The situation did indeed get worse for the struggling Mets, who lost their fourth straight game. The Mets opened a pivotal homestand Tuesday night with a loss, falling 9-4, following a losing road trip.
The lone player to participate in the Mets’ joyous “OMG” motion at Citi Field on Tuesday night was Austin Adams, a reliever that New York sent to Oakland in exchange for cash in March.
Adams recorded all three outs in the fifth inning and stranded two inherited runners to thwartt New York’s effort at a comeback before turning his heel. He struck out Jeff McNeil, got Jose Iglesias to pop up to first, then struck out Francisco Alvarez with runners on first and second. After the game, Adams was so happy with his performance that he three times raised his arms in the air to resemble the Mets’ celebration of a home run (influenced by Iglesias’ song “OMG”). Adams mumbled obscenities as he left the mound.
Austin Adams appeared to mimic the OMG Mets celebration after striking out Francisco Alvarez to get out of a jam in the 5th pic.twitter.com/zzH3pOezJN
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 14, 2024
When questioned about who specifically he was cursing at, Adams responded, “Yeah, I pitch on emotion. I need to do a better job of maybe not doing that. Big-time situation in the game, got some big outs, helped the team win. Listen, when you get DFA’d, you’re told you’re not good enough to play for a team anymore, it sucks. So, yeah, a little extra juice today.”
During spring training, Adams was one of the last cuts made by the Mets from the bullpen before Yohan Ramirez and Michael Tonkin took the final two slots and Sean Reid-Foley was placed on the disabled list.
On the mound, Adams is renowned for displaying emotion. He declared that mocking the celebration was not in his plans. “I am fairly natural,” Adams continued.
“Honestly, I looked up, and I was so surprised that I got out of it, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh!’ And then it dawned on me: Oh my gosh. And then so I did it. But that song is sick. Iglesias is a good dude. Hopefully, no one is offended.”
The Mets (61-58) should take offense.
And then start to produce more offense.
The season of the Mets hinges on it. Their current losing run of four games is the longest since they suffered five straight losses in late May. Despite their division rival’s difficulties, they were only one game behind the Atlanta Braves for the last wild-card place as of Tuesday. Nevertheless, they have not been able to close the gap.
By the third inning, Oakland (51-69) had taken advantage of Paul Blackburn’s erratic control to establish a 7-1 lead. However, not too long ago, the Mets could very well overcome such a disadvantage. However, that occurred well in advance of the All-Star break, a few of their key players’ slumps, and their difficulties with runners in scoring position. While last weekend’s poor offensive performance against the Seattle Mariners starting staff was to be expected, missing opportunities to score against the A’s raises some red flags.
Joe Boyle, the A’s starting pitcher, was just promoted from Triple A, where he posted a 5.63 ERA. Boyle held the Mets to one run in the first four innings until the Mets scored three runs in the fifth to tie the game and chase Boyle. But Adams got out of the jam after that, and New York never put up another threat.
With runners in scoring position, the Mets were 4 for 16 overall. Though not sufficiently, there was some progress made with the upper and middle echelons of the order. Francisco Lindor finished 2-for-4 with a walk. Despite not hitting a home run in his last 77 plate appearances, Lindor has continued to at least reach base. Lost in a deep slump, Brandon Nimmo was 0 for 4. Pete Alonso went 1-for-5 with two RBIs and three strikeouts in his three games versus Seattle without recording a hit.
And after Boyle hit him in the elbow with a fastball that was traveling at 100 mph, J.D. Martinez exited the field. Martinez (elbow contusion) stated that testing came back negative and he is currently day-to-day.
The Mets’ recent bad run is understandable when you consider Francisco Alvarez’s problems (he went 0-for-4, stranded seven runs, and is hitting.167 in the second half). They are going to go as far as their lineup will allow them to go without great beginning pitching. It is more difficult to understand how the Mets offense looked so good for such a long time, even if it was not that long ago. That was the time when their players would repeatedly belt out the words to “OMG,” rejoicing after each home run and victory.
Not opposing players.
It’s up to the Mets to reclaim their mojo.
(Photo of Austin Adams’ celebration: Julia Nikhinson / Associated Press)
