The Mets have mastered the art of the gut punch.
It’s not just how they continue to lose, it’s how they lose that makes them a particularly frustrating team for fans.
The Mets blew another lead in the ninth inning on Sunday, when Jake Diekman hit a two-run homer off Ketel Marte that proved the deciding run in a 5-4 loss to the Diamondbacks in front of 31,059 fans at Citi Field.
The Mets (24-35) lost two straight games to split the series after winning two straight games in players-only games on Thursday and have not won a series since May 6-7 at St. Louis.
The Mets began the ninth inning with a strong bullpen. Dedniel Nunez, Danny Young, Reid Garrett and Adam Ottavino relieved Jose Quintana (four innings, three runs) and combined to pitch four scoreless innings with nine strikeouts.
But without Edwin Diaz in the relief corps, Diekman came on in the ninth and quickly found himself unable to do anything. Gabriel Moreno hit a double, then Marte’s deep home run to center field was the latest blow to the Mets.
Three big performances seemed like they would be enough for the Mets until that fateful ninth inning.
They went into the third inning trailing 3-0 and came out on the offensive.
A double by Tyrone Taylor and a walk by Luis Torrens started the comeback with two outs. Pete Alonso grounded out to score the first run. Brandon Nimmo and J.D. Martinez then hit consecutive triples to add three more runs to a team that had only hit two triples all season. Nimmo advanced to third thanks to a futile dive by right fielder Randal Grichuk, and Martinez’s triple bounced off the wall in center field.
The Mets were held at bay for the next six innings, but it didn’t matter until Diekman came on.
