After a seventh consecutive loss with the most recent being an ugly, sloppy affair against the Pittsburgh Pirates on the heels of a complete disaster of a series against the Atlanta Braves, Mets manager Buck Showalter called a players-only meeting.
It’s not often that teams have these types of meetings during a season, but when they do, at least in this case (according to multiple players), it’s to convey a message of accountability and higher standards, especially for a team like the Mets that have such high expectations this season.
“He said what needed to be said,” Mark Canha told Newsday prior to Saturday’s game. “We all know it’s not acceptable. There needs to be a higher standard. It needs to come from within. It’s not anything that you can point to and say this is the reason or that’s the reason. You have to dig deep within yourself. Every one of us has to look inside of ourselves and demand more out of us, more focus, more attention to detail.”
To the Mets’ credit, they followed up Friday’s debacle with a 5-1 win over Pittsburgh that snapped their seven-game losing streak and evened the three-game series.
Now, it’s about continuing to play good baseball and stacking wins. They’ll have their chance to do that on Sunday in the rubber game starting at 1:35 pm
“We still have a lot of work to do and I think that’s important to remember,” Canha said after Saturday’s win.
Despite the win, the Amazins’, after committing two errors on Friday, made three more errors on Saturday. Normally sound on defense this season, the Mets have made at least one error in six straight games which certainly wasn’t helping their losing ways.
New York got past the defensive miscues on Saturday mostly thanks to Kodai Senga‘s impressive start, but the defense – namely Brandon Nimmo – did return the favor with two great catches in center field, one that saved multiple runs after Senga got himself into trouble by walking the bases loaded.
“There needs to be more focus,” Nimmo said before the game. “If we’re going to lose, that other team is going to have to beat us, not us beating ourselves. That’s what I got out of the meeting. Because there were a few plays yesterday that he felt like we beat ourselves rather than they beat us. I would agree with that.”
Francisco Lindorwho was DHing on Saturday after making a key error in Friday’s game that he called “unacceptable”, said Showalter used “every different tone” in the meeting.
“Are we in trouble? We’re not kids. He’s talking to grown men,” Lindor said pregame. “But it was a good message with a great tone and a great tone-setter. I’m all on board. Whenever Buck speaks, I’m there.”
Lindor added: “He was trying to get a point across and he did. I appreciate what he did. I know the message was well received. We just gotta play better.”
Tied 1-1 until the seventh inning, it took a little while for the Mets to get going, but Canha’s two-run double off a tough right-hander sparked the offense and couldn’t have come at a better time.
After that, Francisco Alvarez hit a home run in the eighth inning before Canha put the nail in the coffin in the ninth with another run-scoring double as the Mets were on their way to their first win since June 1.
“It’s time to go. It’s time to stop [messing around] and be accountable,” Lindor said. “[Buck] said many good quotes that resonate with me and with all my teammates. It’s time to evaluate ourselves and look ourselves in the mirrors and just put it together. Put it together and get going.”