SAN DIEGO — Five outs away from winning a critical series against the San Diego Padres, a team residing above them in the wild-card standings, the New York Mets blew a late lead Sunday and settled for a split.
Rookie center fielder Jackson Merrill hit a walk-off, solo home run with one out in the ninth inning against Edwin Díaz. But things really unraveled for the Mets during their 3-2 loss on Sunday in the prior inning when Jose Buttó surrendered a two-run home run to Jurickson Profar to tie it at 2-2.
The loss spoiled a terrific, bounce-back start from veteran Jose Quintana (6 1/3 scoreless innings, four hits, two walks) and ruined an opportunity to make up ground in New York’s push for the playoffs.
Here are three takeaways from the series.
Mets fail to take things to another level
With a month left, a series split on the road against the Padres ultimately passed the bar for reasonable expectations when plotting the Mets’ playoff chances.
But how the Mets lost Sunday especially stung because it added to the list of instances in which they’ve backtracked in the face of an opportunity to make a serious move.
Padres 3, Mets 2: After tying it with two runs in the eighth, the Padres walked it off in the ninth against Edwin Diaz. And after blowing a 2-0 lead late, the Mets leave San Diego with a series split. New York is 68-63.
— Will Sammon (@WillSammon) August 25, 2024
The Mets haven’t won more than two games in a row since they reeled off five straight wins July 22-26. That was a month ago.
Twice during the series against the Padres (74-58), the Mets (68-63) had a chance to move to seven games above .500, their highwater mark for the season, but lost.
Despite dealing with a slew of injuries, the Atlanta Braves (70-60) have maintained a lead of 2 1/2 games over the Mets because they’ve won six of their last eight games. Still, Atlanta scored more than three runs in a game just once over the past week — when they scored four in a win. If there were ever a time when the Braves looked susceptible, it’d be now. The only other realistic contenders for the final spot include the St. Louis Cardinals (65-65), San Francisco Giants (66-66) and Chicago Cubs (65-66), three squads defining mediocrity.
Given that field, the status quo of keeping things afloat may ultimately work out fine for the Mets, especially if they win the series in Atlanta in September (or if the Braves stumble). But inspired runs created considerable margins for error for the Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks (75-56). For the Mets, no such margin for error exists. Inside the Mets’ clubhouse, veterans look at the upcoming series in Arizona as important but also point out that plenty can happen over the final five weeks.
“It’s not the biggest series of the year, but it’s a big series,” designated hitter J.D. Martinez said. “We just gotta go out there and take care of ourselves, not get caught up in the standings because then you’re just putting added pressure on ourselves.”
Jose Buttó’s struggles raise concerns
The Mets rightfully increased Buttó’s usage, deploying him in high-leverage situations with shorter time between outings, but the right-hander’s command has betrayed him in key spots.
Since Aug. 13, Buttó has appeared in five games. Before that day, he had a 0.87 ERA in 20 2/3 innings as a reliever; he deserved the high-stakes moments and the Mets needed him in such a role. But over his past five outings, Buttó has issued eight walks in 7 1/3 innings.
Buttó entered Sunday’s game with two on and one out in the seventh. After falling behind 3-0 in the count, he got Luis Arraez to fly out and then escaped a full count against David Peralta when Merrill got caught trying to steal second base.
After retiring the first batter in the eighth inning, Buttó walked Mason McCoy, the No. 9 batter, before allowing Profar’s home run.
“He was having a hard time getting ahead,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said.
Mendoza said he kept Buttó in rather than going to Díaz, who was warming up, after the walk to McCoy because he didn’t want to use Díaz for five outs. Previously, though, Mendoza and Díaz have talked about how fresh he is because of the lack of save opportunities and the missed time earlier in the season because of Diaz’s suspension and stint on the injured list.
“There’s a lot that goes into it,” Mendoza said. “Especially after he was up twice (warming up) earlier. I was pushing him, getting more than one inning.”
Mendoza said he left Quintana in the game to start the seventh inning because two left-handed batters were due up after Manny Machado, who led off the inning, and the Mets didn’t have a lefty available in the bullpen. Also, Mendoza said Quintana still looked strong.
Buttó could’ve been used earlier. He could’ve been pulled earlier. Regardless, he again showed command issues in a big spot, and this time, he paid for it.
Outside of Paul Blackburn, who landed on the injured list and will almost definitely be replaced by Tylor Megill in the rotation, the Mets received strong starting pitching in the series. Luis Severino followed his shutout with five decent innings. David Peterson continued his surge with his longest outing of the season (7 1/3 innings). Quintana rebounded from a string of poor performances.
Now, the Mets must get things buttoned up in the late innings. Fortunately for New York, Phil Maton pitched well in the series, recording the final out in the eighth on Sunday and throwing a scoreless inning on Thursday, and Dedniel Núñez returned from the injured list with swing-and-miss stuff intact over 1 2/3 scoreless innings on Saturday.
Vientos’ consistency since taking over the third base job from Brett Baty (who will miss around four to six weeks with a broken finger, the Mets announced Sunday) has stood out as the most impressive part of an eye-opening season.
Since Mendoza inserted Vientos in the No. 2 spot in the batting order on Aug. 15, Vientos’ strikeouts have increased — Mendoza attributed that to seeing strong pitching lately — but his power has continued.
The series against the Padres’ talented pitching staff offered an example of Vientos’ ability to avoid a string of poor games. After going 0-for-8 with a walk and six strikeouts over Friday and Saturday, Vientos hit a single and a home run on Sunday. His .885 OPS leads the Mets.
“He looks extremely comfortable,” co-hitting coach Eric Chavez said recently. “He looks like he’s been here for a while now. I know people were like, ‘Oh, this is just a hot streak,’ and, ‘Is it going to end?’ He’s kind of found something — obviously he’s going to go through hot and cold — that I think is going to work for him for a very long time.”
(Photo of Mark Vientos: Denis Poroy / Getty Images)
