Mets commit three errors in loss to Marlins, give game back to Phillies in division race
Mets reliever Gregory Soto reacts after the Marlins' Jakob Marsee scores the go-ahead run in the seventh inning on Thursday night at Citi Field. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Mets’ hot pursuit of the NL East-leading Phillies stalled badly on Thursday night.
After making up three games in three days by sweeping Philadelphia this week, the Mets had a sloppy letdown against the Marlins. They committed three errors, had an ill-timed passed ball and made two throws to the plate that couldn’t quite cut down runners trying to score in what became a 7-4 loss before 37,975 at Citi Field.
The miscues and failures undid all the good they got from Pete Alonso going 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and Brandon Nimmo’s two-RBI night.
“We didn’t execute — we didn’t play a clean game, and they made us pay for it,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We didn’t do the little things fundamentally . . . gave them extra outs [and] extra bases, and it cost us a game.”
“Obviously, there’s a big series we just came off of,” starter Clay Holmes said. “And it’s not like you go in today saying, let’s take a game off. But there has to be that conscious effort of, hey, let’s focus in [and] take care of the details . . . As much as you try to control and do things, sometimes these games happen.”
The Mets (72-62) not only had their winning streak halted at three games but gave a game back to the Phillies, who trounced Atlanta on Thursday night and moved five games ahead. The Mets still have a firm grasp on the third and final NL wild-card spot, four games ahead of Cincinnati.
Miami scored three runs in the third inning with the help of an error and an off-the-mark throw to the plate, but the Marlins saw their 4-2 lead become a 4-4 tie on Alonso’s two-run shot in the fifth.
It all went wrong for the Mets in the seventh when they committed two errors, another throw to the plate came up empty and the Marlins scored three times.
Alonso had the ball come loose as he tried to make an exchange to start a double play, putting runners on first and second with none out against reliever Gregory Soto. Agustin Ramirez followed with a single to leftfield that Nimmo bobbled, allowing the go-ahead run to score.
With the infield drawn in, Otto Lopez hit a tough ground ball to second baseman Jeff McNeil’s left. He came up with it, but his throw to the plate didn’t beat Liam Hicks. Heriberto Hernandez’s sacrifice fly made it 7-4.
“[The] game got away from us there — the mistakes were capitalized upon,” Alonso said. “No matter who you play at this level, teams are going to take advantage of those and . . . the Marlins capitalized on every opportunity we gave them.”
The Mets made nothing of Francisco Lindor’s leadoff single in the seventh nor of Brett Baty’s two-out single in the eighth. They went down in order in the ninth.
Holmes, still in the rotation as the club currently is using six pitchers, pitched five innings and allowed four runs (two unearned because of his failure to catch a ball while covering first), five hits and a walk with two strikeouts. He failed to go deeper than five innings for the 12th time in 13 outings.
Alonso’s 30th home run of the season tied the score at 4 in the fifth. It came after Juan Soto reached on a five-pitch walk. Miami reliever Lake Bachar’s 1-and-2 fastball was over the heart of the plate and Alonso drove it 425 feet to centerfield, where it touched down about 15 rows up and just to the leftfield side of the batter’s eye.
“Every game matters right now — it’s not really [depending] on who we’re playing,” Holmes said. “Each game matters a lot and you feel it [in] here. Yes, we just came off a big series against the Phillies, but I think there’s still a sense of urgency no matter who we’re playing.”
Notes & quotes: Catcher Francisco Alvarez (sprained UCL in right thumb) no longer is days away from rejoining the Mets after suffering a broken left pinkie when he was hit by a pitch Wednesday while on a minor-league rehab assignment. Mendoza said the fracture is minor and the club hopes he can resume all baseball activities in a few days . . . Tennis star Novak Djokovic, who is playing across the street at the U.S. Open, chatted with several Mets before batting practice.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
