Mets close June with yet another crushing defeat

The Mets capped their June of finding creative and painful ways to lose in impressive fashion Friday evening in their series opener against the Giants, as the largely reliable David Robertson could not overcome a Pete Alonso error in the eighth inning, surrendering a crushing three-run home run to Patrick Bailey.

The game started promisingly enough, as the Mets took a rare first inning lead on a Jeff McNeil RBI double down the left field line which scored Francisco Lindor . The Giants tied the game in the top of the second, but an Omar Narvaez sacrifice fly in the bottom of the frame put the Mets back ahead 2-1.

Carlos Carrasco would struggle but hold the lead until the top of the fifth until Old Friend Wilmer Flores made himself feel right back at home, tying the game with a home run to left center not too far from where he put one in much happier times in July 2015.

The Mets would show a flash of life and answer right back again in the bottom of the frame, with another McNeil opposite field double putting the Mets back ahead 3-2. The Mets turned to their spotty, overworked bullpen in the sixth, and actually held and even extended their lead, as Jeff Brigham and Brooks Raley combined for two scoreless frames while Tommy Pham added a 411-ft bomb just inside the left field foul pole in the bottom of the sixth.

The insurance run just made the inevitable a bit more dramatic, as the hammer fell in the devastating top of the eighth. Robertson started the frame by striking out Flores, but Alonso couldn't handle a Joc Peterson grounder cleanly and J.D. Davis worked a walk, which led directly to Bailey’s bomb to center.

The Mets went relatively meekly the last two innings, with Luis Guillorme working a walk in the ninth off Camilo Doval, that was quickly erased in the form of a caught stealing of pinch runner Starling Marte. The loss felt like an apt denouement to a soul-crushing, season-spoiling 7-19 June, as the Mets lost their 46th game of the 2023 season—a total they didn’t reach until late August last season.

SB Nation GameThreads

Amazin’ Avenue

McCovey Chronicles

Box scores

MLB.com

ESPN

Win Probability Added

www.fangraphs.com

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Jeff McNeil, +28.0% WPA

Big Mets loser: David Robertson, -60.0% WPA

Mets pitchers: -44.0% WPA

Mets hitters: -6.0% WPA

Teh aw3s0mest play: Jeff McNeil RBI double in the bottom of the fifth, +18.0% WPA

Teh sux0rest play: Patrick Bailey’s three-run home run in the top of the eighth, -55.2% WPA