Well, it started well!
Fresh off a 13-5 win, where the Mets looked to wake up out of their malaise and perhaps we could see the end of the bad times and the (re)start of the good times, they went back to their previous ways during this rough 14 game stretch, losing 11-6.
Facing off against Old Friend Carlos Carrasco, who the Braves acquired at the deadline to give him more chances at prolonging his Major League career, and to help fill their injury devastated rotation, the Mets went off in the first
two innings. Loading the bases with no outs, newly crowned Mets home run king Pete Alonso drove two in with a single, and Cedric Mullins drove in one with a sacrifice fly.
The second inning followed suit with the first. Juan Soto hit a two run home run, and Jeff McNeil followed it up by doubling home Brandon Nimmo. It was 6-0. Things looked good!
Then, they did not. David Peterson, who was rolling through three, unraveled in the fourth. Two walks and a single loaded the bases, another walk drove one home, and a bases clearing double made it 6-4. He walked the next batter, and was pulled for Reed Garrett. Garrett did not bail him out, surrendering a single to make it 6-5, loading the bases, and serving up a grand slam to Michael Harris. In the blink of an eye, the Braves scored nine in the frame to take a 9-6 lead.
That really could be the end of the recap, but for the sake of transparency I will persevere (while I have season eight, episode two of Hell’s Kitchen on in the background while I pen this masterpiece).
The Mets, offensively, put up zeroes the rest of the way (the bad kind of zeroes). They threatened in a few innings, and got base runners in every inning after their fourth inning meltdown. Hopefully, a silver lining for the rest of the season is the offense has looked much better the last two days, even if they did not score the rest of the way.
Paul Blackburn, who has had a very frustrating season from a personal standpoint, going through a million rehab starts and never being able to find his footing with the Mets, came in on his first day back in a long time and did a very admirable job. He threw five relief innings and gave up one hit (unfortunately for him and the Mets, it was a two run home run to make it 11-6 and put the nail in the coffin), saving the bullpen in the process.
The loss drops the Mets to just one game above the Reds for the final Wild Card spot, as they beat the Phillies this evening. Despite the loss, and losing 12 of their last 14, the playoff projections have been a kinder than you would think to the Mets, with FanGraphs putting them at 79% and PECTOA at 88.5% to make the playoffs, which is interesting considering the slide in recent weeks.
Regardless, the Mets have to start actually winning games to appease the projection system overlords, and they will look to do so tomorrow at 7:10 PM EST, when Kodai Senga faces off against Bryce Elder in the rubber match of this series.
SB Nation GameThreads
Box scores
Win Probability Added
FanGraphs.com" />(Unfortunately, on the wrong side of a Sarah Langs wheeeee)
Big Mets winner: Pete Alonso, +11.8%
Big Mets loser: Reed Garrett, -49.8% WPA
Mets pitchers: -70.3% WPA (sheesh)
Mets hitters: +20.3% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Pete Alonso’s two run single, +9.3% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Michael Harris’s grand slam, -40.8% WPA
