Mets still 'fighting for each other' as losing streak stretches to 11

CHICAGO -- The way things are going, this was an inevitable end for the Mets.

The losses have piled up, but they haven’t gotten any easier to digest. But Sunday’s at Wrigley Field may have been the most discouraging.

Grasping to a one-run lead over the Cubs in the ninth, Devin Williams was unable to close the door. Former Met Michael Conforto tied the game with an RBI double to send it to extras. New York was unable to score in the top of the frame, and after a Craig Kimbrel wild pitch, Chicago walked it off with a sacrifice fly.

The Mets’ 2-1 loss was their 11th straight, matching the club’s longest skid since Aug. 28-Sept. 8, 2004. That team finished 71-91. The Mets haven’t lost 12 in a row since 2002.

It’s almost an unfathomable situation for one of the most talented and highest-paid clubhouses in the league. Frustration has mounted for days. President of baseball operations David Stearns traveled to Chicago and addressed the media on Friday to acknowledge the team’s struggles. In the end, it was an 0-6 road trip.

“It’s tough, especially when you’re going through it,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “You feel like you got to the ninth inning feeling good, but when you’re playing one-run games you have to be perfect, and it’s hard to play like that. It’s a tough stretch right now. Not much to say.”

Mets pitchers entered the finale with a 6.25 ERA during the skid, and despite Sunday serving as one of the best pitched games of the season, New York managed just a single run on MJ Melendez’s fifth-inning solo blast. It’s the ninth time in the past 11 games New York has failed to score more than two runs. The club finished 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position, the only hit coming on an infield single in the 10th that advanced the automatic runner to third.

“This feeling sucks. It’s not a good feeling,” Francisco Lindor said. “We’re professionals and we got to find a way out of it. We got to do whatever it takes to end up on top after 27 outs, and sometimes 30 outs. It’s just not a good feeling. But nobody here is hanging their heads. Everybody’s got their heads up high, and they’re fighting for each other.”

It’s a tense time in New York's clubhouse. The outside noise is hard to ignore, especially with a large Mets contingent in the stands at Wrigley. Mendoza’s job security has been a particular point of interest during what is now tied for New York’s seventh-longest skid in franchise history (since 1962). The leaders in the clubhouse wanted no part of that talk.

“It’s absolutely on us,” said Williams. “[Mendoza] doesn’t swing the bat and he doesn’t throw a baseball. We’ve been in a lot of these games. It’s been close. Him or somebody else is not affecting that. If we’re not getting the job done, somebody else isn’t just magically gonna flip a switch and we’re gonna get it done. He’s putting guys in good positions. We’re not performing.”

Lindor added: “He’s done a fantastic job. This is not on him. He has made sure everyone here is prepared. Every coach here is prepared. We have the information, it comes down on us. Mendy’s our guy. He’s our leader. He’s in control and he’s done a tremendous job.”

But the reality is this -- only three teams have lost 11 straight in a season and made the postseason: the 1951 New York Giants, the 1982 Braves and, most recently, the 2017 Dodgers. No team has ever made it after losing 12 or more in a row. The Mets (7-15) are tied for the worst record in the Majors. The hole to climb is large. It won’t get any easier, even when Juan Soto, Jorge Polanco and Jared Young all return from their respective injuries.

For a group with World Series aspirations and an offseason that included high-impact additions such as Bo Bichette, Marcus Semien, Freddy Peralta and Luis Robert Jr., a loss on Tuesday would mean this group would have to make Major League history just to be one of the six National League teams competing for a pennant.

It’s still only April, but those odds are impossible to ignore.

“It’s gonna get loud. It’s gonna get very loud,” Lindor said. “Ultimately, everyone here knows it. We've just got to stick together, stay within ourselves and fight.

“We have a tremendous team. David Stearns put a good team together, but this shows that nobody really cares. We have to go out and get it done. … It’s a bad feeling, but we got to turn the page.”