Mets can't recreate Milwaukee magic as Blake Perkins walk off throw extends losing streak

Brewers 3 Mets 2 (American Family Field, Milwaukee, WI)

Mets record: 63-53

Mets streak: Lost 5

WP - Brandon Woodruff (4-0)

LP - Kodai Senga (7-4)

SV - Trevor Megill (27)

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.

Brandon Woodruff gave up a couple of dingers in the first two innings, but he recovered beautifully, overpowering the Mets with his array of heat. He threw seven innings, and only gave up one more hit after solos by Soto and Marte while striking out eight Mets to help send them to their fifth straight loss.

Need to Know

• With the loss and the Phillies win in Arlington, the Mets are now 3.5 games back in the National League East. And with the Reds loss, the Mets remain 3.5 games ahead in the final wild card spot.

• THe Mets are 18-29 in their last 47 games.

• The Mets are now 4-19 in their last 23 regular season games in Milwaukee.

• Kodai Senga went 4 and 1/3, giving up three runs (one earned) on two hits and three walks while striking out only two.

• Mets batters struck out ten times, with only Jeff McNeil and Francisco Alvarez avoiding K's.

• McNeil and Starling Marte each had two hits for the Mets, while Marte accounted for one of the two Mets runs with a solo HR in the second. Juan Soto's solo HR was the first run of the game in the first.

• After Brooks Raley hit Isaac Collins to bring home the go ahead run, the Mets bullpen of Raley, Ryne Stanek, Gregory Soto, and Tyler Rogers held the door shut.

Turning Point

Pick anything from the 5th inning, which started with a Kodai Senga error which led to, on the very next pitch, a two run blast by Brice Turang to tie the game at 2-2, and ended with a catcher's interference and a hit by pitch to bring in the go ahead run.

That's what I was going to go with until the ninth inning, when a double by Marte and a single by McNeil almost led to the tying run. But ...

Blake Perkins shut down another Mets miracle in Milwaukee with a great throw to the plate to nail Marte to end the game. Would you have had Tyrone Taylor pinch run there? Well, you're not Carlos Mendoza.

Three Keys

Road Block

Kodai Senga was cruising through four innings. He had only given up one hit in 53 pitches. With the Mets so desperately looking for a starter other than David Peterson to go 6 innings, this was a great sign.

But after a Senga error led off the inning, this happened on the very next pitch:

This was always Sid Fernandez's worst trait: He'd strike out 11 in five innings, but then a walk and an error behind him would inevitably lead to a three run homer. It happened here, and then Senga couldn't get it back, and he never made it out of the inning.

A catcher's interference call by Sal Frelick flipped around the 5th again, as a 4-6 force out turned into first and second with one out, which turned into the eventual winning run scoring on a hit by pitch from Brooks Raley to Isaac Collins.

It's understandable if Senga is still working through stamina issues after his injury, but the pitcher on the other side of the diamond has no such issues ...

Fast Track

What made Woodruff's outing so amazing is that he did it throwing mostly fastballs, whether it be either four seamers or two seamers.

Not to mention that Woodruff got better as the game went along. A true thoroughbred in just his 6th start of the season.

Where's The Rest Of The Band?

The new "Juan Solo" nickname isn't a compliment. But it sure held tonight.

He got the Mets off on the right foot tonight: sure enough.

But with a chance in the 8th to have his first true signature Mets moment, he rolled one over to second base to end the inning and strand Francisco Lindor.

Of course, it's not all on Soto. The entire team has been way too inconsistent this season ... this is an offense we all thought would be the unquestioned strength of the team, especially with Soto on board and his career numbers in run scoring spots. This season? Those numbers have been horrific.

In their last 47 games, the Mets have scored a shade under 4 runs a game wiht an average of .224 and an OPS of .667 ... surprising numbers for the names on the backs of these jerseys.

Solos are nice, but even Eddie Van Halen needed a band.