When it rains, it pours.
In the middle of a dreadful start to the season, the players and coaches on the field aren’t the only ones making mistakes for the Mets. Yes, it seems it’s now spreading beyond the walls and into the video replay room.
In the first inning of Saturday’s eventual 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles in extra innings, Nolan McLean allowed three straight two-out hits with the third hit resulting in both an out and a run scoring.
Except it shouldn’t have.
Upon further review, the runner trying to advance to third base was tagged out, on a great throw by Austin Slater in right field, before the runner going home touched the plate which should’ve negated the run from counting.
The Mets did not challenge the call on the play and manager Carlos Mendoza was asked why not.
“He missed it,” the skipper said, referring to Mets replay analyst Harrison Friedland. “We called, obviously, and he missed it. Harrison is one of the best at his job. Obviously it ends up being a big play when you lose by one run, but I also think we had chances there and we couldn’t cash in.”
Yes, New York ended up losing by a single run in extra innings, meaning had they challenged the call and got it overturned and everything else stayed the same, the Mets would’ve won.
However, while that mental lapse proved costly, Mendoza doesn’t believe it’s the only reason his team lost. After all, once they tied the game in the seventh inning they had two more big chances to take the lead but were unable to cash in.
The first opportunity came with the bases loaded and one out and the top of the order coming up. In a lineup bereft of big hitters, this was the perfect time for the Mets to go for the jugular as Bo Bichette and Juan Soto, the two survivors of a once-thought stacked lineup, were due up.
Instead, Bichette, who had an RBI single earlier in the game, grounded into a force out at home and Soto struck out. Inning over.
Nevertheless, by a stroke of luck (and catcher’s interference), Bichette had a chance to redeem himself in the 10th inning with runners on first and second and nobody out. Once again, Bichette grounded out, this one a double play.
“I just hit two sliders in the ground,” Bichette said after the game. “I think for me just trying to be too perfect, have the perfect swing for every pitch and that’s not attainable.”
In a game where the Mets also lost Ronny Mauricio to a left thumb fracture (on the play right before Bichette’s first groundout), Mendoza admitted this loss was a tough one.
“This one stings,” he said. “We had our chances, but more times than not guys like Bo and Juan, those are the guys that we want at the plate to be in those situations. They’re gonna come through more times than not, today they just didn’t do it.”
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