Saturday’s game between the Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers was the worst kind of déjà vu for fans watching.
Another game, another heap of missed opportunities with runners on, and another close lose.
Saturday’s 4-3 loss was the Mets’ eighth loss in their last nine games. And the average margin of defeat in those contests (excluding Sunday’s 14-4 loss to the Dodgers) has been 1.4 runs, making the missed chances all the more frustrating.
“It’s another tough loss. I’m proud of the guys that we’re pushing all the time, showing resiliency every day,” Luis Rojas said afterwards. “But we just can’t finish what we start. It’s happened a lot of times, bases loaded at-bats or runners in scoring position at-bats, I think we went 0-for-9 today. It’s just something that we’ve got to get better at. We sequenced a little better today from at-bat to at-bat and the runs came from two homers, but it shows again our lack of ability to drive in runs, something that’s been consistent throughout the season, just working against us.
“We have to be better that that, and I know that we are better that that. We just have to keep working to get o that point where we can slow things down in those situations.”
Coming into a 13-game stretch against the Dodgers and San Francisco Giants, two of the best teams in baseball, the Mets knew that they’d have to be at their best for perhaps the most crucial stretch of the season.
But through the first nine games of that stretch, the Mets are just 1-8 and have fallen three games under .500 and 7.0 games back of the Atlanta Braves in the NL East Standings.
“It’s really tough because a few weeks ago we were in first place and feeling pretty good about things,” said Brandon Nimmo, who had three hits including a solo homer on Saturday. “We knew a tough stretch was coming but we were confident in what we had. This has definitely not been easy. Very, very difficult to stay even-keeled, even though that’s exactly what we have to do during this time.
“I know all the guys in there want to win and want to fix this, but it’s a tough time that we’ve been going through and sometimes baseball is just like that, and these have been good teams, so any small thing has been exasperated and been put in the spotlight and made to seem even bigger. Yeah, it’s been a tough ride here for the last few weeks.”
The Mets have one more game against the Dodgers on Sunday, as Marcus Stroman faces David Price, before they head back home for anther three-game series with the Giants.