A September to Misremember: Diaz spoils Sproat's gem as Mets nightmare streak reaches eight

Rangers 3 Mets 2 (Citi Field, Flushing, NY)

Mets record: 76-73

Mets streak: Lost 8

WP - Phil Maton (4-5)

LP - Edwin Diaz (6-3)

SV - Shawn Armstrong (9)

Seat on the Korner:

We select the star of the game and virtually invite him to a Seat on the Korner, just as Ralph Kiner used to do for his studio postgame show on WOR-channel 9 broadcasts in the early decades of the Mets.

Wyatt Langford had his fingerprints all over this Rangers victory on Saturday. He went 2-for-5, he doubled in the 8th and came around with the tying run, and he drove in the winning run in the 9th with a single off Edwin Diaz to extend the Mets' losing streak to eight games.

Need to Know

• With the loss, the Mets are now in a virtual tie for the wild card with the Giants, pending their outcome against the Dodgers late tonight. Technically, if the season ended before tonight's Giants game, they would be out of the playoffs.

• The 8 game losing streak is their worst since 2018. The Mets have a .211 batting average and an OBP of .267 during this stretch.

• Since June 13th, the Mets have the third lowest winning percentage in baseball at .388, ahead of only the Rockies and the Twins (and tied with the Nationals.)

• Edwin Diaz suffered his third blown save of the season.

• The Mets' bullpen ERA since June 1st is 4.85 ... fifth worst in the majors.

• Brandon Sproat pitched six scoreless innings, scatting six this while walking none and striking out three. He has a 2.25 ERA this season.

• Juan Soto's home run in the 7th inning gave him 40 for the season, entering him into the 40-30 club.

Turning Point

Catcher's Interference is the call that has been more prevalent this season than any I can remember. It's not just Francisco Alvarez, either, It's everyone in the league as the focus has shifted from catching the ball to pitch framing. Josh Smith reaching on catcher's interference to lead off the 8th set off the rally against Tyler Rogers and Edwin Diaz that would tie the game at 2-2.

If Josh Smith doesn't reach, that's a 1-2-3-4 inning even if you factor in Langford's double. Instead, tie game at 2-2.

Keith even foretold the outcome in the at-bat against Rowdy Tellez, as he said that Rowdy was a down and in hitter. Diaz's slider? Slightly down, slightly in, lots of middle.

Three Keys

Thanks, Just Looking

Patrick Corbin didn't have the greatest day against the Mets today, only going 4 and 1/3 innings. But he only gave up one run to the Mets, who had dominated him in his career. Corbin was 8-13 lifetime against the Mets with a 5.07 ERA in 29 starts and 30 games overall. He was 7-9 this season with an ERA of 4.36, a WHIP of 1.32, and a WAR of -0.3.

Point being: This is a pitcher the Mets needed to pound into submission after seeing seven innings of Jacob deGrom the night before. Instead, the Mets loaded the bases in the first inning off Corbin, only to have Starling Marte look at a called strike three to end the inning.

Then after the Mets scored the first run of the game on a mad dash by Francisco Lindor which had the crowd jumping, Mark Vientos looked at strike three and Brandon Nimmo struck out on a foul tip and all momentum died.

In the 8th, after the Rangers had tied the game, Cedric Mullins struck out to end that inning with two runners on. And in the 9th, Brandon Nimmo had the tying run on third yet struck out to end the game. All in all, 12 men were stranded on the basepaths, which was much of the difference in a 3-2 loss.

And For Good Measure ...

At least the Mets didn't leave Brett Baty on base in the 6th. But that's because he was the victim of a horrendous pick off at second base. The Mets had runners on first and second with nobody out when Baty was picked off by Hoby Milner. The next two hitters went down meekly to end the inning.

It's sloppy baseball, and the Mets have been partaking in a little too much slop over the past month or so. Getting picked off can kill rallies just like striking out with the bases loaded can. It can be even worse than a strikeout because getting picked off is easily avoidable.

The Final Countdown?

All losses count as one in the standing. Many of the losses that have plagued the Mets lately have been the ones where they were out of it from the first inning on.

This one was different. This was a late lead that was blown by their two best relievers: Rogers and Diaz. To have the end to a seven game losing streak in sight, having it set up in your favor, and still losing? I'm sure the clubhouse is going to try to compartmentalize it and go as hard as they can the last 13 games. But that has to hurt them in a way that even getting swept by the Phillies in Philadelphia didn't. In a way that losing 3 out of 4 to the Marlins didn't. In a way that losing Jacob deGrom's return didn't.

I can tell you that sitting in the stands near a very agitated section 517, it felt like it was the final dagger in a season where this team should have rolled out of bed and made the playoffs ... flaws and all. The standings may show hope, but the sight of the product on the field tonight tells me otherwise.