Sandwiched between an electric effort from rookie Nolan McLean on Wednesday and the much-anticipated debut of Jonah Tong on Friday was pure slop.
After one of their best series of the season, the Mets responded with two of the worst half-innings of the campaign. There were several dropped balls, slow tags, botched plays and three charged errors — their most in a game since April 19, 2024 — that led to five unearned runs.
It all added up to one disappointing and sloppy 7-4 setback to the Marlins in front of 37,975 annoyed fans at Citi Field on Thursday.
The Mets (72-62) could not maintain the momentum from McLean’s masterpiece that capped a sweep of the Phillies, who moved back to five games ahead in the NL East.
If Tong wants to ensure his first big league game goes smoothly, he might want to continue his minor league dominance and simply strike everybody out.
“We didn’t execute. We didn’t play a clean game,” said manager Carlos Mendoza, who declined to attribute the misplays to a hangover effect from the Philadelphia series. “We didn’t do the little things fundamentally. Some routine plays, gave them extra outs, extra bases, and it cost us the game.”
A careless, three-run top of the third dug the Mets a hole that they climbed out of when Pete Alonso clubbed his 30th homer of the season, a two-run shot that tied the contest in the fifth. But not even a Mets offense that has been rolling could outhit its defensive issues.
The game went sideways in a seventh, for which tape the Mets will not submit to the Hall of Fame. The frame’s blunders began with Alonso, who fielded a ground ball with a runner on first base and spun to begin a double play. But in the process the ball popped out of his glove, and instead of two outs the Mets recorded none.
“We gave the Marlins an opportunity, and they capitalized on every opportunity we gave them,” said Alonso, whose misplay begot more misplays.
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Agustín Ramírez followed with a bullet to left field off Gregory Soto that appeared to be struck too hard for Jakob Marsee to score from second — except Brandon Nimmo booted the ball and had to bend twice to scoop it up, letting the go-ahead run score.
Next to drop the ball was catcher Hayden Senger, who tried to backhand a Soto sinker and watched the ball carom off his mitt for a passed ball that moved both runners up one base.
With one out and runners on second and third, Otto Lopez shattered his bat on a ground ball that sent a shaded-in Jeff McNeil to his left. The second baseman fielded and threw home for a second time on the night, and for a second time fired too late, a slow tag from Senger ensuring another run scored without an out made. After a sacrifice fly, three unearned Marlins runs had scored that proved the game’s difference and provided a letdown from an energetic few days.
“It’s not like you go in today saying, ‘Let’s take a game off,’” said Clay Holmes, who was better with his arm than his glove. “But there has to be that conscious effort of: Let’s focus in, let’s take care of the details.
“I think we do that. Sometimes the environment’s just a little different. As much as you try to control and do things, sometimes these games happen.”
Rarely have these innings happened to the Mets — at least to this degree of ugliness —, but they occurred twice Thursday. In the third, Holmes plunked Xavier Edwards, who easily stole second and went to third on a groundout. McNeil then charged a Liam Hicks chopper and might have had a chance at Edwards at the plate with a perfect throw, but his attempt was imperfect, on the first base side.
After a groundout moved Hicks to second, Troy Johnston hit another chopper to Alonso that should have ended the inning. But the first baseman retreated, fielded and threw to Holmes, who dropped the would-be out. The ball ricocheted into foul territory to allow the go-ahead run to score and Johnston to reach second. Lopez then smoked an RBI single into left to plate another unearned run.
“I thought today the guys were in a good spot, prepared,” Mendoza said. “Just didn’t execute.”