The Mets rallied from a four-run deficit to force extra innings but they missed a chance to win it in the 10th and got beat up in the 11th, resulting in a 10-5 loss to the Astros Sunday. The loss means the Mets are under .500 at 40-41 at the halfway point of the season.
Luis Severino gave the Mets seven innings and likely could have given another inning. He allowed a home run early and then got touched for several soft hits. His final line was 7 IP, 4 ER, 1 BB and 3 Ks. After striking out 10 batters in his last start, Severino couldn’t replicate that feat and instead was subjected to the BABIP gods. And they did him no favors.
Meanwhile, the Mets went without a hit in the first five innings. They final broke thru in the sixth with a single by Brandon Nimmo, who came around to score on a two-run double by Mark Vientos. The Mets tied it in the seventh with a two-run homer by Nimmo, the 100th HR of his career.
Adrian Houser came on the pitch and delivered two scoreless innings. But after he retired the side in the ninth, the umpires called for the tarp and a rain delay that lasted over two hours ensued. The Astros lost Josh Hader due to the rain but the Mets lost their momentum. When play resumed, they went quietly in their half of the ninth and pretend baseball ensued.
The Astros scored their zombie runner in the top of the 10th inning. Nimmo delivered his third RBI of the game when he ripped a double to lead off the bottom of the 10th. But they failed to get Nimmo in and that ended up costing them the game.
Newly activated Matt Festa came on for the 11th and his stuff could be best described as “hittable.” And the Astros did just that. The Mets went down in order in their half of the inning to end June on a sour note.
I guess you could say they feasted on Festa. After Nimmo gave them another life in the tenth it is inexcusable that the next three batters couldn’t manage a single to send that rain, soaked crowd home with a victory. This was still the second best month of June the Mets have ever had and with all of the below 500 teams ahead of them over the next 2+ weeks, they have a real chance to push themselves closer to securing a wildcard. I may have been in selling format for a quite a long time, but if they can keep this going, I’d be looking for Stearns to pick up a strong reliever or two to keep them moving forward. Hopefully the good David Peterson shows up tomorrow.
Gut Reaction: I really expected them to take the series. They were 90 ft away from victory, winning the series and a winning record. Severino and Houser pitched well, Vientos kept rolling and Nimmo had a good game. They were short 90 feet, (sigh).
At the halfway mark their 40-41. I predicted that it would be a struggle to play .500 ball all year. I expected them to win 81-82 games. May was depressing. It was a good June. The immediate schedule is good for them and they should be above .500 by the All-Star break. I hope it will be a good July.
Disappointing loss, the bats besides Nimmo were a no show…the game was theirs to take with Nimmo on 2b and the middle of the lineup coming up. I’m not sure why the walked the leadoff hitter in the top of the 11th with an AAA pitcher on the mound, but whatever. The next two weeks vs. so so teams to get to the ASG should give Stearns a good read on how to proceed.