The Mets suffered their fifth consecutive loss, this one a 3-2 setback against the Giants Tuesday night in San Francisco. The Mets had been very good in one-run games this season but this was the third loss by a single run in their last five games.
Marcus Stroman gave up a two-run homer in the first inning and then settled in to pitch a strong game. He made it through six innings without another run scoring and he was due to hit fifth in the top of the seventh. But his turn didn’t come up and Luis Rojas sent him to the mound for the bottom of the seventh. Stroman gave up a homer to the first batter he faced but then retired the next three hitters.
All season long we’ve been asking Rojas to go longer with his starters and when he finally does, it bites him. Let’s hope this experience doesn’t prevent him from doing it in the future.
Pete Alonso hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning to make it a one-run game. After Aaron Loup came on and pitched a scoreless eighth inning, Jeff McNeil led off the ninth with a single. But Jonathan Villar was called out on a borderline strike three and Patrick Mazeika grounded out for the second out, sending McNeil to second. But Kevin Pillar struck out on three pitches, watching the last two, to end the game.
The Mets were 1-5 with RISP tonight and the hit did not score a run. In the five-game losing streak, the Mets are 4-41 with RISP.
And Conforto’s base-running mistake/conservative approach probably cost the Mets a run scored in a 3-2 game.