The Mets fumbled and stumbled and bumbled their way through 18 innings of baseball Wednesday.
Not only did they give up 10 runs in each of the two games of their doubleheader against the Cubs at Citi Field, but the Mets put forth their shoddiest defensive game in over a decade in the second contest to extend their losing streak to five games and fall nine games behind in the NL wild-card race before June is even over.
Francisco Lindor’s long-awaited return to the lineup for the second of the two contests faded to the background as he and his fellow infielders each committed at least one error on the way to a staggering six on the night.
The not-so-Amazin’s haven’t had that many errors in a game since 2014.
The night crowd let the team know exactly what they thought of its performance in the 10-5 loss, chanting “Pete Alonso!” and calling for Mets manager Carlos Mendoza’s job.
“Embarrassing,” said Mendoza, who didn’t know what to attribute his team’s flailing in the field to. “Overall, you know, the whole day. Two losses, but just the way we played overall. That last game, unacceptable. Obviously, everybody’s pissed. Everybody’s frustrated. As simple as that.”
The rowdiest fans in attendance for the day game — a horde of Norwegians in town for the World Cup — looked blissfully unaware of the team’s current state while cheering inside a nearly empty ballpark. Taking over the section just below the jumbotron, a sea of red soccer jerseys vibrantly showed their baseball support with coordinated chants and dances between the stands.
But even they quieted by the time the Cubs doubled the Mets’ score in what was ultimately a 10-3 loss in Game 1.
Since this latest losing streak began, the Mets have been outscored by an egregious 50-19 margin.
“It’s not good,” Sean Manaea said of the Mets’ psyche after giving up six hits, three earned runs and two walks through three innings in his nightcap start. “We are playing not up to our capabilities. I don’t think anybody in here in this room would say otherwise. We know we’re better than this and just, right now, we’re playing really, really bad baseball.”
While Lindor (0-for-5) still needs to shake off the rust, there is currently uncertainty surrounding Juan Soto, who was held out of both games on Wednesday with tightness in the left side of his back.
Mendoza wouldn’t rule out a stint on the injured list for Soto, who was receiving treatment and still being evaluated.
Lindor and Soto have only appeared in nine games together this season so far.
“It is what it is, right?” Mendoza said of potentially losing Soto as Lindor returns. “Hopefully, we get those two in the lineup for a long time here for the rest of the season and we can make a run at it.”
The Mets blew a multi-run lead in each game on Wednesday, allowing the Cubs to get right back in it due to futility on the mound or poor defense.
Of the two games, the Mets kept the second one much closer until the final couple of innings.
While Mark Vientos’ 10th homer of the season evened the score at 4-4 in the fourth inning, Brooks Raley gave up a double and a triple off the wall as soon as he took the mound in the sixth. It allowed Chicago to take a one-run lead as Raley finished with two hits, two runs and one walk.
Bo Bichette pulled the Mets within one on a solo home run in the sixth, but the first of two fielding errors from Vientos allowed the Cubs to push their lead to two in the eighth inning.
Pete Crow-Armstrong reached second base after Vientos inadvertently tossed the ball over reliever A.J. Minter’s head as he ran to make the out at first.
In the ninth, Devin Williams retired the first two batters before a Hoerner blast to the warning track clipped the glove of Carson Benge for a double.
That ignited a killer ninth inning for the Cubs, who put up three more runs for good measure.
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“The season is definitely testing our mental fortitude, for sure,” day starter Nolan McLean said. “Each day, we’re all having conversations with each other figuring out how we can get better. Trying to see what each other’s doing that we might not be noticing with ourselves, just getting a different perspective on things.”
