NEW YORK -- The Mets needed a break, badly, after a pair of demoralizing losses in Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Cubs dropped them to 12 games under .500, nine games behind the final National League Wild Card spot, and pushed their losing streak to five games.
It looked like they would receive one on Thursday night at Citi Field in the series finale against Chicago, with Freddy Peralta on the way to turning in his best start in nearly two months, giving up just five hits through five scoreless innings. But after shortstop Ronny Mauricio’s bounced throw to Mark Vientos at first wasn’t picked -- allowing Dansby Swanson to reach -- the Cubs rattled off three run-scoring hits off Peralta to chase the right-hander.
The leadoff error, combined with Carson Benge’s trouble near the right-field line on Alex Bregman’s double in the sixth, caused all three runs scored in the frame to be unearned. It was a continuation of a worrying trend that showed up during Wednesday night’s rough defensive display.
“It’s a completely different inning, especially for Freddy’s outing,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “It’s just routine plays that are costing us. At this level, you expect to make plays like that. … You understand that they’re not going to be perfect, but those are as routine as it gets. And teams are making us pay for it, especially the past few nights.”
It even felt like a break was coming in the ninth inning, when Mauricio came up with the winning run on second base -- after a slew of scoreless appearances by relievers Austin Warren, Luke Weaver and Devin Williams kept the Mets in the game. But Mauricio was unable to come through, leaving their 12th and 13th runners on base. Immediately, Pete Crow-Armstrong doubled in the automatic runner off Brooks Raley in the top of the 10th, handing New York a 4-3 loss and its sixth straight defeat.
The makings of a much-needed comeback were there. After the tumultuous top of the sixth inning, Eric Wagaman crushed his first-career pinch-hit home run, a two-run blast off left-hander Hoby Milner, to get the Mets off the mat and cut the initial deficit to one.
Wagaman entered Thursday with two hits in eight pinch-hit appearances this season, used sparingly in the role. But the lack of opportunities didn’t keep him from jumping on the first pitch from the funky-delivering lefty, an 85.6 mph sinker at the bottom of the zone.
“I think it’s just the word 'preparation.' It’s doing your homework before you come to the field on who you might face that night,” Wagaman said. “And then doing stuff in the cage to give yourself the best shot to mimic what he’s got. I faced him last night, so I had a little bit of an idea of what his stuff looked like.”
But it was a slew of missed opportunities that characterized New York’s story on Thursday. A little after Wagaman’s home run, Juan Soto came up with the bases loaded and two outs in his return from back tightness that kept him out of both games in Wednesday’s doubleheader. Soto rolled over a 77.5 mph hanging curveball from Phil Maton, softly grounding out to second base with the tying run on third.
A game-tying blast in the seventh from Jared Young -- who came on and played left field in Mark Vientos’ spot as a defensive replacement -- gave the Mets the opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the ninth after Williams retired the side in order. With the winning run on second base, A.J. Ewing flied out harmlessly to center and Mauricio grounded out to second to send the game to extras. Ewing chased a high fastball above the zone, and Mauricio reached out on a changeup a couple inches off the plate.
On Thursday, the Mets left 14 runners on base. Across the four-game sweep at the hands of the Cubs, New York went 5-for-30 (.167) with runners in scoring position. The club ranks 13th in the NL with a .240 average in those situations this season.
“We chased,” Mendoza said. “You look back, and we went outside of the strike zone a few times there. And it ended up costing us. We’ve got to do a better job of controlling the strike zone in those situations and trusting the guy behind. The more times we can create traffic and pass the baton, the rallies are coming. But we expanded too much.”