The New York Mets are in the middle of the National League wild card race. Going back to the classic “LOLMets” way isn’t going to help them.
But that’s pretty much what happened in their game against the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday, starting when a swinging bunt by Orioles third baseman Ramón Urías in the fourth inning somehow turned into a run scored.
Mets starting pitcher Jose Quintana and catcher Francisco Alvarez ran down the first-base line for the ball, and Alvarez dove for a wild play with his bare hands. The play didn’t work, as he barely deflected the ball as it hit the ground.
Unfortunately for New York, Orioles rookie Colton Cowser started the play at second base. As he ran toward third, he saw a completely empty plate in front of him and took advantage of the opportunity.
Final result: one run scored for Baltimore, leaving the score at 4-1.
But that wasn’t the end.
One batter later, Orioles catcher James McCann (a former Mets player whom the team is paying $8 million this season after cutting his disastrous $40.6 million contract) hit a two-run homer.
The Mets came very close to erasing all that. An eighth-inning rally, capped by a J.D. Martinez homer, cut the Orioles’ lead to 7-5. Given Baltimore’s recent bullpen struggles (They rank 28th in MLB in bullpen effectiveness over the past 30 days.), that was a surmountable lead heading into the bottom of the ninth at Citi Field.
But first, the best part of the ninth inning happened. And boy did it happen.
With runners on first and second base, the Mets relied on minor-league defense to double the Orioles’ lead. It started with left fielder Brandon Nimmo diving and missing a popup, and ended with pitcher Danny Young missing third base on a pitch.
The two-error play put the Orioles up 9-5, a lead they would not relinquish.
You cannot be ashamed of yourselves In front of Kevin James I like that.
The loss drops the Mets to 65-61 on the season and they are 2.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves for the final NL wild-card spot.
