The Mets brought in Edwin Diaz to pitch a scoreless seventh inning, a hopeful sign that the prototypical shutout closer would be okay.
But whatever happened to Diaz, it may have been contagious.
The normally excellent Reid Garrett was out of form, giving up five runs in the eighth inning, the biggest of which was a grand slam by Giants catcher Patrick Bailey that transformed the outcome of the Mets’ 8-7 blown loss to open the series and homestand on Friday night at Citi Field.
Even after Garrett’s downturn, the Mets rallied in the ninth inning, loading the bases with one out.
All the base runners were left stranded.
The Mets (21-29) have lost four straight, six of their past seven games and ninth of their past 11 games.
These are free falls, some of the most painful of all.
They were leading by four runs heading into the eighth inning and were able to hand the game to Garrett and Adam Ottavino.
However, Ottavino did not play due to his disastrous performance in No. 8.
If it’s any consolation, many of the contacts weren’t particularly difficult.
Garrett found himself in trouble when Mike Yastrzemski reached third base on a bunt swing and Marco Luciano hit a single fly.
With two outs, former Yankee Thairo Estrada doubled to put the team ahead by one, and then Garrett walked Matt Chapman on seven pitches to load the bases.
Garrett’s 25th pitch of the day was a four-seam fastball, but it went past home plate and Bailey hit it into right-center field for a grand slam.
As the inning ended, Garrett, perhaps the biggest dig of the season, was booed all the way to the dugout by the crowd of 26,658.
The Giants added one more run in the ninth on a Yastrzemski homer off Jorge Lopez, but this one was crucial.
In the bottom of the inning, the Mets scored a run on a Francisco Lindor double.
The team then loaded the bases with one out, but closer Camilo Doval threw a hard pitch to strike out J.D. Martinez on three pitches.
Mark Vientos hit a slow roller down the third base line.
Gold Glove winner Matt Chapman threw the ball to first base with his bare hands, sealing one of the cruellest ways to lose a game.
Garrett’s pitching erased the lead and good impression the Mets had built up over the previous seven innings.
Christian Scott seemed confident he could get his first career win in just his fourth start, but he wasted no time pitching a strong six innings, giving up just two runs.
Three straight games in which the Mets hit three straight home runs, then three straight games in which those home runs meant nothing, plus three more wasted home runs, including back-to-back homers by Martinez and Vientos and Pete Alonso’s 12th of the season.
Expectations for more from Vientos, who hit .344 in 10 games and is working to win a full-time job, were in vain.
The Mets continue to use Brett Batty and he may be given a chance to face the Giants’ right-handed starters over the next two days, but his time may be running out.
Diaz, who hadn’t pitched since Saturday and pitched in a lower position, had struggled up until that point but pitched well through seven innings that went to waste.
Diaz finally pitched like Diaz did, allowing just one single in a scoreless inning and striking out two.
