History Made! (Derogatory)

Thank you for reading this, here at the nadir. And I do mean the nadir - the Mets were outscored 30-4 this weekend by the Pittsburgh Pirates. It’s supposedly the most lopsided series defeat in the history of the New York Mets. Worse than anything the famously bad 1962 team cooked up. Worse than all of the times you thought, “this is really pathetic.” No, you were wrong. Until yesterday afternoon. 

The Pirates, who I believe after this weekend is still the lowest scoring offense in the National League, won 12-1 yesterday. Frankie Montas was pretty damn good in his first start as a Met. This time, not so much. The bottom of the first started with Adam Frazier lining out to third. Then Andrew McCutchen walked, and Bryan Reynolds doubled to right. Spencer Horwitz hit the ball hard too - but it went right into Brett Baty’s glove at third. Even though Montas had already thrown over 30 pitches, he was one out away from getting out of the inning without allowing a run. Instead, he kept throwing the same pitch, a slider away, to Ke’Bryan Hayes, who eventually hit it into center field, scoring two. Then ONeil Cruz crushed a homer to right. Tommy Pham did the same damn thing after Cruz. It was 5-0 Pirates, just like that. 

The game was effectively over after that - Luis Torrens’ solo home run provided all of the scoring for New York. Despite the previous night’s players only meeting, the Mets couldn’t scratch out multiple runs against Mike Burrows, old chum Génesis Cabrera, and Carmen Mlodinski. Jeff McNeil went 2 for 4 and was robbed off a hit in the 9th - otherwise the offense was uninspired. Francisco Lindor went 0 for 4 - he’s been hitting under .200 since he broke his toe. Pete Alonso was 0 for 4 - he’s been struggling for a couple of weeks now. Mark Vientos was 0 for 4 - his little reset when he hurt his hamstring hasn’t translated to success back in the majors so far. Ronny Mauricio drew a walk! He almost committed an error at second, so…

Travis Jankowski pitched the bottom of the eighth. He only allowed two runs, so he did his job eating a precious inning. The novelty of position players pitching has long since worn off, but it was particularly not fun to see it go down yesterday. 

Mercifully, the Mets don’t play any more games this month. It should be noted that while June Swoons are apparently still a part of the Mets’ DNA despite last season’s events, so is rising from the dead. Today is the 25th anniversary of the Friday night game at Shea when the Mets came back down 8-1 in the eighth inning to beat Atlanta. It was a reminder then as much as it is a reminder now that it could turn around any minute now. 

Or not. We have to watch to find out. 

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The Richard Lovelady saga continues after all. After declaring free agency two days prior after the Mets designated him for assignment, he signed a one-year major league deal with the Mets. Fellow southpaw Colin Poche was DFA’d to make room for Dicky. Lovelady ended up throwing 36 pitches over two innings yesterday in what was basically mop-up duty. 

Mike Puma tweeted before the game that someone on the Mets wrote on a white board in the tunnel leading to the Mets dugout: "Mr. Chavez, I'm your biggest fan!!! - NYY#1.” Tick tock, Eric…

Except don’t worry, Eric: Andy Martino reported that the coaching staff is safe. 

Yesterday was the first time all year the Mets gave up three or more homers in a game. They were the last team in MLB not to do that.

Juan Soto was pinch hit for in the ninth, robbing him of the chance to break Darryl Strawberry’s record of the highest OPS by a Met in a month in franchise history. The Straw Man put up a 1.209 OPS in June 1990. Soto finished June of 2025 with a 1.196 OPS.

ESPN posted this graphic yesterday morning during Sportscenter while noting that Grimace’s birthday is June 12th, and the Mets did not invite him to throw out the first pitch to celebrate this time around.

Edwin Díaz threw a change-up in his last outing, which is news because he’s only thrown fastballs and sliders before that. He told the New York Post he’s still working out the kinks.

Jeff McNeil revealed himself to be one of the “6-7” guys that spoke in the players only meeting. So we currently know the identity of four: Lindor, Alonso, Soto, and Squirrel. We also know Nimmo did not speak. 

The Triple-A Syracuse Mets (36-45) scored two runs in the top of the ninth to beat the Rochester Red Wings (Nationals affiliate) 5-3. Those two runs came courtesy of a Francisco Alvarez home run, his second in as many days. Austin Warren, who was demoted after getting the dub for the big league club on Wednesday, got the win for striking out the side in the 8th. 

The Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies (49-24) lost to the Portland Sea Dogs (Red Sox) by a score of 3-1. Jack Wenninger took the L. He allowed seven hits in four and one third innings which translated to two earned runs. He didn’t walk anybody and struck out three.

The High-A Brooklyn Cyclones  (53-22) defeated the Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies) 8-3. AJ Ewing and Chris Suero both went yard. Jesse Winker (right oblique strain) began his rehab assignment with a double and a walk as the Cyclones’ designated hitter. Dakota Hawkins was credited with the win for throwing three shutout innings, walking one and striking out two. 

The Low-A St. Lucie Mets (40-34) mimicked the big league squad and got creamed, losing 13-1 to the Jupiter Hammerheads (Marlins). Jose Chirinos got the loss. He started but only lasted two thirds of an inning. He was charged with five earned runs despite permitting just two hits. He walked nobody and struck out the two batters he got out.

It’s a much, much, much needed day off for the Metsies. 

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