Mets’ losing streak continues

I will always be grateful for our readers and the support they give. If you are reading this right now, I truly thank you and appreciate you, but it is the last weekend of summer and the weather is supposed to be glorious in New York. Please enjoy it. Spend some time outdoors before the cold winter months move in. Go apple picking. Take a walk. Open a window. Just find anything, anything that has nothing to do with this team, because much like the leaves on the trees, they looked beautiful in the summer only to fall and land in the gutter come September.

Their latest descent was a 4-3 loss against Zack Wheeler and the Phillies. The game never really felt winnable and the final score is misleading. The Phillies took an early lead in the second after they manufactured a run off Taijuan Walker. Wheeler, however looked brilliant to start, but faltered in the fourth when the Mets loaded the bases against him with one out. Javier Báez managed to come up with a hit but it was a bloop single that scored only one run. This offense once again squandered the rest of the inning and one run was all they got.

Immediately after that deflating inning, Walker gave up a home run to Brad Miller that put the Phillies back ahead. It was quite a swing where in the span of a half inning the Mets could’ve been winning but found themselves losing instead, which is really a microcosm of how this season has gone for this team.

Overall, Walker had a better outing than his previous start but he was pulled after five innings. His counterpart on the mound lasted into the sixth but did not record an out and left with two runners on. Despite only picking up one run in the fourth they did manage to drive Wheeler’s pitch count up which led to his early departure. The Phillies bullpen is always an adventure but Jose Alvardo entered after Wheeler and induced a double play from Michael Conforto and a strikeout of J.D. Davis to end the threat.

With both starters out of the game early it was a battle of the bullpens and the Mets’ bullpen blinked first. Seth Lugo struggled again, as did Brad Hand. Hand left with runners on and Jeurys Familia allowed one of them to score on a double by Didi Gregorius. That turned out to be the deciding run since the Mets finally managed to break through against the Phillies’ bullpen in the eighth.

Doubles by both Michael Conforto and Kevin Pillar lead to two runs which pulled the Mets to within one. The Mets even caught a break when Pillar was ruled out a second but an umpire’s review overturned the call. Luis Rojas had already used his challenge earlier in the game on a pick off play but the call was upheld.

With Pillar still on second as the tying run, James McCann faced off against Ian Kennedy and struck out to leave Pillar stranded. They once again did just enough to pull within one run only to come up short yet again. Brandon Nimmo was their last hope in the bottom of the ninth and while he did hit a ball pretty well, it came up well short of the wall and was caught in centerfield.

This team always manages to come up just short, and while not mathematically eliminated just yet, they continue to head in the direction of coming up short when the calendar turns to October. (But please seriously. Go outside and enjoy the leaves changing colors when that happens).

*illar of the game

Kevin Pillar had a great at-bat in the eighth to drive in the Mets’ third run of the game. Jonathan Villar had a tough night and looked frustrated against Zack Wheeler.

Box scores

ESPN
MLB

Win Probability Added

Fangraphs.com

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Kevin Pillar, +13.3% WPA
Big Mets loser: Jonathan Villar, -17.8% WPA
Mets pitchers: -9.3% WPA
Mets hitters: -40.7% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Kevin Pillar double in eighth
Teh sux0rest play: Brad Miller home run in fifth

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