Mets Drop Second Straight To Marlins As NL East Lead Shrinks To 1.5 Games
The Mets' losing streak increased to three games on Tuesday night, as they dropped their second consecutive contest to the last-place Marlins in a 5-4 loss.
Their lead in the NL East is down to just 1.5 games, as the Phillies beat the Nationals again tonight. The Mets have lost five of their last six and are now 55-51 on the season. And over the course of their last 46 games, the Mets are 20-26.
After James McCann's RBI double cut the deficit to 5-4 with two outs in the ninth, Brandon Drury was unable to drive in pinch-runner Albert Almora Jr., who was left stranded on second base as the tying run.
The Mets' offensive woes were on full display once more with just four runs on five hits on the night. They also went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position, after going 1-for-10 on Monday.
According to manager Luis Rojas, these issues on offense all boil down to lack of approach and preparation.
"We've got to look at some of the things that didn't help us tonight and we've got to coach and the players need to talk amongst themselves," said Rojas after the game. "You can't do anything different than what you've done when you know your team. We do have to put in the work with the hitters, so that they are going into the game ready and are more aggressive in the zone."
As far as the Mets' level of panic is concerned from inside the clubhouse, Rojas says that's the one thing they cannot do as a team.
"I think we prepare how we've prepared all season," he said. "We played really good baseball for the majority of the season, we just can't feel panic at all at any point. We gotta go one game at a time."
For the fourth straight start, Taijuan Walker's struggles continued early on, as he allowed four runs and two homers in the first three innings.
Although Walker settled down to toss 2.3 scoreless innings to finish his outing, the Mets could not overcome the early deficit. Walker has now allowed 20 runs in his last 17 innings. He has also surrendered seven home runs in his last three starts, despite giving up only six through his first 17 outings this year.
In between another lackluster performance from the Mets, Rojas' frustrations came to a head in the top of the seventh when he was ejected from the game for arguing balls and strikes.
In the bottom of the first, Walker found himself in trouble, but was able to fight out of it to escape without giving up a run.
However, he allowed a solo home run to Alex Jackson in the bottom of the second, which put the Marlins ahead 1-0.
In the bottom of the third, it all fell apart for Walker, as he gave up a solo shot to Isan Diaz, and then let up a two-run single to rookie Bryan De La Cruz with the bases loaded, as the Marlins extended their lead to 4-0.
And for the second straight night, the Mets found themselves in a 4-0 hole against the Marlins.
The Mets got one run back in the top of the fourth, as Dom Smith knocked in Jeff McNeil with a sac-fly to cut the deficit to 4-1.
Meanwhile, Marlins starter Nick Neidert had settled in to toss five innings with only one run allowed.
But in the top of the sixth, the Mets got to Neidert, who issued a leadoff walk and a hit by pitch to setup first-and-second with no outs.
After Javier Baez's fly out moved Pete Alonso over to third, Dom Smith recorded his second sac-fly of the night to cut things to 4-2. But the Mets weren't finished there, as J.D. Davis knocked in Jeff McNeil with an RBI double to pull his team within a run at 4-3.
This saw Neidert get yanked in favor of Anthony Bender, who got Michael Conforto to fly out to the warning track to strand the tying run in scoring position.
The Marlins added a crucial insurance run in the bottom of the eighth against Seth Lugo, which proved to be the difference maker, as the Mets were able to get one back in the top of the ninth, but ultimately came up short of tying things.
With another loss to the Marlins, the Mets have dropped four-of-five to their rivals this season, and hold a 21-23 record against NL East opponents this year.
