Mets lose on walk-off balk in 10th inning to woeful Royals
Mets centerfielder Rafael Ortega chases after a double hit by the Royals' Samad Taylor during the fifth inning of a game Tuesday in Kansas City, Mo. Credit: AP/Charlie Riedel
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In the first game of the rest of their season, the Mets looked much as they did in so many of the previous ones: not good enough.
They suffered a bizarre, extra-inning, 7-6 loss on Tuesday to the Royals, who have the second-worst record in the majors.
An eventful 10th inning ended when lefthander Josh Walker, freshly into the game as the third Mets reliever of the frame, got called for a walk-off balk — before he even threw a pitch.
“Technically, it’s a balk. You would want it called if you’re in the other dugout,” manager Buck Showalter said. “You always feel bad when games are not decided by the players. Of course, you could say it was, because he balked.”
When Walker entered, he forgot to grab a PitchCom, the electronic device pitchers and catchers use to communicate about pitches. So when Francisco Alvarez was calling for a pitch, Walker didn’t know.
Right before Alvarez called time out to visit the mound, Walker’s left leg flinched. Game over.
“My knee buckled a little bit, so I stepped off,” Walker said. “That was it. That’s how they got me . . . I forgot to relay that to Alvy. That’s on me.”
Alvarez’s two-run home run in the top of the 10th granted the Mets their third lead of the day. In the bottom of the inning, Brooks Raley allowed the first two runs and Brett Baty’s throwing error kept the inning going.
After the sudden loss, the Mets trudged off the field and into the clubhouse, their bigger-picture fate no different despite dropping to 50-56.
Before the trade deadline at 6 p.m. Tuesday, they dealt six players from their roster — more than a quarter of the whole thing, going back to the Eduardo Escobar deal in June. The bottom third of their lineup was Rafael Ortega, called up just prior from Triple-A Syracuse, plus DJ Stewart and Danny Mendick.
Centerfielder and leadoff man Brandon Nimmo was a late scratch from the lineup because of quad tightness he experienced during batting practice.
Pete Alonso went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and his 31st home run of the year. It came in the second inning off Zack Greinke (five innings, one run). 0
Lefthander Jose Quintana was fine: 6 2⁄3 innings, six hits, three runs.
The Mets have 56 games to go. “We’re not going to quit,” Showalter said. “We’re going to play the game.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
