Bad Review Costs Mets Off Broadway Matinee in 4-3 Loss

Twins 4 Mets 3 (10 innings) (Target Field , Minneapolis, MN)

Mets record: 11-7

Mets streak: Lost 2

L10: 6-4

WP - Cole Sands (2-1)

LP - Reed Garrett (0-1)

Seat on the Korner: Harrison Bader

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.

If Ralph Kiner were still manning the WOR-Channel 9 postgame studio, there’s no doubt who’d be taking the short walk from the clubhouse to claim his seat. So tonight, we’re virtually saving a Seat on the Korner for Harrison Bader. Before the Mets rolled into town, Bader was mired in an 0-for-14 slump. But sometimes all it takes is seeing that familiar orange and blue across the diamond to stir something deep in the baseball gods. Last night, the former Met broke out in style, going 3-for-4 with a stolen base, and he didn’t stop there. Today, he opened the hit column early, unleashed a laser from center to cut down Jesse Winker at the plate, and then drove in the game’s first run to jumpstart the Twins’ offense, and topped it off with a game saving catch in the eighth inning. If revenge is a dish best served cold, Harrison Bader’s been serving it up with ice cream and sprinkles—extra sweet and impossible to ignore.

Need to Know

• The Mets string of not losing back-to-back games to start the season has come to an end at 18.

• The Mets are now 7-5 in Interleague Play this season...

  They went 24-22 in Interleague Play last year and 285-281 overall.

• Due to illness, Griffin Canning was scratched from his scheduled start. In his place, Huascar Brazobán was handed the ball for his first career start—yes, first ever, in fact, he hadn’t started a game in the minors either. His longest career outing? A whopping 3.2 innings back on June 8, 2023, with Miami against Cleveland—basically a Netflix episode’s worth of pitching.

• The Mets made their first roster move of the season today, calling up right-hander Justin Hagenman from Triple-A Syracuse. Hagenman had made three appearances down on the farm—two of them starts—where he gave up eight earned runs in 10.1 innings, walked four, and struck out 12. Not exactly vintage Seaver, but hey, he's here. And with his debut in the second inning , he becomes the 1,262nd player to suit up for the Mets—joining a club that includes Hall of Famers, all-stars and one-hit wonders.

• Hagenman is the first Mets pitcher and second player to make their major

  league debut this season (also: Hayden Senger).At 28 years old and 191 days, became the 23rd oldest pitcher to make their major league debut for the franchise.

  
  

• Hagenman’s final line in his debut was a solid 3.1 innings pitched, allowing 3 hits, 1 run, no walks, and striking out 4.

• Francisco Lindor picked up a hit before today’s game even started. In fact, it happened four days ago—he just didn’t know it at the time. Major League Baseball has issued a scoring change from the April 12 game against the Athletics: in the top of the first inning, Lindor reached on what was originally ruled an error. Upon further review—and probably a second cup of coffee—they’ve changed it to a single. So Lindor adds a hit to his stat line retroactively, which is kind of like finding a $20 bill in an old coat pocket, only with a batting average boost instead of laundry lint.

  
  

• Francisco Lindor's base hit in the eighth inning extending his hitting streak at Target Field to 20 games dating to 2019, when he was still with Cleveland.

  It's the longest by an opponent in ballpark history, and just one shy of Brian Dozier's record 21-game hitting streak at Target Field.

• David Festa took the mound against the Mets—his childhood favorite team—for the second time in his young career. The first came back on July 30, 2024, at Citi Field, where he pitched like a kid trying to impress his baseball card collection. He went 5.0 innings, gave up two runs on three hits (one of them left the yard), walked one, and struck out six. Solid effort, but he still took the loss—because sometimes, dreams come true... and sometimes, they come with an “L” next to your name. This time around, in front of the home crowd, he was even better: 4.1 innings, five hits, zero runs, and six strikeouts. No decision this time, but if you’re keeping score at home, that’s 10.1 innings against the team he probably watched religiously as a kid—with a David Wright poster on the wall and a glove that never left his hand. Not too shabby for someone still writing the early chapters of his big league story.

• The Mets streak of series wins ends at four as they failed to notched their fifth straight series win with the loss to the Twins today.

