The New York Mets got off to a strong start in their critical three-game series against the Miami Marlins. Francisco Lindor led off with a solo home run against Sandy Alcantara, staking New York an early 1-0 lead. The Mets entered the day in control of their own destiny with a one-game lead over the Cincinnati Reds for the final NL Wild Card berth.
But everything fell apart for New York in a nightmare fifth inning. The Marlins scored six runs and the Mets could not answer, losing 6-2.
After the crushing defeat, Carlos Mendoza spoke about missed opportunities and mistakes. When asked why the team was still making so many mistakes at this stage of the season, the Mets manager was at a loss.
“That's a good question, obviously. It's on me, it's on all of us. We continue to make the same mistakes and it's costing us games,” Mendoza said, per SNY.
Mistakes doom Mets as playoff hopes fade
With an opportunity to play spoiler, the Marlins plan to use their top three pitchers in the series against New York, starting with Alcantara. The Mets sent rookie Brandon Sproat to the mound for his fourth career outing Friday.
Sproat started strong as New York took a 2-0 lead into the fifth inning. But things quickly got away from the young righty. The Marlins jumped out to a 3-2 lead before an Agustin Ramirez single changed Sproat from the game. The Mets called on Gregory Soto to get the final out of the inning.
Unfortunately, Soto did not keep an eye on Ramirez, who stole second base. The Marlins’ catcher then stole third without a throw as Ronny Mauricio failed to cover the bag.
Mauricio was in the game after starting third baseman Brett Baty left with an injury in the first inning. With Ramirez suddenly on third base before Soto even threw a pitch, the Marlins got another run on Xavier Edwards' two-out single. Connor Norby followed with a pinch-hit solo homer, giving Miami a 6-2 lead.
The Mets had no answers, as the team failed to get a base hit after the third inning. The brutal loss, combined with the Reds' win over the Milwaukee Brewers dropped New York out of the third NL Wild Card spot. While the Mets and Reds now have identical 82-78 records, Cincinnati holds the tie-breaker.
Clay Holmes will take the mound for New York in Saturday’s must-win game. Miami will counter with Eury Perez.
