METS GAMEDAY

If there is such a thing as a nadir for these miserable Mets, they appeared to be on their way to reaching it Sunday afternoon in Flushing as ex-Yankee Nathan Eovaldi kept putting up zeroes.

For six innings Eovaldi didn’t allow a baserunner, and at 70 pitches with nine outs to go, the dread could be felt by those who bothered to show up to the ballpark to watch the woebegone Mets. Brandon Nimmo singled to start the seventh to break up the perfect game and no-hit-bid, but Eovaldi finished with seven shutout innings in the Mets’ 9-0 loss to the Rays.

One by one the Mets — who had just 29 plate appearances, two more than the minimum — stepped up to the plate and were promptly sent back to the dugout, mustering only three flyouts through six innings. Their offensive futility seemed it would hit a new low and endure having a perfect game thrown against them for just the second time in franchise history; Jim Bunning tossed a perfect game against the Mets on June 21, 1964.

Eovaldi still faced the minimum through seven innings as Asdrubal Cabrera grounded into an inning-ending double play after Nimmo’s single and a Wilmer Flores strikeout. Eovaldi, coming off Tommy John surgery, was removed at 79 pitches after striking out nine.

The Mets (35-51) were no better on the mound, starter Chris Flexen looking overmatched against a major-league offense, giving up five runs in three innings on five hits and three walks along with two strikeouts. Chris Beck and Paul Sewald each allowed two runs.