Mets lose back-and-forth affair with Mariners 8-7

The Mets entered tonight coming off two straight wins against two very good AL West teams, and they played a tough game against the Mariners tonight. But they ultimately gave up too many big hits to Seattle and did not get quite enough big hits of their own tonight, and they ultimately fell to the Mariners 8-7 to tie the series at a game apiece.

David Peterson started for the Mets coming off one of his strongest outings in recent memory in which he tossed seven innings of one-run ball against the Angels. Alas, he didn’t put up quite as strong a start against the Mariners tonight. The damage against Peterson started in the second inning, when Teoscar Hernández hit a leadoff solo homer in the second inning of the game to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead. Seattle would then put up more runs in the following frame when, following a one-out single by J.P. Crawford, Julio Rodríguez crushed a ball to deep center field that landed just beyond the reach of Brandon Nimmo and ended up going for an RBI triple. Rodríguez would then subsequently score on a single by Hernández to make it 3-0 Mariners. Peterson would ultimately last just four innings, giving up those three runs on a whopping seven hits while striking out four and walking none.

But the Mets’ starter did not leave the game with a deficit. Luis Castillo was on the mound for the Mariners tonight, and while he largely shut the Mets down in the first few innings, he did falter in the bottom of the fourth inning. Pete Alonso led off the frame with a sharp single to left, and Daniel Vogelbach was then hit by a pitch in the foot to put runners on first and second. The red-hit DJ Stewart then came to the plate, and he continued his remarkable stretch by socking a three-run homer to straightaway center field to tie the game. Castillo would give up two more hits—including one to Ronny Mauricio for his second hit of the game—before finally retiring the side, but the Mets had nevertheless clawed their way back into the game.

Unfortunately, the team’s bullpen could not keep it that way. Grant Hartwig—just back from Triple A Syracuse—came on in place of Peterson, and he quickly surrendered the lead, allowing two runners on on a hit-by-pitch and a single before giving up a sacrifice fly to Hernández (giving him his third RBI of the night) to make it a 4-3 ballgame. Hartwig would then give up even more in the top of the sixth inning, hitting Ty France with a pitch to lead things off (which would lead to France leaving the game for a pinch runner) before giving up a two-run bomb to pinch-hitter Dominic Canzone to make it 7-3 Mariners. Following a walk to former Met Sam Haggerty, Sean Reid-Foley came on to try to limit the damage, but he could not fully accomplish that goal. Haggerty stole second and third base, and then with two outs, Rodríguez hit a chopper to third base which Mark Vientos—getting the start at third base in lieu of Brett Baty—made a bad throw on, and the runner scored on the error to give Seattle a four-run lead.

The Mets still would not go down quietly, though. Vientos made up for his error with a leadoff homer to begin the bottom of the sixth, and a subsequent walk to Omar Narváez convinced Mariners manager Scott Servais to remove Castillo from the ballgame. Gabe Speier then came on and struck out the next two batters, bringing Fransisco Lindor to the plate. He quickly made it a one-run ballgame by hitting a line drive that clanked off the left field foul pole for his 25th home run of the season.

For a while after this, the main thing of note which occurred in the game was Vientos leaving after straining something while running the bases in the bottom of the seventh. But following scoreless innings from Phil Bickford and Trevor Gott, the Mets’ offense came back once more in the bottom of the eighth. After Mariners reliever Taylor Saucedo surrendered a walk to Lindor to put the tying run on-base and bring up Jeff McNeil. The reigning battle title champion then tied the game with a hard shot to right field that was just off the glove of Canzone in right field, going for an RBI triple to tie the game at seven runs apiece.

Unfortunately for the Mets, the game would not be tied for long. Adam Ottavino came on in the top of the ninth inning, and he quickly gave up a solo homer to J.P. Crawford to right field to make it 8-7 Mariners. And the Mets ultimately would not offer another comeback in the bottom of the inning—thanks in part to Daniel Vogelbach getting thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double to leadoff the inning. While Stewart followed that baserunning blunder with a single, pinch-hitters Brett Baty and Francisco Alvarez were both retired to secure the loss and tie the series. Both teams will seek to go for the series win tomorrow afternoon.

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What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Jeff McNeil, +42.1% WPA
Big Mets loser: Adam Ottavino, -31.6% WPA
Mets pitchers: -72.7% WPA
Mets hitters: +22.7% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Jeff McNeil RBI triple in the eighth, +37.4% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: J.P. Crawford solo homer in the ninth, -34.8% WPA