball was all the Mets needed to send everyone home happy. How hard could it be?
This is the moment I really needed to remind myself what I’ve been repeating to all of you – this team does not do things the easy way.
Well as fate would have it, Alonso struck out and Jeff McNeil lined out softly to end the inning. The Mets were a fly out, or god forbid a hit away from winning the game in both the 8th and 9th innings, and somehow came through with nothing.
We all know what happened next. A bad bunt by the Guardians that should’ve at least led to one out if not a double play was thrown into right field by Brett Baty, who literally came into this game for his defense. A run scored, and then another, and the Mets fell into a 7-5 hole that most people felt in their guts would be insurmountable.
And after one final fly ball to the warning track as one last tease, one last twist of the knife, it was.
Back on the emotional roller coaster. Back to the depths of despair. And there it was, the latest worst loss of the season.
You know, despite how I may come across on Twitter at times (yes, I am aware that I tend to lean toward the negative when things aren’t going well), I don’t often get angry after losses anymore unless they are particularly egregious.
This was one of those rare times this year that I walked away feeling angry. Even as of writing this, two-ish hours after the game ended, I’m still feeling frustrated. And dejected. And answerless.
I don’t know what it is about this particular team, but they make it increasingly hard to root for them at times. In a lot of ways it is largely a similar group that we enjoyed so much last year, and yet they are such a different team in an intangible way.
I’m a big vibes guy, and the vibes just haven’t been there for some time now. This team seems to lack a killer instinct, which shows it’s face when they find themselves in high pressure clutch situations, a facet of the game they have failed in far too many times this season as a collective.
This team has so much talent – they should be a lot better than this – and yet they’re not. Right now, this is a baseball team that simply cannot get out of their own way on the mound, at the plate, or in the field. Sometimes, like last night’s game for example, all three things rear their ugly head at the same time.
New York now has an 18-26 record since June 13th – the start of their downward trajectory this season. That is nearly a 50-game sample size where the Mets have been one of the five worst teams in all of baseball. In that time, they’re also bottom five in runs scored, starting pitcher ERA, and relief pitcher ERA.
There have been several moments during that stretch where you thought the Mets were coming out of that funk. Winning six of eight against the Brewers, Yankees and Orioles, capped off by a big late comeback in Baltimore was one of those moments – but they followed it up by going 2-5 over their next seven games.
Less than two weeks ago was another. Even without their best hitters clicking, the Mets won seven straight and were getting their injured starting pitchers back into the fold with the trade deadline coming up. Since then the Mets have lost six of seven, essentially undoing all the good they’d done in that win streak.
This isn’t to say that things can’t change. Baseball seasons are often volatile, with extreme highs and lows that eventually even out at the end of the 162-game schedule. But right now, and for the last 44 games and counting, there have been few true signs that the Mets were going to come out of this prolonged funk.
Right now, it’s hard to see the end in sight. Last night could have been one of the most inspired wins of the season. Instead it ends as one of their worst losses.
And so the beat rolls on…
Around the League 🚩
Phillies DH Kyle Schwarber crushed two home runs and drove in six runs as Philadelphia crushed the Orioles, 13-3
The Red Sox won their sixth straight game thanks to a Jarren Duran homer as they defeated the Royals by an 8-5 score
The Astros put up a five-spot on Marlins RHP Sandy Alcantara as they enjoyed an 8-2 win in Miami
The Brewers continued their torrid run of late as they beat the Braves to win their fourth straight game
I pretty much gave up at 5-0 and went outside for my mental health.
U G L Y
"Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes straight to the bone."