On a day when manager Darryl Strawberry told the Mets, “Your best is yet to come,” the team again showed Saturday that they still have a long way to go.
Seeking their first three-game winning streak since mid-April, the Mets fell to Arizona, 10-5, at Citi Field, reverting to the ugly play that has plagued them most of the season.
The Mets honored Strawberry by retiring his number 18 in a pregame ceremony, but started June with a losing record.
They managed to get four runs back in the bottom of the ninth, but it wasn’t enough to get them back in the game.
Sean Manaea gave up a home run to Christian Walker in the top of the third, driving a left-handed sweeper over the center of home plate, and the offense, which could have used a hitter like Strawberry, barely managed to score against Arizona right-hander Slade Cecconi, who had pitched poorly in three of his past four games.
The Mets pounded Cecconi hard in the bottom of the first, but nothing came of it as Francisco Lindor was out trying to extend a single into a double and Pete Alonso was left on second base after hitting a double.
Manaea loaded the bases with two outs in the third inning, but Walker hit a grand slam to left field to give the Mets a 4-0 lead.
Manaea threw 36 pitches, during which he also drew two walks.
Manager Carlos Mendoza said Manaea pitched well, striking out 10 batters, a season-high, but called it a “weird” game for the left-hander.
“Ten strikeouts was good,” Manaea said. “The home run wasn’t ideal and the walk hurt.”
After the third time things calmed down but it still wasn’t enough.
The Mets’ only run against Cecconi came in the bottom of the fifth inning when Mark Vientos hit a 440-foot home run to take a 4-1 lead.
It was Vientos’ fourth home run of the season.
But Arizona extended its lead against Manaea in the sixth inning on a two-out double by Gabriel Moreno followed by an RBI single by Blaise Alexander down the right side of the infield.
Josh Walker replaced Manaea and Alexander stole second base, advanced to third on a wild pitch from Walker, and scored on a throw by Thomas Nido to left field to give Arizona a 6-1 lead.
Walker allowed two more runs in the seventh inning and two more in the eighth.
The Mets created some drama in the ninth inning.
It started with an infield single by Vientos, who advanced to third base on a one-out double by Harrison Bader.
Nido then hit an RBI grounder, and Jose Iglesias, who replaced Lindor with the score tied, again reached base with an infield hit.
Then Alonso hit a home run.
Tyrone Taylor then singled, and former Mets player Paul Sewald, coming in for Brandon Hughes, struck out J.D. Martinez with a fly ball to deep center field to end the game.
The Mets finish at home against the Diamondbacks on Sunday and have lost six of their nine games so far this stretch.
Earlier in the homestand, manager Luis Severino said if the Mets could win their six remaining games, it would be a positive sign that they were ready to turn their season around.
Instead, the Mets lost four of their first five games against the Giants and Dodgers before beating the Diamondbacks on Thursday and Friday.
And they continue to look more like a team headed for trade deadline sales than one ready to compete for a playoff spot.
Fans were heard again on Saturday, with an announced crowd of just 30,600 on what was a perfect night for the Strawberry ceremony.
