3 Up, 3 Down: Mets Dealt Series Loss By Cards

Reality bites right now for the New York Mets.

After a stellar April, the Mets have endured a tough start to May. New York dropped two of three to the Cardinals in St. Louis, including both games of a doubleheader on Sunday.

As a result, the Mets have now dropped consecutive series and have lost four of their last six games. Furthermore, this team continues to be impacted on the injury front. All in all, it wasn’t a good weekend.

Missed opportunities and some bad pitching proved to be the Mets’ downfall in St. Louis. So, on that note, let’s proceed with another edition of 3 Up, 3 Down …

3 UP

TOUGHING IT OUT

The pitching wasn’t great at all in this series. However, there was one bright spot on Friday night, thanks to Clay Holmes. The righty did struggle to begin his latest start before being hit on the ankle by a comebacker. That blow appeared to wake Holmes up, who was able to settle in and grind out a gritty six innings. Granted, he did allow three earned runs on eight hits with no walks and three strikeouts. With that said, though, Holmes was able to go long and limit the damage, setting his team up for the win in the opener.

BRIGHT SPOT

You will be hard-pressed to find a handful of positives from the series loss in St. Louis. However, one of the rare bright spots to emerge from the weekend was Luisangel Acuña continuing his upward trajectory. After being announced as the NL Rookie of the Month for April, Acuña put together an impressive series against the Cardinals. He contributed a double, a RBI and a walk in the series opener. Then, in Game 1 of the doubleheader, Acuña went 3-for-4 with a run scored, a walk and a stolen base. He also made some really nice plays in the field, showing off his speed and range. Acuña is hitting .357/..387/.393/.780 over his last seven games. He’s proving more and more with each passing day that he has the skillset needed to be a really dynamic weapon in the bigs.

HIS BEST YET

Francisco Alvarez delivered arguably his best performance of the season so far in the series opener on Friday. The slugger went 3-for-5 with a team-high three RBIs. He came up with a clutch RBI single in the fifth inning to help add to the lead. Alvarez also produced a couple of opposite-field hits, showcasing just how dangerous a hitter he can be. It was just one game, but Alvarez hitting for power and putting the ball in play day in and day out will be huge for this offense in 2025.

3 DOWN

TOUGH INTRODUCTION

Blade Tidwell achieved a lifelong dream on Sunday after making his MLB debut for the Mets. However, the game itselfwill be one Tidwell will want to forget in a hurry. The righty was shelled, allowing six earned runs on nine hits with three walks and two strikeouts. He was removed after just 3.2 innings and found himself back in the minors between Games 1 and 2 of the doubleheader. However, Tidwell touched 98 mph on his fastball and flashed the potential that has turned him into one of the top prospects in the Mets farm system. While it wasn’t a debut to remember, Tidwell will have better days ahead in the majors in the not-too-distant future.

NOT CASHING IN

The Mets not taking advantage of having runners in scoring position was always going to come back and bite them. And so it has proved during this recent skid. The lineup dropped this series to the Cardinals because of an inability to come up with the big hit with runners on base. New York went a combined 6-for-26 with runners in scoring position in the doubleheader on Sunday. Now, granted, there was an element of bad luck in the two games. For instance, Pete Alonso was at the plate with the bases loaded in Game 1 but was called out on a questionable strike 3. Then, in Game 2, Juan Soto was robbed of a three-run homer thanks to some defensive wizardry.

But, with that said, the Mets are hitting just .229/.332/.399 (70-for-306) with runners in scoring position in 2025. That just isn’t going to get the job done. You also aren’t going to win a doubleheader by leaving a whopping 22 runners stranded on base.

ANOTHER BODY BLOW

Bad injury luck won’t leave the Mets alone. After it was announced that Danny Young would need UCL reconstruction in his left elbow, the Mets suffered another body blow on Sunday. Jesse Winker was forced to leave Game 1 of the doubleheader due to right-side discomfort. It now seems very likely that Winker will head to the IL. How long the veteran will be out for remains to be seen. Oblique injuries are always tricky. Regardless of the length of time spent on the IL, being without Winker will be a big blow to the Mets and the overall depth of the lineup. Winker’s potential loss also leaves a sizable void at the DH position, one the team will need to try and fill with some urgency.

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