So, this is what the dead-ball era looked like.
With an offense that’s quickly earning its place among the forgettable collection of teams that have called Queens home, the Mets are just as rapidly making the rest of the season irrelevant, having lost a second straight game to the last-place Cubs, 4-1, Monday at Citi Field.
The inept lineup again produced only four hits, tying a franchise record (1963, 2004) for futility by recording four or fewer hits for the fifth straight game. No team since the 2004 Mets has endured a streak so long.
“There’s no easy answers,” manager Terry Collins said. “These guys are working, in fact maybe they’re swinging too much. It’s just about not trying to do too much, just putting the barrel on the baseball. … It is throughout the lineup, there’s no question about it that we’re not putting the ball in play.”
The Mets took an early lead, as Lucas Duda broke a scoreless tie with his 22nd home run of the season, on a shot to deep right-center field off of Kyle Hendricks (5-1) in the fourth inning, but the team didn’t record another hit until the ninth inning.
Now, the Mets head west for a five-game trip against the dominant rotations of the A’s and Dodgers, beginning with matchups against Scott Kazmir and Jeff Samardzija.
“When you’re getting three, four, five hits a game, there’s obviously not much confidence when the team’s going to the plate, so I think if we can go up there and get some hits and start feeling good about yourself, that’s when we’ll start rolling,” said David Wright, who went 0-for-4 after missing Sunday’s game with shoulder soreness. “It’s just execution, just got to go up there and do what we’ve done in the past when we’re a good offensive team.”
Carlos Torres had given Duda and the dead bats a chance, making the best out of a very bad situation by pitching five shutout innings in a surprise spot start, filling in for Bartolo Colon who returned home to the Dominican Republic to be with his mother, who died Monday afternoon.
Making his first start since Sept. 27, Torres left in line for the win, but three batters after he was removed, the no-decision was sealed.
Dana Eveland allowed a leadoff double to right to Rizzo in the sixth inning, setting up Luis Valbuena’s game-tying RBI single to right two batters later. Rizzo then gave the Cubs the lead with a solo homer to right in the eighth inning, breaking Buddy Carlyle’s 13-inning scoreless streak. Javier Baez hit a two-run bomb to left field, off of Jenrry Mejia, in the ninth.
Daniel Murphy then gave the crowd a moment of hope, leading off the ninth with a double, but of course, he was stranded.
“Our pitching staff has done a really nice job of stepping up and winning some games for us that we probably didn’t deserve to win,” Wright said. “Last couple days, just can’t score runs. It’s a tall task to go up there and score one, two runs, get four, five hits and expect to win those games.
“I don’t think it’s a mindset and I don’t think it’s a philosophical thing, I think it’s more just execution and we’re not doing that. Moving forward, we’re obviously going to have to do a better job offensively.”