MILWAUKEE — Nearly 36 hours after fleeing a natural disaster in the South, the Mets committed a self-inflicted blunder by exploding in the opening minutes of a crucial game with ace Sean Manaea still on the mound. The Mets are still in control of their own destiny after losing the series opener here, but that's not necessarily a blessing considering how they played on their biggest road trip of the season.
The current scorecard for this season-defining trip looks like this: 1 win for the Braves, 1 win for the Brewers, 2 games due to rain from Hurricane Helen, and 2 no-show games for the Mets.
It certainly wasn't his worst performance of the season, but that's exactly what happened. There were almost no encouraging events.
Manaea looked nothing like himself, and the Mets' batting lineup was not cohesive enough against Frankie Montas and others who lost the Yankees. Additionally, Mets star Francisco Lindor, playing a full game for the first time in two weeks, doesn't look 100 percent, no matter what anyone says. . He just seemed to be putting up with it.
To add insult to injury, the Mets' famous hitter Rhys Hoskins once again played the villain role, hitting a grand slam in the first inning of the game, which the Mets lost 8-4. Not everyone can choose a conqueror, but Hoskins was already under fire within the Mets' clubhouse.
This dislike of Hoskins started when he returned to Philadelphia, where he upset Jeff McNeil (remember him?) in the first week of the season with a wild slide to second base and a heroic hit. They won the game and destroyed the Mets. Six months later, he took the dagger to them to start the final weekend of the season. A home run to left with two outs and two strikes almost sealed the deal in the 20th minute.
The Mets still have two games left and a chance. But they need to pick it up.
Give the upstart Brewers, perhaps the MLB's smallest market (Milwaukee and Cincinnati have claimed that title for years), plenty of credit. They play defense, they run the bases (they stole bases at will on Friday), and they win. That way, they secured the third seed and home turf in the Wild Card Series, whether they play the Mets or another team.
Although the game was inconsequential for Milwaukee, they started in the “A” lineup and played close to their “A” game. Good for them. But bad for the Mets.
As for the Queen's team, this effort was almost a complete failure. After their escape from Atlanta, they played games they “should have won” (in coach Carlos Mendoza's words) but never gave themselves a chance.
But you can't say they didn't show fire. Mendoza was ejected for verbally abusing home plate umpire Ramon de Jesus after De Jesus called Francisco Alvarez out on a pitch that appeared to be below the strike zone with two outs and second base in the fourth inning. That came after Alvarez, who was later sent off with back spasms, jumped and slammed his helmet.
There's a reason to scream. A seemingly difficult finishing schedule became even worse when it became more likely that they would end up flying south to Atlanta on Monday to make up for the two games they lost.
Even if the Mets make it through this weekend, their pitching depth will be severely tested with two games expected to be played on Monday before a potential playoff series begins on Tuesday. If the Mets are lucky enough to beat the Braves or Diamondbacks, that matchup could be played here again next week. And if that happens, this small team from this great Midwest burg will have almost all the advantages.
That's not only because the Mets' decent strength will be severely depleted by then, but also because the Brewers frankly look like the better team. The small things they do all add up.
As if the Mets didn't have to worry, Lindor, a former MVP candidate, didn't look much like himself. Although he had one hit, he struck out with an uncharacteristically weak swing and made a rare throwing error while playing through a lower back condition. He and team officials kept saying he was fine, but he just didn't seem like it.
The whole team doesn't seem quite right either. But while this trip has been nothing short of dire so far, surprisingly, their situation is still not that dire. They just need to beat either the Braves or Diamondbacks, who have similar records and other shortcomings. The Braves can pitch, but they can't hit. The Divacs are the opposite, good hitters but questionable pitchers.
It doesn't look like the Mets can do anything at this point. But as we know, things can change quickly. The Mets bounced back from an 0-5 start and 11 games below .500 and are in position to make the playoffs. But they're back to their previous type of game at the worst possible time, and they can't play like they did Friday if they expect to get where they want to go.
