Mets aren't boring, just bad, and things are getting worse
J.D. Martinez #28 of the Mets strikes out during the sixth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Citi Field on Saturday, May 25, 2024. Credit: Jim McIsaac
One criticism you might have heard while the Mets were getting swept by the Guardians in Cleveland this past week was this: Not only are the Mets bad, they’re boring.
After excruciating back-to-back losses to the Giants on Friday and Saturday to start a 10-game homestand, Newsday now can report that the Mets indeed are bad.
But they are not boring.
Nearly 60,000 fans turned out at Citi Field to witness Friday’s 8-7 defeat and Saturday’s 7-2, 10-inning loss to San Francisco.
Along the way to the exits, those fans were treated to thrills, chills and spills. Like a car fire on the side of the LIE, it was hard to look away.
The Mets blew a 6-2 lead Friday but were one swing away from tying the score with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth.
On Saturday, Edwin Diaz returned to his closer’s spot and promptly lost a one-run lead in the ninth for his third blown save in a row and fourth in his last five chances.
Still, with the score tied at 2, the Mets had the potential winning run at third with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and Pete Alonso at the plate.
As they did Friday, the Giants tried to help the Mets along with an infield error in the ninth. After Saturday’s comically bad miscue on a close-range toss from second baseman Thairo Estrada to shortstop Marco Luciano, “The Benny Hill Show” theme song was played over the Citi Field PA system. A “Keystone Kops” clip would have worked, too.
On both occasions, the Mets did not accept the Giants’ largesse. On Saturday, with the crowd on its feet, Alonso took a mighty swing and hit a harmless fly ball to left.
The Giants then jumped on Sean Reid-Foley and Josh Walker for five runs in the 10th. Already down 4-2, Walker gave up a three-run triple to left-center to Mike Yastrzemski (Carl’s grandkid).
That was your ballgame, even though the rules stated that the Mets had to bat in the bottom of the 10th.
It’s hard to say a good time was had by all, but the weather for both games was lovely and the Mets always bring the drama, don’t they?
On Saturday, Luis Severino had a no-hitter going for 5 1⁄3 innings before No. 9 batter Brett Wisely smartly lined a single to left. Sure, it was only the sixth, but who doesn’t love dreaming about seeing a no-hitter in person?
Then it was a 1-1 game in the seventh when the much — and fairly — maligned Brett Baty cracked a tiebreaking solo homer into the second deck in right. Baty’s gyrations as he jump-ran to first could have made him a finalist on “So You Think You Can Dance.”
Much of Saturday’s pregame chatter surrounded manager Carlos Mendoza’s decision to start Baty at third over red-hot Mark Vientos. “How could he???” and such sentiments.
But Baty came through and a full-on individual and team redemption arc looked to be in the offing when Diaz strode in to try to protect a one-run lead.
Except, oops, he did it again. Single (by old pal Wilmer Flores), stolen base, RBI single, and the Baty-and-Diaz-are-back stories flew out the press box window like so many wind-blown hot dog wrappers.
After Saturday’s terrible defeat, the only narrative that is left is this: How, at 21-30 and on a five-game losing streak, do the Mets turn around what is beginning to look like a truly dreadful season?
“It’s not a good feeling,” said Francisco Lindor, who very obviously and bizarrely in the seventh gave up on and looked at a third strike from Randy Rodriguez because he said he couldn’t pick up the spin on the baseball.
“It doesn’t feel good to lose games. Nothing matters but winning. So it’s one of those that we’ve got to hurry up and start winning.”
Severino’s take: “We’ve been really close.”
He meant to winning, and he’s right. The Mets have come as close as you can to winning during the last two days, but they haven’t. Because there are no ties in baseball, that’s known as losing.
The largest share of the blame falls on the players. But owner Steve Cohen and team president David Stearns have to take some of it, too — Stearns for building this underperforming roster and Cohen for upping the ante before what was supposed to be a transition year and instead saying he expected the team to make the playoffs.
On Friday, in an in-game appearance on SNY, Stearns said: “We don’t have to make any decisions about this team right now. We’re in mid-May about to be late May. We’ve got another couple of months before we really have to make concrete directional decisions about how this season is going to shape out. We’re still in information-gathering mode.”
The Stearns interview was before two of the toughest losses the Mets will face all season. The “information” gleaned from these games might need to go right into the Citi Field shredder.
As for the 60,000 fans . . . if they were Mets fans, they probably are not in information-gathering mode about this year’s team.
It looks as if it’s going to be a wild ride. A wild ride to nowhere.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.