Mets Suffer Defeat Against Mariners, Worsening Their Crisis
The New York Mets suffered another defeat on Friday night, losing two leads and hearing boos in an 11-9 loss to the Seattle Mariners at Citi Field. The team’s situation is becoming increasingly complicated, and hopes of a comeback are fading as the games go on. This loss marks the fourteenth in the last 16 games, placing them six games behind the Philadelphia Phillies, leaders of the National League East, and only half a game behind the Cincinnati Reds for the third and final National League Wild Card spot.The Mets, who boasted the best record in baseball until June 12, with a 45-24 mark, have experienced a notable decline. Since then, their performance has been one of the worst in Major League Baseball. This situation is a worrying reflection of last season, which started in a discouraging way but culminated in an unexpected appearance in the National League Championship Series. The causes of the recent defeats have been varied, from an ineffective offense to problems in the pitching staff and defensive errors. This has left the team wondering why they can’t achieve a consistency that resembles their initial performance of the season.It’s part of the mountain. You have to climb the mountain, and right now we’re on a very steep part of it. And if we don’t come together and don’t strive to be better day after day, the mountain will be difficult to climb.
Francisco Lindor, Mets Shortstop
The bullpen has been the main problem in the Mets’ recent losses, a disconcerting development after the management focused on strengthening the relief corps with significant acquisitions before the trade deadline. It’s hard to describe, especially with the amount of elite talent and arms we have there. On Thursday, the Mets, looking for a solid performance from any pitcher other than David Peterson, got 5⅔ good innings from Kodai Senga. However, this was wasted when Ryan Helsley, one of the deadline reinforcements, couldn’t hold a one-run lead. On Friday, the Mets led 6-4 after five innings, but the Mariners punished their bullpen with seven runs in the following three innings. Tyler Rogers, another acquisition from the deadline, allowed one run in the sixth inning. Seattle scored five runs against Helsley and Brooks Raley in the seventh inning to definitively snatch the lead. Frankie Montas, a disappointment who was relegated to the bullpen this week, allowed the Mariners’ eleventh run in the eighth.It’s difficult. We’ve all asked ourselves that question, and it’s difficult to pinpoint just one thing. We’re all trying to win games. The only thing I can think of right now is that we’re not clicking at the same time and the other team is outplaying us.
Francisco Lindor, Mets Shortstop
After the game, Mendoza reiterated his message to the media: that the Mets have too much talent for this situation to continue, that they will change course and that they will start accumulating wins again. However, there are only 40 games left in the regular season, and they have been one of the worst teams in baseball for almost a third of the calendar. Time is running out.I haven’t seen anything like this. I’ve been playing for a long time. But I feel like everyone here is doing their best to show up and play hard, and our offense did it tonight. Those guys were great. Scoring nine against a team like that, you should probably win the game. I was part of the problem and I didn’t make it.
Brooks Raley
In short, we have to start playing better, especially when we get ahead, we have to be able to close those games. Again, too much talent there.
Carlos Mendoza, Mets Manager
