The final 100 games of the season began yesterday for the Mets, who are a very difficult team to watch and are now on pace not just for 100 losses — but for more than 100 losses.
There was further horrifying play at Citi Field yesterday, as the Mets fell in another ugly one, this time 5-2 to the Cubs. They have lost three in a row, six of seven and 10 of 12. The Mets have played 63 games this season and stand a season-worst 15 games under .500 at 24-39.
That’s a 101-loss pace.
“These postgame questions and everything, I’m starting to not have anything really new to say,” David Wright said. “It’s a lot of the same issues day after day, and that’s something we have to correct.”
No Mets team has lost 100 games since the 1993 outfit dropped 103. Zack Wheeler makes his season debut on Tuesday, so that could help if he performs to his talent. Perhaps Travis d’Arnaud will be in the majors at some point too, which could also help. But beyond that, it’s difficult to objectively find reasons why the Mets are going to win at a better rate than they have through the first 63 games.
“Guys need to dig down deep and go one of two ways,” Wright said. “Either just go through the motions and play this thing out, or get motivated by whatever means necessary and finish this thing strongly, because a lot of these guys are going to be part of the future.”
Yesterday, the Mets offense managed just two runs, and has scored five runs or fewer in 25 straight home games (they can tie the team record today). Meanwhile, they’re 1-8-1 in their last 10 home series and 7-20 at Citi Field for the season.
Yesterday also featured second baseman Jordany Valdespin committing a remarkable first-inning error. After Cody Ransom singled, Valdespin tried to toss the ball to Jonathon Niese but inexplicably overthrew him by approximately 15 feet, allowing Ransom to take second. Valdespin said the umpire did not hear his timeout call and explained that “the ball just slid off my hands.”
“It’s part of our game where every day you see something you never saw before,” manager Terry Collins said.
Valdespin also failed to turn two potential double plays, getting taken out at second base by the runner before getting a throw off. And in the seventh inning, with the Mets down 2-1, Lucas Duda — who leads the team in homers with 11 — attempted to bunt against a shift. He was thrown out.
“Because it failed … it looks bad,” Collins said. “But we’re not exactly hitting the ball all over the ballpark. I understand it completely. … He’s hitting .225. I know he’s got some power, but he’s just trying to start something.”
Said Duda: “There’s two sides. We’re down by one so I can try to hit one out, but off of [Scott] Feldman I wasn’t seeing the ball real well today, and he got me to pop up twice. Here’s a good opportunity to lay one down, hopefully get something started.”
There were also problems with the bullpen, as reliever Brandon Lyon walked in a run to make a 2-1 deficit a 3-1 hole, and he and Scott Rice allowed three runs in the eighth inning. As Collins pointed out, the Mets had just two hits through 7 1/3 innings.
“You look up in the eighth inning, and we’ve got two stinkin’ hits,” he said. “Two. Those are issues.”
“It’s difficult any time you lose, but to play as poorly as we have in the first few months, it’s not fun,” Wright said. “Nobody in here is having fun.”