Late Inning Meltdown Costs Mets A Chance At A Sweep In Detroit
- phillipsm331
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
Tigers 6, Mets 2 (Comerica Park, Detroit, MI)
Mets Record: 75-65
Mets Streak: L1
Mets Last 10: 6-4
WP: Casey Mize (13-5)
LP: Clay Holmes (11-7)
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.
Today's Seat On The Korner goes to Detroit Tigers' starter Casey Mize, who cooled down a red-hot Mets' offense with five solid innings of work. Mize allowed just one run on five hits while striking out three to earn his 13th win of the year, helping Detroit avoid a series sweep.
Need To Know:
The Mets won the season series with Detroit 2-1 and earned their first series victory at Comerica Park since 2011 after winning the previous two nights.
This is the final game in a stretch of 16 in a row without an off day for the Mets, who went 9-7 over that span.
The Mets' loss dropped them to 6 games back of the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East. Philadelphia resumes their road series with the Milwaukee Brewers tonight.
The Mets' lead over the Cincinnati Reds in the NL Wild Card race is down to 4.5 with this loss. Cincinnati concludes its series with Toronto later today.
The Mets have lined up David Peterson and Jonah Tong to start the first two games of their next series in Cincinnati. Sunday's starter is yet to be announced but is trending towards Nolan McLean pitching on regular rest, with Sean Manaea starting on Monday in Philadelphia.
Reports have emerged that the Mets may ask Kodai Senga to accept a minor league assignment to work on his mechanics. Senga, who can contractually refuse the assignment, is likely being skipped this turn through the rotation.
Turning Point:
With the game tied at 1 in the fifth and Clay Holmes tiring, the Mets turned to Gregory Soto to try and get out of a two out jam. Riley Greene greeted Soto rudely with a go-ahead two-run single to put Detroit up 3-1, a lead they would never relinquish.
Three Things:
The Mets' Clay Holmes Conundrum:
While the overall outing wasn't bad for Holmes, the Mets saw him run out of gas in the middle innings again, needing 85 pitches to navigate 4.2 innings while walking three batters and surrendering five hits. In an ideal world, Holmes would be a candidate to move to the bullpen to help that unit out but the struggles of Manaea and Senga have made him a rotation necessity. While the overall numbers would dictate Holmes is worthy of a postseason start, the Mets would need to have a quick hook for him if he does start a playoff game.
Ryan Helsley's Struggles Continue:
The backbreaking play for the Mets came in the seventh, when Carlos Mendoza turned to Helsley to try and keep the Mets' deficit at 3-2. Helsley imploded again, giving up three runs on three hits while walking one and recording just two outs. The crusher was a three-run homer Helsley allowed to Kerry Carpenter, raising his ERA with the Mets to 11.45 and raising further questions as to whether he would even crack a potential postseason roster.
Starling Marte Is Cooling Off:
With Jesse Winker done for the year, the Mets will look to Starling Marte for a significant portion of their DH at bats the rest of the way. Marte had a tough day at the plate, going 0-for-4 with a strikeout and short-circuiting a potential comeback in the sixth inning by swinging at the first pitch from Tommy Kahnle, who had walked Jeff McNeil on five pitches, to ground into an inning-ending double play. Marte has just one hit in his past 15 at bats and could begin to cede some playing time if his struggles continue.
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