SEATTLE -- For the Mets, the same old problems keep arising. The issues that surfaced throughout the first third of the season are not disappearing.
Foremost among them is run prevention -- that buzzy, two-word phrase that became a flash point when president of baseball operations David Stearns named it his No. 1 priority heading into last offseason. Run prevention -- i.e. pitching and defense -- was a problem for the Mets last season. It remains a problem this year, as evidenced throughout Tuesday’s 8-3 loss to the Mariners at T-Mobile Park.
The game was still tied when Marcus Semien and Mark Vientos committed fielding errors on back-to-back plays with one out in the third inning, with each of them unable to corral a line drive. Although those blunders resulted in only one run, the right side of New York’s infield was not done leaking.
In the fifth inning, Vientos could not field a Cole Young chopper that glanced off his glove. Nor could pitcher Jonah Tong pick up his teammate. Three batters later, Jhonny Pereda hit a three-run homer to transform a close game into a blowout.
If not for Carson Benge’s two homers -- his first career multihomer game -- the final score would have been even more lopsided. As it was, the Mets committed two errors (in addition to Vientos’ second miscue), while Tong allowed five runs (four earned) over 3 1/3 innings, needing 83 pitches to record just 10 outs.