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Luis Severino and the New York Mets saw their nine-game winning streak, which had solidified their position in the postseason conversation, come to an end on Sunday with a 3-1 defeat against the Cincinnati Reds.
“I think for us right now, we’re not worrying about who’s winning, who’s losing,” said Severino while addressing the media.
Since May 30, the Mets have led the majors with a 56-32 record. Their nine-game winning streak was their longest since a similar stretch in April 2018.
Luis Severino knows where the Mets should focus
“Right now we just need to win series. Even when we were not even in the talk of being in the playoffs, we were just trying to win games. And if we continue to do that, if we continue to focus on our team, not worry about what the other teams are doing, I think we’re going to do good,” Severino continued.
Shortly after the Mets' defeat, the Atlanta Braves secured a 4-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays, pulling into a tie with New York for the National League wildcard spot. With 19 games left for each team, they will face off in a key three-game series at Truist Park from September 24-26.
Severino was working to safeguard a one-run lead when he surrendered his sole run of the day in the seventh inning.
Phil Maton, who has performed solidly since his acquisition from Tampa Bay before the trade deadline, allowed two runs in the top of the ninth.
Cincinnati’s Alexis Diaz closed out the game with a save in the bottom of the ninth. The Mets' offense, however, struggled, mustering just a single run in the sixth inning from a two-out RBI single by Starling Marte.
A quiet night for the New York Mets
The top five hitters in the lineup went 0-for-16, with three walks and five strikeouts, against rookie right-hander Julian Aguiar and five relievers. Meanwhile, Severino delivered another strong performance, allowing just one run in 6 2/3 innings.
Maton entered the game tied in the ninth inning and promptly hit Spencer Steer with a pitch. Ty France then followed with an infield single that could have been a double to left if not for a diving stop by Mark Vientos, who made his second defensive highlight of the game.
A grounder to second by Jake Fraley advanced the runners to second and third for Santiago Espinal.
With the infield drawn in, Espinal put the Reds ahead with a two-run double to left field. The Mets could not respond in the bottom of the inning.
New York struggled all game, facing Aguiar in just his fifth major league start. Although he had allowed eight runs in 6 2/3 innings over his previous two outings, he held the Mets scoreless for 4 2/3 innings on Sunday.
Brandon Nimmo almost put the Mets ahead in the third inning, but for the second game in a row, his high fly ball went over the right-field foul pole and was ruled foul.
Luis Severino stumbled in the seventh inning, affected by some soft contact. After striking out Espinal, he allowed Noelvi Marte to drive in the Reds’ first run with a blooper to right, which ended Severino’s day.
Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor, who saw his career-high 16-game hitting streak end on Saturday, went 0-for-4 and saw his on-base streak of 35 games come to an end. This streak was the longest single-season streak in team history and ranked third overall behind Nimmo’s 36-game streak in 2019-20 and John Olerud’s 47-game streak in 1998-99.
