Sliding Mets lose to S.F., 4.5 games out in NL East
SAN FRANCISCO – Unacceptably bad.
Those were the two words Mets acting GM Zack Scott used to describe his club’s performance in a devastating stretch since the All-Star break. In the Mets’ 3-2 loss to the Giants on Tuesday night at Oracle Park, they continued to prove their GM’s words were not only accurate, but perhaps even too generous.
The Mets (59-60) fell under .500 for the first time since May 5 with a fivegame losing streak that stretches back to their series opener against the Dodgers last Friday. They plunged to 4.5 games behind the Braves in third place, less than two weeks after they were sitting atop the NL East in first place for a span of 90 days.
The performance is not only unacceptably bad, it is outright embarrassing.
The Mets lineup forced Giants righthander Logan Webb to use just 63 pitches to record 18 outs in six innings. The Amazin’s approach on Tuesday featured aggressiveness against Webb, but it led to quick outs in impatient at-bats. Until the eighth inning, the
Mets had just five hits on the night. After the Giants mercifully ended the game, the Mets had left six men on base and went 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position.
Pete Alonso crushed a two-run homer – his 26th of the year – to pull the Mets within one run of the Giants in the eighth inning. It was a big hit at the right time, an ingredient for success
GIANTS METS that has escaped the Mets offense particularly in the second half of the regular season. But Alonso cannot be the only Mets hitter with the clutch gene to expect wins for this ballclub.
Much like Taijuan Walker’s gem of a start last week against the Dodgers, the Mets wasted Marcus Stroman’s start against the best team in baseball on Tuesday. Stroman pitched better than his final line suggests against the Giants. He struck out Buster Posey three consecutive times during a moment when the catcher
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is having arguably the best season of his career.
Stroman saved the exhausted arms in the Mets bullpen by hurling a season-high 114 pitches, but the long ball hurt him when he gave up home runs to Tommy La Stella and Evan Longoria in the first and seventh inning, respectively.
The Mets began the night much like they ended it: in disarray. Starting catcher James McCann was a late-scratch from the lineup while dealing with back spasms. Backup catcher Patrick Mazeika took over for McCann, leaving no other backstop in the Mets dugout for an emergency.