Final Score: Rays 8, Mets 5 — It’s not Wach ya want

The Mets followed up a win last night with a devastating loss tonight, putting a massive damper on their already slim playoff chances in this truncated 2020 campaign.

The first two innings saw the Mets and Rays mirror each other, with the first inning going by quickly for both teams, and the second inning saw solo shots hit by each club. Joey Wendle opened the scoring with one, and Andres Gimenez hit his third of his rookie year to tie it up.

The Rays would score another one on Wacha quickly, by way of a fielder’s choice, making it 2-1 in the top of the third. The Mets would not score again until the bottom of the fourth inning, when Dom Smith hit a mammoth home run to tie it up at two. The wheels fell off the Wacha wagon in the 6th inning, however.

A hard single by Brandon Lowe and a homer by Randy Arozarena made it 4-2 Rays before anyone could bat an eye, and the bullpen did not help much.

Miguel Castro pitched a solid seventh, but the eighth really opened it up for the Rays. Chasen Shreve came in and got blasted, walking Yoshi Tsutsugo and giving up a home run to Brandon Lowe. He surrendered another hit, and was promptly pulled for Familia, who gave up a run to make it 7-2. Matz relieved him in the following inning, and Arozarena took him deep, making it 8-2.

The Mets showed a flicker in the 9th, with Jeff McNeil walking, Pete Alonso doubling, Robinson Cano getting a run home on a ground out, and Todd Frazier going yard to make it 8-5. Nick Anderson came in for the Rays, struck out Gimenez on three pitches, and helped clinch the Mets a losing record in 2020.

Full recap to follow.

GameThread Roll Call

1. MetsFan4Decades: 99
2. stickguy: 89
3. kefmet: 49
4. Knurk: 48
5. JR and the Off-Balance Shots: 36
6. doctor prancer: 30
7. deegie: 27
8. cpins: 26
9. The Glider: 22
10. AnneInFlushing: 19

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