Three Takeaways from the D-backs' Frustrating Series Loss to the Mets

The Diamondbacks had an opportunity to take the season series against the New York Mets, but they dropped two of three at Chase Field. Arizona finished the season series against the Mets 3-3, pushing the tiebreaker between the two teams to intradivisional record. However, the tiebreaker would be moot if the Mets win the National League East division title.

Perhaps the more troubling sign is Arizona has lost five of their last six series, their only win coming against these same Mets last week at Citi Field. That stretch includes two teams they'll have to contend with for the Wild Card, the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies.

Here are three key takeaways from the Diamondbacks frustrating series loss to the Mets.

1: Diamondbacks Stars Rounding Into Form

Diamondbacks starting pitchers did their part against the Mets, holding them to six runs over 17 1/3 innings. However, the most encouraging sign from the rotation has been the performance of Zac Gallen. Gallen became the first Arizona starter to complete seven innings. He accomplished that in the second game of the series, the lone game they won.

What made Gallen so dominant was his ability to command both his four-seam fastball and his knucklecurve. Those two pitches accounted for 73 of the 101 pitches he threw on the night. His mastery of the knucklecurve was on full display Tuesday, as he got four whiffs on five swings and landed 10 more in the strike zone for called strikes.

Gallen has put together two good starts in a row, a good sign for the Diamondbacks over the course of the season. In those two starts, both against the Mets, he's allowed just two runs over 13 innings with 14 strikeouts. In order to contend for a postseason spot, Arizona will need their ace in top form.

One common point between the two starts has been the presence of José Herrera. He was inserted in the lineup for Game 2 to give Gabriel Moreno a breather. I wrote about how effective the Herrera/Gallen battery has been over the past two seasons. It will be interesting to see if the two get matched up more if Gallen continues to pitch well.

On the offensive side of the ledger, Corbin Carroll has begun to heat up at the plate again. He reached base nine times in the series with five hits, two home runs, and four walks. Carroll had entered the series batting .178 with 17 strikeouts and no walks in his previous 10 games.

Like Gallen, Carroll is expected to carry the load for the team. He got off to a blistering start to the year before significantly cooling off over that 10-game stretch. However, it appears that he's bouncing right back. Carroll has seven hits over his last four games, pushing his season slash line to .297/.370/.613.

Getting their MVP candidate productive at the plate couldn't come at a better time. Pavin Smith and Josh Naylor have cooled after hot starts, and Ketel Marte is still finding the timing on his swing after spending a month on the injured list.

2: Bullpen Fails to Keep Games Close

In their two losses, the Diamondbacks failed to avoid the big inning. In both games, things got away because the bullpen could not keep the score close and give the offense a chance to make a comeback. That resulted in Ryne Nelson and Merrill Kelly taking two tough luck losses.

In the first and final game of the series, Arizona trailed by only one run entering the seventh inning. In Game 1, Ryan Thompson allowed a three-run home run to Francisco Lindor. That turned a 2-1 game into a 5-1 game, allowing the Mets to weather a three-run rally by the Diamondbacks in the bottom of the eighth inning.

In the third game of the series, it wasn't just one bad inning. In what was a scoreless game after five innings, the Diamondbacks allowed the Mets to score in each of the final four frames. Kelly allowed just a solo home run to Juan Soto in the sixth but then fell apart in the seventh. He surrendered three hits to the four batters he faced and suddenly a 1-0 game became 3-0.

Further compounding the problem was the bullpen's inability to stop the bleeding. Jalen Beeks allowed a solo homer to Soto in the eighth and José Castillo had a rough ninth inning. Castillo served up a two-run double to Lindor, then a sacrifice fly that made it 7-1. With the game out of hand at that point, the left-hander had to wear it with a 42-pitch outing.

While it's easier to manage games by taking an early lead and playing downhill with quality starting pitching, sometimes games have to be won coming back. Arizona relievers need to stay sharp, even when trailing, to give one of the top offenses in baseball a chance to win the game.

3: Mental Mistakes Continue to Pile Up

Mental mistakes have been a hallmark of the 2025 Diamondbacks. Too many times this season manager Torey Lovullo has lamented such mistakes in his press conferences. Each of the three games you can point to a pretty significant mistake that either cost the team or could have cost the team.

In the first game it was baserunning. That mistake came in the eighth inning, on a bad read from Josh Naylor on a ball that Eugenio Suárez hit off the wall. Naylor made the mistake of tagging at first base and thus was only made it to second on what should have been an easy two bases.

Since he was representing the tying run, getting to only second on the play was an egregious mistake. Had there been runners on second and third, as opposed to first and second, there would have been more pressure on Reed Garrett to hold onto a 5-4 lead.

The second mental mistake ended up resulting in no damage, but there was a case where Naylor let a ball go foul in the ninth inning of the second game. Had he picked it up, it would have been an easy out, but it would have allowed Juan Soto to score from third. It was a bizarre decision, as Soto's run meant nothing, but the Mets only had two outs remaining in the game and the tying run had yet to come to the plate.

It ended up being no harm, no foul as Brandon Nimmo lined out to short and Mark Vientos flied out to center for the final two outs of the game. It was a case where the team lucked out in the eventual result but at the same time, it nearly gave the Mets an additional opportunity to stage a potential comeback. Fortunately for Naylor, that didn't happen.

The third game continued the mistakes costing opportunities theme of the series. In the third inning of the series finale, the Diamondbacks had drawn back-to-back walks to open the frame. In a 0-0 game, Lovullo asked Geraldo Perdomo to advance both runners with a bunt. He failed to do so, as his bunt failed to get past catcher Luis Torrens and resulted in the lead runner getting forced out at third.

The mistake was compounded by the next batter, Pavin Smith, grounding into an inning-ending double play. Arizona went hitless in four at-bats with runners in scoring position, two of them coming in that inning alone. Kodai Senga escaped the inning and threw six scoreless innings. Had the Diamondbacks taken the lead, and the way Merrill Kelly was pitching at the time, the game could have unfolded differently.

Three Takeaways from the D-backs' Frustrating Series Loss to the Mets

1: Diamondbacks Stars Rounding Into Form

2: Bullpen Fails to Keep Games Close

3: Mental Mistakes Continue to Pile Up

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