Ronny Mauricio and Mark Vientos have good nights, but Mets' bullpen implodes in loss to Mariners
Adam Ottavino of the Mets reacts on the mound after surrendering a ninth-inning home run against J.P. Crawford of the Mariners at Citi Field on Saturday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The kids earned their keep, even if the Mets’ bullpen didn’t.
Ronny Mauricio built off his highly successful Friday and Mark Vientos homered, but the bullpen couldn’t contain the Mariners, who beat the Mets, 8-7, at Citi Field on Saturday night.
The Mets tied it at 7 in the eighth when Jeff McNeil’s triple drove in Francisco Lindor, but Adam Ottavino allowed a go-ahead home run by J.P. Crawford, the first batter he faced in the ninth.
Daniel Vogelbach singled to lead off the bottom of the inning but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.
“It’s like a long jump shot,” Buck Showalter said. “If you make it, it’s this, and if you don’t, it’s these questions [on why he did that].”
The Mets’ bullpen gave up four runs in five innings and also allowed a runner inherited from starter David Peterson to score. The Mets had 13 hits but left 10 on base.
That tempered a strong night for the Mets’ rookies. Mauricio, who went 2-for-3 in his major league debut, was 2-for-4 with a stolen base Saturday. Vientos went 2-for-3 with a sixth-inning homer and a walk. He left the game in the seventh with a sore right foot and will be evaluated Sunday, Showalter said.
DJ Stewart kept making his case to stay in Flushing next year, launching a tying three-run home run off Luis Castillo in the third and laying out to make a diving catch in the outfield in the eighth. Lindor hit his 25th home run in the sixth, making him the first Met since Carlos Beltran to have 25 homers and 25 stolen bases.
With the score tied at 3, Peterson hit the leadoff batter in the fifth and was pulled for Grant Hartwig, who allowed a one-out single to put runners at the corners. Teoscar Hernandez’s sacrifice fly gave Seattle the lead. The Mariners scored three more in the sixth, with the big hit pinch hitter Dominic Canzone’s two-run homer off Hartwig.
Lindor’s two-run shot off the leftfield foul pole in the sixth brought the Mets within 7-6.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
