It was another disappointing game out of the Mets' offense, even on David Wright's number retirement ceremony, on Saturday afternoon as New York lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 5-2, for the second straight night.
Just as they did on Friday night, the Mets got the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning, but for the second straight game they were unable to get the big hit with Juan Soto striking out and Pete Alonso flying out to end the game.
Overall, New York went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and after getting out to a 2-0 lead, the offense went dark just as it did on Friday night.
But despite the lack of production, the Mets still have confidence that they can turn things around.
"Obviously we’d like to put up a few more runs on the board," Brandon Nimmo said. "We’ve had streaks in both games where we put a lot of pressure on, just not able to get the big hit right now, but we’ve had a few guys come through… but there’s some really, really quality at-bats."
Nimmo himself went 1-for-4 in the leadoff spot — one of seven hits on the night. The big boppers in the lineup? Brett Baty and Luis Torrens who each had two hits out of the No. 8 and 9 spots in the order.
Nevertheless, New York made it interesting in the ninth inning, especially after Soto hit a ball five feet foul that would've been a game-tying home run had it stayed fair. Soto ended up striking out, his third of the game, and Alonso flew out to deep left field to give the Mets their second loss out of the All-Star break.
"If we keep putting pressure on, it’ll come, it’ll happen," Nimmo said. "We just have to keep putting the pressure on and keep believing in ourselves."
Saturday's loss hurts even more with the festivities of Wright's number retirement coming right before.
It was a special moment as the organization honored its former captain who enjoyed a wonderful career in the orange and blue.
"Special day, obviously," manager Carlos Mendoza said. "I was a fan right there, I had tears in my eyes. It’s just incredible, you know, the whole thing. And then just watching David enjoying it with his family and his teammates, coaches, managers, the fanbase, yeah it was just special there."
Nimmo, one of the few current members of the team that played with Wright before his retirement, was particularly saddened that they couldn't come away with a win on the former third baseman's day, and spoke about what Wright meant to him as a teammate and a mentor.
"(I) was always trying to be like him coming up and, so, definitely disappointing to lose on his day, but it made it no less special," Nimmo said. "That ceremony beforehand, I think, was amazing – not just for him, but for the fanbase to share it with him. I was over there trying to hold back tears because it just was such a special moment and you could see how much the fans appreciate everything that he did and leaving his heart out on to the field.
"To be able to have that relationship in this game with the fans is something special and should definitely be treasured and celebrated. (The loss) did not take away from his day at all."
In Wright's speech before the game, Nimmo was shouted out as a player that Wright would want his son to play like. Nimmo called that moment "surreal" and continued his praise for the former captain.
"(Wright) was the guy that you wanted to be like. He would probably laugh at this, but the MLB game that I played when I was younger had him on the cover. He was it and to be able to, when I got in this organization, to even talk with him and pick his brain.
"And then he was so kind to me and had dinners with me and set things up for my family and I and passed wisdom onto me and I just was so thankful for him. So for him to express that he’d like his son to play like me, that’s surreal to me. It’s full-circle and it’s the biggest compliment I could receive."
As for the loss, which puts New York just 11 games over .500 and 1.5 GB of the Philadelphia Phillies for the NL East lead, the Mets know they can't afford to keep giving away games as they look to make the playoffs for the second straight season.
"There is a sense of being able to flush today and move on to tomorrow that you have to have in baseball in order to succeed for a long time and I think we got a lot of guys that are very good at that here," Nimmo said. "But there’s a sense of urgency every day because the guys that have been here and the guys that were here last year know we made the playoffs by one game. So one game can decide whether we get into the playoffs or whether we don’t."
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