The Mets lost their seventh straight game Friday night, again in frustrating fashion, this time to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
right-handed Tylor Megill had gotten off to a good start on the mound and the offense struck out a pair of runs against the southpaw rich hill. Then the Mets defense took a turn for the worse.
“We are playing a little better defensively behind him and the situation could be different,” Buck Showalter said post-game. “Some physical games that we normally do and we haven’t done them, that’s one of the most disappointing things.”
It started at the end of the second when Starling Marte shot at a Austin Hedges understudy, who landed fair and ducked out of play for a two-run brace, giving Pittsburgh the lead.
After Francois Lindor home run, evening things two, things went wrong again.
With an over and an over in the third, carlos santana threw what should have been an end-inning double play, but Lindor threw it to extend the inning. Megill walked the next batter on four pitches to load the bases, followed by a two-run single.
Ji Hwan Bae then dropped a bunt and advanced to third on a Eduardo Escobar throwing error. After Josh Palacios drove home the fifth run of the set, Megill managed to ground Hedges in a double play to end the threat.
“It’s unacceptable,” said a frustrated Lindor when discussing his mistake after the game. “It was a pure and simple mental mistake, I rushed the game. Those are my mistakes this year, trying to finish the game without having the baseball in my glove.
“Mental mistakes like that, they can’t happen. I will make another mistake, guaranteed, but mental mistakes like that can’t happen,” he added. “Today is mine. This game was going to close the round, today is for me.”
It wasn’t all about Lindor, however, as things escalated from there and New York went on to lose embarrassingly 14-7.
The Mets are now four games below .500 for the first time this season. After being swept by the Atlanta Braves, a series in which they led by three points every game, they came out tonight and were outplayed by Pittsburgh with a laugh.
While Lindor has no answers for the ongoing struggles, he knows things need to change quickly.
“It sucks,” he said. “I mean it’s part of the season, but I’ve been saying this for too long. It’s time to move on. It’s time to be better, we have to be better. Simple and clear, we have to be better, I have to be better.