The torture Rafael Montero put the Mets through over 97 pitches Tuesday was just a warm-up act for the torment that would follow.
Twice in three innings beginning in the fifth, the Mets had the bases loaded with a chance to overtake the Dodgers. And twice, the Mets couldn’t get a hit that might have let the rookie Montero off the hook.
In a mess that lasted 4 hours, 8 minutes and nearly became the longest nine-inning game in franchise history, the Mets continued their May swoon with a 9-4 loss to the Dodgers at Citi Field that pushed them four games below .500 for the first time this season, and into sole possession of last place in the NL East.
“It seemed like we were on the field the majority of the game, and that’s not good,” David Wright said.
The Mets came within a minute of tying the franchise record for longest nine-inning game. They have twice played a 4:09 game, last occurring on Aug. 4, 2005, against the Brewers.
Besides losing for the fifth time in six games, the Mets (20-24) fell to 5-13 in May. They can only hope rookie Jacob deGrom, who is scheduled to make his second major league start on Wednesday, will be better than Montero was Tuesday.
Montero (0-2) lasted just 4 1/3 innings and allowed five earned runs on seven hits with four walks and four strikeouts. It was hardly the performance he gave the Mets last week against the Yankees in his major league debut, when he allowed three earned runs over six innings.
The Mets believed Montero was tipping pitches in his start against the Yankees and made adjustments on Tuesday that included a bigger glove to help the right-hander hide the ball better.
“I just continued to throw like normal,” he said. “Throwing well, I think.”
But Montero struggled with the strike zone and never got close to finding a rhythm. It was a second straight subpar outing by a Mets starter. On Sunday, Zack Wheeler allowed five runs, three of which were earned, over six innings in a loss to the Nationals.
Montero’s performance was just the beginning of the frustration for the Mets.
Daniel Murphy and Wright each had a crack with the bases loaded against Josh Beckett in the fifth. Murphy struck out before Wright ended a nine-pitch at-bat with a weak groundout.
In the seventh, the Mets again loaded the bases with one out. But Lucas Duda and Wilmer Flores were retired in succession by Chris Withrow to keep the Dodgers’ lead at 6-4.
“That is certainly one thing we have not done here from the beginning of the season is drive in those runs in those situations,” manager Terry Collins said on a night the Mets fell to 6-for-40 (.150) on the season with the bases loaded.
The Dodgers iced the game with three runs against Jose Valverde and Josh Edgin over the final 1 1/3 innings.
Duda’s two-run homer off Beckett in the sixth brought energy to the ballpark and sliced the Dodgers’ lead to 6-4. Curtis Granderson’s sixth homer of the season — a blast to deep right-center — got the inning started.
Adrian Gonzalez’s two-run homer in the fifth was the beginning of the end for Montero. Matt Kemp then doubled and Carl Crawford delivered an RBI single to give the Dodgers a 4-1 lead, ending Montero’s night.
Juan Uribe’s RBI single against Jeurys Familia finished the line on Montero before the Dodgers extended their lead to 6-1 in the sixth on Hanley Ramirez’s RBI single against Carlos Torres.
Montero walked three in the second inning, helping the Dodgers take a 1-0 lead on Beckett’s RBI single. But Montero struck out Yasiel Puig with the bases loaded to prevent further damage.
“[Montero] fell behind a lot tonight and that’s why he threw a lot of pitches,” Collins said. “We’ve got to get him to realize he can throw strike one and go from there.”