The Mets had lost seven in a row, including the first two games of the series against the Dodgers. Clay Holmes was taking the mound against Shohei Ohtani, who had a 0.00 ERA up to that point in the season. The Mets needed to change that to change their own fortunes, as they had been struggling to produce any offense, to score any runs.
The first inning went quietly for both sides, with a first inning Freddie Freeman single being the only baserunner for either side. In the bottom of the second, the Dodgers
got to Clay Holmes, putting two runs on the board. After two outs in the bottom of the second, Dalton Rushing doubled and Hyeseong Kim hit a two run home run to give Los Angeles an early lead.
It took until the top of the fifth for any meaningful offensive action to happen again. Francisco Alvarez walked, and Carson Benge reached first on a fielder’s choice (and some very questionable non-baserunning by Alvarez). MJ Melendez hit his second double of the game and drove in his first run as a Met, putting the Mets just one run behind the Dodgers. They were unable to capitalize further with two runners in scoring position, a story told all too often during this short season thus far.
It took the Dodgers until the bottom of the sixth to respond. Clay Holmes finally made his exit after five innings with four hits and four strikeouts, making way for Tobias Myers. And Myers gave up a solo home run to Teoscar Hernández on the second pitch he threw, putting the Mets behind by two again.
Shohei Ohtani exited the game after six innings, giving up just the one run on two hits, striking out ten while walking two. The sole run he gave up was his first earned run allowed in 32.2 innings. Blake Treinen came in in relief and the only offense the Mets could muster against him was a Carson Benge double, but he was stranded as so many mets base runners have been this season.
The wheels fully came off in the bottom of the eighth, when Devin Williams came in to relieve Tobias Myers. After giving up two singles and a walk, Rushing took Williams deep for a grand slam, putting the Dodgers well ahead with three measly outs for the Mets to try and make literally anything happen. And to add additional insult to the already added insult, Kyle Tucker hit a solo home run off of the next reliever of the inning, newly recalled Austin Warren. At the start of the inning, Edwin Díaz was warming to potentially come in to lock down the ninth.
But when the top of the ninth started, Kyle Hurt was in the game, his first appearance in nearly two years after Tommy John surgery. Bo Bichette got a one out single, and Alvarez was hit by a pitch. With two runners on, Semien was able to hit a bloop single and drive in Bichette as the Mets second run of the game…in the ninth inning. Fantastic work. But Melendez struck out to end the game with runners on first and second.
The Mets have been swept for the second time in a row, and are riding an eight-game losing streak. Their offense has been inert, their pitching inept, and it’s added up to absolutely horrific baseball. They should be better than this, and yet here they are, last in the National League East. They have a day off tomorrow before starting a three game series against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. And boy, do they need it.
SB Nation GameThreads
Box scores
Win Probability Added
Big Mets winner: MJ Melendez, +18% WPA
Big Mets loser: Tommy Pham, -18% WPA
Mets pitchers:-11% WPA
Mets hitters: -39% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: MJ Melendez’s RBI double in the fifth inning, +18.7% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Hyeseong Kim’s two-run home run in the second inning, -18.9% WPA
