The Mets lost 3-2 to the Milwaukee Brewers at Citi Field on Thursday night, falling to the Brewers for the third time in this four-game series and the sixth time in seven games this season.
As such the Mets have lost nine of their last 11 games and are now 7-18 in June, their overall record a season-worst 36-45.
Here are the takeaways
1) For the third time in the four-game series against the Brewers, the Mets were a no-show offensively other than back-to-back solo home runs from Brett Baty and Brandon Nimmo.
They had big chances to change the outcome in the seventh and the ninth innings but Starling Marte failed twice with two outs.
When they loaded the bases with one out in the seventh, trailing 3-2, Brewers manager Craig Counsell broughed in right-handed reliever Elvis Peguero to face Marte, who grounded into a routine 4-4-3 double play to end the inning.
In the ninth, they put runners on first and third with one out against the Brewers closer Devin Williams, pocket Luis Guillorme grounded out to first and after a Brandon Nimmo walk to load the bases, Marte struck out on an 0-2 changeup to end the game.
With two runs on Thursday, the Mets scored a total of only five runs in the three losses to the Brewers in this series.
2) Max Scherzer delivered a solid start, shutting out the Brewers for five innings before giving up a game-tying two-run home run to Victor Caratini in the sixth inning. As a result, he got a no-decision while going six innings, allowing two runs and racking up nine strikeouts.
In doing so, Scherzer lowered his season ERA to 3.87 and continued to pitch well for a third straight start since his consecutive clunkers against the Atlanta Braves and Yankees.
Actually, Scherzer has been good in seven of his last nine starts, pitching to a 1.60 ERA in those seven that have been sandwiched around the two against the Braves and Yankees, in which he paid for repeatedly hanging sliders.
3) The bullpen gave up the go-ahead run in the seventh inning even though it wasn’t hit hard. Lefty TJ McFarland gave up an infield hit and a hit-by-pitch, then right-hander Dominic Leone gave up another infield single and finally a sacrifice fly to Brian Anderson.
The Mets’ bullpen came into the game ranked 11th in the National League with a 4.28 ERA despite David Robertson‘s 1.59 ERA.
4) Caratini is officially a Scherzer-killer. The Brewers’ backup catcher was in the lineup because of his numbers against the Mets’ right-hander — 8-for-17 (.471) with a double and a home run.
And then on Thursday, he went 2-for-3 against Scherzer, including a game-tying two-run home run in the sixth inning on a first-pitch fastball. As a result, Caratini is now 10-for-20 with two home runs against the future Hall of Famer. This from a guy who came into the game hitting .245 this season with a .661 OPS and three home runs.
5) The Mets’ pattern of making mistakes continued when Pete Alonso was thrown out trying to take second base leading off the second inning after his pop fly bounced off second baseman Brice Turang‘s glove near the foul line.
The ball caromed off the short wall and bounced to the right fielder Blake Perkins, who threw to second to get Alonso easily.
The baserunning mistake short-circuited a potential rally, as Jeff McNeil doubled with one out, and the Mets wound up not scoring in the inning.
Highlights
What’s Next
The Mets welcome the San Francisco Giants to Citi Field for a three-game series starting Friday at 7:10 pm
Carlos Carrasco (2-3, 6.19) takes the mound for the Mets against Alex Cobb (5-2, 3.09).