SAN DIEGO The New York Mets wasted a late lead on Sunday and had to settle for a split despite being five outs from winning a crucial series against the San Diego Padres, a team that is currently ahead of them in the wild-card standings.
In the ninth inning against Edwin Díaz, rookie center fielder Jackson Merrill hit a walk-off, solo home run with one out. But in the previous inning of the Mets’ 3-2 loss on Sunday, Jose Buttó let up a two-run home run to Jurickson Profar, tying the game at 2-2. That is when things really went south for the team.
Losing ended a fantastic comeback start for veteran Jose Quintana (6 1/3 scoreless innings, four hits, two walks), as well as a chance for New York to catch up in their postseason push.
Here are three takeaways from the series.
Mets fail to take things to another level
When calculating the Mets’ realistic expectations for the postseason, a split series versus the Padres on the road with one month remaining proved to be more than acceptable.
However, the Mets’ Sunday loss was particularly painful because it was just one more example of the times they have backed down from significant opportunities to advance.
Padres 3, Mets 2: After tying it with two runs in the eighth, the Padres walked it off in the ninth against Edwin Diaz. And after blowing a 2-0 lead late, the Mets leave San Diego with a series split. New York is 68-63.
— Will Sammon (@WillSammon) August 25, 2024
Since they won five games in a run from July 22–26, the Mets have not won more than two in a row. It happened one month ago.
The Mets (68-63) lost both times they had the opportunity to go seven games over.500, their season best, in the series against the Padres (74-58).
In spite of a deluge of injuries, the Atlanta Braves (70-60) have won six of their past eight games, which has allowed them to preserve a 2 1/2 game advantage over the Mets. Nevertheless, throughout the previous week, Atlanta only managed to score more than three runs in a game once—during a victory. This is the moment if the Braves have ever looked vulnerable. The only other teams who have a chance to finish in the top three are the mediocrity-defining St. Louis Cardinals (65-65), San Francisco Giants (66-66), and Chicago Cubs (65-66).
In the end, if the Mets win the series in Atlanta in September (or if the Braves falter), the status quo of staying afloat might be just enough given that field. However, the Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks had wide error margins due to their inspired runs (75-56). There is no such margin for error for the Mets. Veterans in the Mets’ clubhouse acknowledge the significance of the upcoming series in Arizona, but they also remind out that a lot can happen in the remaining five weeks.
“It’s not the biggest series of the year, but it’s a big series,” designated hitter J.D. Martinez said. “We just gotta go out there and take care of ourselves, not get caught up in the standings because then you’re just putting added pressure on ourselves.”
Jose Buttó’s struggles raise concerns
Buttó’s usage has been rightly raised by the Mets, who are using him in high-leverage situations with quicker turnaround times. However, the right-hander’s command has let him down in crucial occasions.
Buttó has played in five games since August 13. He had a 0.87 ERA in 20 2/3 innings as a reliever before to that day; the Mets needed him in a job like this, and he deserved the high-stakes situations. However, Buttó has given up eight walks in 7 1/3 innings during his last five appearances.
In the seventh inning of Sunday’s game, Buttó had two on and one out. Having trailed 3-0 in the count, he forced Luis Arraez to fly out before Merrill was caught attempting to steal second base, which allowed him to escape a full count against David Peralta.
Buttó walked Mason McCoy, the ninth batter, in the eighth inning after retiring the first, and then gave up Profar’s home run.
“He was having a hard time getting ahead,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said.
Mendoza stated that he did not want to use Díaz for five outs, so he kept Buttó in instead of going to Díaz, who was warming up, following the walk to McCoy. However, Mendoza and Diaz have already discussed how fresh Diaz is due to the lack of save opportunities and time missed earlier in the season due to his suspension and injury.
“There’s a lot that goes into it,” Mendoza said. “Especially after he was up twice (warming up) earlier. I was pushing him, getting more than one inning.”
Because the Mets did not have a lefty in the bullpen and two left-handed batters were scheduled to bat following Manny Machado, who led off the inning, Mendoza stated he left Quintana in the game to open the seventh inning. Mendoza added that Quintana still had a strong appearance.
It was possible to use Buttó earlier. He may have been taken out sooner. Still, he displayed poor leadership once more in a significant situation, and this time he suffered for it.
The Mets had excellent beginning pitching throughout the series, with the exception of Paul Blackburn, who was placed on the injured list and will almost certainly be replaced by Tylor Megill in the rotation. After pitching a shutout, Luis Severino put up five strong innings. With his longest outing of the season (7 1/3 innings), David Peterson kept up his recent winning streak. Quintana made a comeback after several subpar games.
It is now imperative that the Mets settle things down in the final innings. Luckily for New York, Phil Maton performed admirably throughout the series, getting the last out in the eighth on Sunday and tossing a scoreless inning on Thursday. Dedniel Núñez also made a strong comeback from the injured list, pitching a spotless inning over 1 2/3 on Saturday.
The most noteworthy aspect of an eye-opening season has been Vientos’ consistency since taking over Brett Baty’s third base position. Baty will miss four to six weeks due to a broken finger, the Mets said on Sunday.
Vientos’ power has not diminished after Mendoza moved him to the No. 2 spot in the batting order on August 15. Mendoza credited Vientos’ rise in strikeouts to recent excellent pitching.
The series against the excellent pitching staff of the Padres provided evidence of Vientos’ ability to steer clear of a run of bad games. Vientos hit a single and a home run on Sunday after going 0-for-8 on Friday and Saturday with a walk and six strikeouts. He leads the Mets with an OPS of.885.
“He looks extremely comfortable,” co-hitting coach Eric Chavez said recently. “He looks like he’s been here for a while now. I know people were like, ‘Oh, this is just a hot streak,’ and, ‘Is it going to end?’ He’s kind of found something — obviously he’s going to go through hot and cold — that I think is going to work for him for a very long time.”
(Photo of Mark Vientos: Denis Poroy / Getty Images)
