Kodai Senga battles but Mets' bats can't deliver in 3-1 loss to Red Sox

Kodai Senga guts through six innings, but the Mets batters couldn’t capitalize on their chances in a 3-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox on a cold and windy Monday night at Fenway Park.

New York had chances, but bounced into three double plays, left six on base, and went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. The Mets fell to 29-19 on the year and have lost four of their past five games. The Red Sox improved to 24-25.

The Mets’ first five batters in the order combined to go 2-for-18 with two walks and four strikeouts, accounting for five missed chances with RISP.

Here are the takeaways…

– Boston jumped on Senga right away as Jarren Duran smacked the first pitch he threw down the first base line for a double. The Mets’ starter was then charged with a pitch clock violation for not having the PitchCom, tossed three straight out of the zone for a walk, and a wild pitch on a ball way in the dirt put two in scoring position with nobody out.

A weak grounder up the middle plated the run (with Jeff McNeil making a fine play) and a grounder to first put a runner at third with two down. Senga got ahead 0-2, but Trevor Story stayed on the forkball and just kept it fair down the third base line for an RBI single to make it 2-0.

With two down and a runner at first after a walk in the second, a 2-2 forkball to Duran got too much of the plate and was rifled through the hole at first for an RBI triple. The three earned runs were the most Senga has allowed all season.

Alex Bregman’s double off the Green Monster to start the third gave Boston another scoring chance, but Senga kept them off the board as Alonso made a fine play on a hot shot for the first out unassisted, Story swung through a ghost fork for his first strikeout of the night, and Nick Sogard bounced out to first with Alonso making a toss to Senga covering.

Senga appeared to work around a one-out single in the fourth when Duran grounded one to Alonso, but the first baseman’s underhanded toss soared over the pitcher covering. After Rafael Devers walked on a 3-2 fastball just below the zone, Senga got Bregman to ground out to Baty to leave the bases loaded.

After the righty worked his first 1-2-3 inning, he walked off the mound and shook one finger toward the dugout as if to ask for one more inning. And repeated his feat with a 1-2-3 sixth, which began with Alonso making a routine stop and toss to Senga covering. The first baseman showed some emotion celebrating the successful play, and the pitcher had a broad smile as he caught the ball.

His final line: 6.0 innings, three runs, five hits, three walks, five strikeouts on 100 pitches (60 strikes). Senga’s best ability was keeping the Mets in the game as he held the Red Sox to just one hit in nine chances with runners in scoring position, which means opponents are now 5-for-49 (.102) against him in those situations.

– Francisco Alvarez lined a first-pitch double over the head of right fielder Wilyer Abreu to start the third, getting a bit of help from a strong wind. After McNeil’s groundout, Tyrone Taylor notched an RBI single to right to put the Mets on the board. 

Francisco Lindor, in a 1-for-20 skid, walked to put two on for Juan Soto. But the slugger, stuck in a 3-for-26 skid, bounced into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.

– Alvarez lined a first-pitch single the other way his second time up with one down in the fifth and went to third on McNeil’s single down the line in right. Taylor should have walked on a 3-2 sweeper that looked below the zone, but was rung up by home plate umpire Brian O’Nora for the second out. Lefty Justin Wilson came out of the ‘pen and got Lindor (batting .227 with a .574 OPS as a righty on the year) swinging at a slider below the zone.

– Soto started the sixth with a single off the Monster. He did not run hard out of the box and looked to make up for that lack of hustle by stealing second on the first pitch, which he did without a throw. After Alonso walked, Brandon Nimmo got a big chance but slapped into a 5-6-3 twin killing. Righty Greg Weissert entered and got Mark Vientos to fly out to right.

Nimmo and Vientos both finished the day 0-for-4 with a strikeout. Soto was 1-for-4.

– After McNeil walked with two out in the seventh, Taylor smacked a bullet single to right. McNeil was able to motor into third when Abreu mishandled the ball to give Lindor a shot against righty Justin Slaten. But he bounced the first pitch to second to end the inning. Lindor finished the night 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.

–  Alonso, who had gone 46 at-bats since his last home run, came two feet short of a dinger his first time up with a stiff wind keeping the ball in the park. The slugger tried for a double, but Duran played the ball perfectly off the Green Monster to barehand it and make a perfect throw to second. (Boston had to challenge the on-field call of Laz Diaz.) He finished the day 1-for-3 with a walk and his second error in as many games after committing just one in his first 46 games.

– Starling Marte delivered a broken-bat pinch-hit single with one out in the ninth off of Aroldis Chapman, but Alvarez bounced into the game-ending 4-6-3 double play. The Mets’ catcher finished 2-for-4 with a strikeout.

– José Castillo, acquired last week from Arizona, got the first two, but a walk and a wind-aided ground-rule down to left put two in scoring position for Story. But the left-hander got a lineout to center for a scoreless frame in his Mets debut.

– José Butto allowed a one-out single to the speedy David Hamilton, but Alvarez gunned him down at second with a perfect throw. That proved big as Carlos Narváez doubled off the Monster, but a pop-up to center stranded another runner.

In total, Boston went 1-for-10 with RISP and left nine on base.

Highlights

What’s next

These two teams are back in action on Tuesday night with another 6:45 p.m. first pitch in Beantown.

Right-hander Clay Holmes (3.14 ERA, 1.253 WHIP in 48.2 innings) gets the ball for the visitors as the home team has yet to name a starter.

Read the full article here