The Mets took an early two-run lead but their bats went cold and failed to generate anything, falling to the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday night, 3-2.
New York finished with just four hits.
Here are the takeaways…
— Pete Alonso, searching for his record-tying HR, got the Mets on the board against LHP Logan Allen in the bottom of the first inning with a sacrifice fly, driving in Francisco Lindor from third base to make it a 1-0 game. It's RBI No. 91 on the season for the first baseman — already three more than he had all of 2024.
— After his 11-game hitting streak ended Monday, Mark Vientos picked it back up at the plate with a double to the right field corner in the second inning. He advanced to third base on Jeff McNeil's sac-bunt and scored on Tyrone Taylor's single to put New York up 2-0. The RBI-single snapped Taylor's 0-for-19 streak. Starling Marte reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases, but the Guardians turned a smooth double play on Lindor's grounder to limit the damage.
— Clay Holmes struck out four of the first six Cleveland batters he faced with two identical innings of groundout-strikeout-strikeout. He tossed another 1-2-3 inning in the third, capping it off with his fifth strikeout of the night.
The right-hander gave up his first three hits of the night in the fourth inning, including two RBI-singles as the Guardians tied things up at 2-2. The longer inning pushed his pitch total to 68 through 4.0 IP. Holmes bounced back for another 1-2-3 inning in the fifth, needing just seven pitches for two groundouts and his sixth K.
That would be all for Holmes, though, as he finished after 5.0 IP and 75 pitches. He allowed two runs on three hits with six strikeouts and a walk. David Peterson remains the only Mets starter to complete the sixth inning since Holmes did on June 7 (h/t Laura Albanese).
— Gregory Soto replaced Holmes in the sixth and avoided trouble after hitting the leadoff man by retiring the next three Guardians. Tyler Rogers entered in the seventh and got the first two Guardians out before allowing three-straight singles, including an RBI-single up the middle to Steven Kwan as Cleveland took a 3-2 lead. Rogers then hit Daniel Schneemann in the hand to load the bases, but luckily got star José Ramírez to ground out to first to end the inning.
— New York's hitting woes continued for the rest of the game, failing to get a hit after McNeil's leadoff single in the fourth inning. 14 straight Mets went down to end the game following Juan Soto's one-out walk in the fifth inning. Marte, Lindor, Soto, Nimmo, and Francisco Alvarez all went hitless.
— Brooks Raley and Ryan Helsley both tossed 1-2-3 frames in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively.
Game MVP: Steven Kwan
Kwan went 2-for-4 with the go-ahead RBI in the seventh inning.
Highlights
A 1-2-3 first inning with two strikeouts for Clay Holmes pic.twitter.com/mp0Vmzbcpz
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 5, 2025
Pete Alonso hits a sac fly for his 91st RBI of the season! pic.twitter.com/9PHas8a7SW
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 5, 2025
Clay Holmes has struck out four of the first six batters of the game 💪 pic.twitter.com/5rijk96Hgp
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 5, 2025
Tyrone Taylor brings home Mark Vientos with an RBI single! pic.twitter.com/wKL720q38R
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 5, 2025
Five strikeouts in three innings for Clay Holmes 🔥 pic.twitter.com/o4y3UUfJoC
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 5, 2025
Brooks Raley throws a 1-2-3 8th inning pic.twitter.com/H1BlR9aPtx
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 6, 2025
Two strikeouts for Ryan Helsley in the 9th pic.twitter.com/r1ccjouPiQ
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 6, 2025
What's next
The Mets' three-game series with the Guardians concludes Wednesday afternoon at Citi Field. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m.
LHP DavidPeterson (7-4, 2.83 ERA) goes up against RHP Gavin Williams (6-4, 3.33 ERA).
Read the full article here