  
  

Turning Point

Juan Soto's and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is today's turning point. With the game locked in a scoreless tie, the Mets mounted what would become their most promising threat in the top of the fifth inning. It began innocently enough with back-to-back singles—Tyrone Taylor grounded a base hit through the left side, and Brett Baty followed with a liner up the middle to put runners on first and second with nobody out. The Mets were in business.

Hayden Senger, tasked with advancing the runners, was unable to get a bunt down and ultimately struck out swinging for the first out of the inning. Still, with two men on and one out, the opportunity remained ripe. Then came the first pivotal moment—a hit-by-pitch to Francisco Lindor loaded the bases. The Twins responded with a mound visit and then a pitching change, calling on Danny Coulombe to escape the jam.

What followed was the definitive swing moment of the game.

Juan Soto, one of the Mets' most dangerous hitters, stepped to the plate with the bases full and only one out. But instead of delivering the big hit, he grounded sharply to second baseman Edouard Julien, who made a heads-up play—tagging Franciso Lindor on his way to second base and continuing on his own to to first beating Soto to complete an unassisted double play, ending the inning and snuffing out the Mets'chance to build a big inning.

The Mets went from bases loaded and one out to nothing across, a crushing missed opportunity. The psychological blow was immediate. In the bottom half of the inning, the Twins capitalized on the shift in momentum, breaking the tie and seizing control of the game for good.

.

Juan had a chance at redemption in the top of the ninth after Francisco Lindor drew a two-out walk, but he struck out for the third time, capping a rough 0-for-5 day at the plate.

Three Keys

Wednesday Matinee Full of Understudies

If they handed out Playbills at Wednesday matinees in ballparks, this one would've been filled with understudies and swing roles. The Twins took the field without Carlos Correa, Matt Wallner, or Christian Vázquez—basically half their curtain call cast—while the Mets played one man short on the bench, still waiting to officially place José Siri on the IL. It had all the makings of a Broadway show during flu season: missing stars, makeshift lineups, and the hope that the backups knew their lines. In a game like this, depth matters—and whichever team’s understudies remembered the choreography was going to steal the spotlight.If they handed out Playbills at Wednesday matinees in ballparks, this one would've been filled with understudies and swing roles. The Twins took the field without Carlos Correa, Matt Wallner, or Christian Vázquez—basically half their curtain call cast—while the Mets played one man short on the bench, still waiting to officially place José Siri on the IL. It had all the makings of a Broadway show during flu season: missing stars, makeshift lineups, and the hope that the backups knew their lines. In a game like this, depth matters—and whichever team’s understudies remembered the choreography was going to steal the spotlight.

One Bad Review, and the Curtain Falls

Like many Wednesday matinees, one bad review can doom an entire production. And while this wasn’t quite a theatrical disaster, the Mets’ matinee in Minnesota took a hit in the fifth inning—ending a perfect 5-for-5 record on video challenges this season. The moment came when New York challenged a tag play on Willi Castro’s double to center field, arguing that he’d come off the bag. But the call was upheld, and with that, the Mets lost their ability to challenge moving forward. It would come back to bite them just one inning later. In the sixth, Castro again found himself at the center of controversy, this time beating out an infield single on a slow roller to Pete Alonso. Alonso's toss to pitcher José Butto clearly arrived ahead of Castro, but the first base umpire called him safe. With no challenges remaining, the Mets could only watch as Butto paused to argue and Ryan Jeffers alertly dashed home for the Twins’ third run. Though the Mets clawed back to tie it in the eighth at 3, that missed call loomed large as it could have given the Mets a 3-2 lead.Minnesota ultimately handed New York a tough loss in a game that could have swung differently if Broadway’s curtain-call gods had been kinder to the video booth.

No Love for France: Mets Fall in Extras

With the game tied at 3 in the bottom of the 10th, the Twins began the inning with Byron Buxton placed at second as the ghost runner. Edwin Díaz, who had worked a rocky but scoreless ninth, gave way to Reed Garrett. After getting ahead in the count, Garrett delivered an 85.7 mph sweeper that Ty France lined sharply into center field. Tyrone Taylor charged in, but there was no play at the plate as Buxton raced home with the winning run. France’s walk-off single handed the Mets a gut-punch 4-3 loss and tagged Garrett with the defeat.