Mets Give Up Late Lead in Sixth Straight Loss

Saturday posed a new way of losing for the New York Mets.

In tonight’s script, the Mets had a lead. And they had it late. It was a perfect moment for the Mets to lay everything out on the table, deploy the super bullpen, and go home with a win during the worst stretch of Mets baseball in recent memory.

Instead, Carlos Mendoza went to a struggling Ryne Stanek, the tying run scored, and the Brewers took off from there.

It marked the Mets sixth consecutive loss, and it was just as dismal as the game Friday. Sloppy defense led to runs, an offense led by solo home runs couldn’t make up the deficit, and only three innings from Frankie Montas didn’t help the overworked bullpen.

Ryan Helsley — acquired at the deadline to shut down games for the Mets — was the newest arm that struggled due to being overworked. Sure, it didn’t help that Isaac Collins reached as the first batter due to an error by Ronny Mauricio that was ruled a single to extend the inning and give the Brewres a lead, but William Contreras then iced the game by sending a two-run homer to left-center 399 feet into the night.

It was Helsley’s fourth appearance in a Mets uniform, and third time he’s worked this week. Yet, despite being close to perfect, the Mets have lost in all four games Helsley has appeared in.

In fact, the Mets have now gone on a 1-10 stretch over their last 10 games, and 18-30 stretch since June 13. The downward spiral seems to be bottomless, and as a result, they’ve fallen four and half games back of the Phillies.

Lost in the result of the game was a special moment in Mets’ history. Pete Alonso tied Darryl Strawberry‘s franchise home run record with his 252nd homer in second inning off Tobias Myers, providing the Mets with an early and short lead.

At 30 years old, Alonso can now set his eyes on breaking Strawberry’s record to stand alone at the top of the franchise marker. It was just another plaque of Mets moments for Alonso, who broke the rookie home run record in 2019, and is still the only Met to ever club 50-plus homers in a season.

Starling Marte‘s recent resurgence may also be lost in this game. The veteran was moved to the three hole by Mendoza, and rewarded his manager with a solo bomb for the second straight night. Marte is now slashing .340/.370/.560 with two homers in his last 15 games.

Juan Soto also demolished a solo bomb, which at the time was a breath of fresh air for the Mets. His 28th bomb of the year broke a 3-3 tie in the top of the sixth, a game which was freshly tied by Brice Turang‘s homer off Montas.

Outside the solo homers and bloop RBI single by Cedric Mullins, the offense struggled again with runners in scoring position. Mainly, Francisco Lindor. The team had the bases loaded in the top of the second with two outs and Lindor up, but the All-Star struck out to end the inning with the Mets up by one.

Later in the fourth, Lindor came up again with runners on the corners and one out, but grounded into an inning double play to kill a second rally. Overall, the Mets went 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position, with two of the 0-fors coming from the struggling shortstop.

On Deck

The Mets will try to avoid the sweep tomorrow against the Brewers at 2:10 PM. Sean Manaea who was solid for the first five innings in his last start will face off against Quinn Priester. The game will be televised on SNY and broadcast on WCBS 880.

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