It was quite a chaotic scene that unfolded between rookie Nolan McLean’s impressive outing on Wednesday and Jonah Tong’s much-anticipated debut on Friday.
After what many considered one of their better series of the season, the Mets fell flat during two particularly rough half-innings.
With several dropped balls, poor tagging, misplays, and three errors credited to them, they handed away five unexpected runs.
In the end, this culminated in a frustrating 7-4 defeat against the Marlins, disappointing nearly 38,000 fans at Citifield on Thursday evening.
The Mets (72-62) struggled to carry over McLean’s brilliance, unable to close out the series against the Phillies they had just swept.
A careless three-run inning set the Mets back, overshadowing Pete Alonso’s remarkable 30th home run of the season.
Even with a lineup that was firing on all cylinders that night, the defensive troubles were too glaring to ignore.
The disaster began with Alonso, who mishandled a ground ball while trying to start a double play, resulting in zero outs instead of two.
Then, Agustin Ramirez launched a hit into left field that seemed to catch Jacob Marcy off guard, preventing him from scoring from second. It was catcher Hayden Senger who fumbled the ball, failing to backhand Soto’s sinker and thereby allowing both runners to advance.
Otto Lopez then hit a ground ball that sent Jeff McNeill to left field with one out and runners on second and third. A slow tag from Senger let yet another run cross the plate without recording an out.
The mishaps continued mounting, and it was evident they were defining the game.
In those painful seventh innings for the Mets, defense wasn’t their only issue; earlier play in the third also contributed to their troubles.
While pitcher Clay Holmes seemed solid that night, he didn’t fare well when it came to catching or controlling the game.
In that third inning, a series of mistakes allowed Xavier Edwards to advance, including an unsuccessful stolen base attempt.
As Xavier moved into scoring position, the Mets faltered one by one in the infield.
A second-baseman’s throw could have potentially nailed Edwards at the plate, but instead it veered to the wrong side of the first base path.
Then there was Troy Johnston’s chopper hit towards Alonso. Alonso fielded it, aiming to throw it to Holmes, but the ball ended up bouncing wildly into foul territory, allowing the go-ahead run to score.
Lopez capitalized on these mistakes, hitting an RBI single that brought in another run.
Holmes had allowed one soft run earlier (thanks to a couple of infield singles and a sacrifice fly), yet he ultimately gave up four runs in five innings during a game played four days after his last outing.
Interestingly, Tong, the sixth starter, is expected to join the rotation on Friday.
The Mets’ potential rally in the eighth was quickly snuffed out when center fielder Derek Hill made a stunning diving catch to retire Cedric Mullins.
