Kodai Senga struggles again as Mets drop series to Marlins
Kodai Senga of the Mets is removed from a game against the Miami Marlins during the fifth inning by manager Carlos Mendoza at Citi Field on Sunday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Mets built plenty of goodwill by wrapping up a three-game sweep of the NL East-leading Phillies on Wednesday.
It all vanished by Sunday afternoon, when a 5-1 loss to the Marlins in front of 43,302 at sold-out Citi Field capped an uninspiring series with three losses in four games.
Kodai Senga continued to be inefficient since coming off the injured list in July, allowing five runs and a season-high seven hits in 42/3 innings. The Mets’ bats also went cold, mustering only a run and five hits after averaging 9.3 runs and 12.5 hits in the previous six games of the homestand.
“It’s a tough series here, especially after coming [through] against the Phillies, but we got to move on,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said.
Even the benches clearing after Sandy Alcantara — who looked the part of the 2022 NL Cy Young winner despite a rocky season — (barely) hit Mark Vientos with a pitch in the seventh could not spark the Mets. Alcantara and Vientos seemed to exchange words, though the skirmish never escalated into anything physical.
“Just a lot of emotions, trying to get a rally going,” Vientos said. “And honestly, I’m just going to keep it between us, what was said. But like I said, a lot of emotions. Wanted to do whatever I can for the team to get on base, and things just got heated.”
The Mets (73-64) are six games behind the Phillies, who lost to Atlanta, and lead the Reds, who beat St. Louis, by four games for the NL’s third and final wild card.
Mendoza insisted before the game that the Mets have not played down to the level of competition, noting “whether it’s a team above .500, under .500 — at the end of the day, they’re still big-league players.”
Sunday’s loss brought the Mets to 16-17 against Miami (65-72), Atlanta and Washington — the NL East’s bottom three teams.
Monday begins a 10-day road trip featuring three games against AL Central-leading Detroit, three in Cincinnati and four in Philadelphia.
Mendoza pulled Senga (7-6, 3.02 ERA), who walked two and struck out six, with runners on first and second and two outs in the fifth. Brandon Waddell escaped with a 3-1 groundout.
“I’m pretty sure we’re going to have some discussion [about] what’s next for him, but our job is to get him right,” Mendoza said.
In nine starts since returning from a right hamstring strain, Senga is 0-3 with a 5.90 ERA and 1.69 WHIP in 392/3 innings — 4.4 innings per start. He has pitched at least five innings only three times in that span and never more than 5 2/3.
“We’ve been trying to fix him for quite a bit now,” Mendoza said. “Whether it’s the mechanics — he says he feels fine physically, but we’re not seeing results. He’s having a hard time competing in the strike zone. So I know [pitching coach Jeremy Hefner] and the pitching department is looking deep into a lot of different things here, trying to help him and get some feedback from him.
“But again, we haven’t been able to get there.”
Waddell — recalled Sunday as Chris Devenski, who threw three hitless innings Saturday, was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse — pitched 41/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks and striking out four.
Alcantara (8-11, 5.66) allowed four hits and a run in seven innings, struck out six and walked one.
Otto Lopez’s first-inning sacrifice fly gave the Marlins the game’s first run.
Senga struck out the side in the second, but Miami rallied with two outs in the third to extend its lead to 3-0. Jakob Marsee doubled and Agustin Ramirez rocketed a 111.5-mph, 386-foot line drive over the leftfield wall.
Senga served up a 1-and-0, 81.1-mph sweeper in the middle of the zone to Ramirez.
“There’s definitely some frustration,” Senga said through an interpreter. “I’ve never experienced something like this for this extended period of time.”
Miami added its fourth run on Heriberto Hernandez’s RBI single in the fourth. It stretched its lead to 5-0 an inning later when Brett Baty fielded Xavier Edwards’ bunt and airmailed the throw, allowing Javier Sanoja to score.
The Mets nearly scored with two outs in the third, but Joey Wiemer made a leaping catch at the rightfield wall to rob Juan Soto of an RBI extra-base hit. They scored their only run two batters after the seventh-inning altercation on Cedric Mullins’ 4-6 forceout.
“I’m not really concerned at all,” Vientos said. “We push this one past us and we look forward and we take care of business on the road trip.”
Notes & quotes: Francisco Alvarez, who suffered a sprained UCL in his right thumb on Aug. 17 and a broken left pinkie on Wednesday, caught all nine innings for Syracuse on Sunday. His return remains to-be-determined, but Mendoza said: “Nothing’s going to surprise me.” . . . Reed Garrett (right elbow inflammation) remains on track to return shortly after his injured-list stint reaches 15 days on Sept. 7, though he probably will need a one- or two-game rehab assignment . . . Rosters expand to 28 on Monday, and the Mets can add a pitcher and position player . . . Righthander Brandon Sproat, the Mets’ No. 5 prospect, according to MLB.com, threw seven scoreless innings for Syracuse on Saturday. “It was good to see him throw the ball the way he did yesterday,’’ Mendoza said. “I think it’s one of those where he’s like, ‘All right, here I am too.’ And we’re watching.”
Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
