It Goes Up to 11, Unfortunately

Beehiiv informed me Gmail doesn’t allow gifs that are more than 1MB. The problem is pretty much all gifs are over 1MB? If the gifs don’t show up, click the “read online” option. 

It’s Free Monday! Consider a paid subscription to this newsletter. That way you get it every day. And the Mets will win eventually, so not all of the recaps will be bummers. And I try to bring some levity to this, uh, underwhelming season so far. 

The Mets were held in check by Cubs pitching, Devin Williams blew a rare save opportunity, and Carlos Mendoza made a questionable decision late, resulting in a 2-1 Mets loss in 10 innings. They have now lost 11 in a row.

Javier Assad, who got rocked in his previous start, was pretty good for the Cubs. He retired the first six batters he faced before Brett Baty led off the third with a sharp single to the opposite field, ending his 0 for 22 streak. Baty got to second when Marcus Semien tried and failed to bunt for a hit, but Luis Torrens and Carson Benge both grounded out. 

MJ Melendez homered to finish a long at-bat to begin the top of the fifth to make it 1-0 New York (NL). When he reached the dugout, he was handed a sledgehammer, which he used to hammer..the ground? 

It’s apparently the new Mets celebration, because when Torrens doubled in the sixth, he pantomimed swinging the sledgehammer at second base. (He was left stranded, of course.)

Meanwhile, surprise starter Tobias Myers pitched effectively for the Mets in the first two innings. The only hit allowed was a bloop single by Ian Happ. David Peterson came in in the third and immediately gave up a triple to Pete Crow-Armstrong. Somehow, he got out of it unscathed. Dansby Swanson grounded out to third, and then Nico Hoerner lined into a 4-5 double play. 

Peterson was seemingly pitching angrily. The average velocities on his sinker and four-seamer were higher than usual. In the fifth, after grounding out, Moisés Ballesteros committed the sin of crossing the mound on the way to the dugout. Peterson barked at Ballesteros for this transgression, and then after striking out Carson Kelly, plunked Crow-Armstrong with two outs and nobody on. The SNY booth was split on whether or not it was intentional. I suspect it was.

The Cubs threatened in the sixth. Hoerner singled with one out and stole second. He went to third on a Michael Busch ground out on a nice defensive play by Francisco Lindor. Huascar Brazobán was brought in to strand Hoerner. He walked Alex Bregman and Ian Happ instead. After a Justin Willard mound visit, Brazobán struck out Seiya Suzuki on a sinker. 

Brooks Raley, pitching on back-to-back days for the first time in a Met uniform, handled the seventh inning, along with Luke Weaver, who got three ground ball outs in a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth. 

And then came Devin Williams in the bottom of the ninth. Happ singled to left center to start. Williams struck out Suzuki on a fastball, but pinch hitter and old chum Michael “Scooter” Conforto drove a fastball right down the middle and drove it to the right field corner. It took a weird carom, so right fielder Tyrone Taylor had a tough time getting to and then picking up the ball. Pinch runner Scott Kingery easily scored. Tie game. Williams fanned Kelly and Crow-Armstrong after that, but the game was all but officially over.

Against the lefty Caleb Thielbar in the tenth, the Mets couldn’t even score one run even though they had the automatic runner on second. Mark Vientos popped it up to the second baseman - he was so annoyed he slammed his bat and broke it. Taylor flew out to left. Semien reached on an infield hit to the second baseman Hoerner, who made the smart play and threw home so ghost runner Melendez couldn’t score. Torrens struck out on a fastball. 

Craig Kimbrel was given the impossible task of holding off the Cubs. He struck out Dansby Swanson, but automatic runner PCA got to third thanks to a wild pitch. So with one out and a runner on third, Carlos Mendoza curiously did not intentionally walk Hoerner to set up a double play against Michael Busch, nor did he IBB both Hoerner and Busch to put a force play at any base, including home, against Alex Bregman, with the pitcher’s spot behind him. Hoerner hit a sacrifice fly to Taylor in right, easily scoring Crow-Armstrong. The sweep was complete. 11 in a goddamn row. 

After the game, Mendoza said he didn’t walk Hoerner because he would have just taken second base anyway. Bit defeatist, don’t you think? Besides, even if Hoerner stole second, you can just walk Busch to load em up.

Both Lindor and Devin Williams defended Carlos Mendoza. Lindor said he’s doing a “fantastic job” (Lindor says “fantastic” a lot) and that the long streak is “not on him.” Williams said the losing is “absolutely on us”, the players.  “He doesn’t swing a bat and he doesn’t throw a baseball,” the closer said about the skipper. “We’re not performing.” Both of them are right, but Mendoza didn’t help himself by not walking Hoerner in the 10th, and you can’t fire the players. 

Even the Cubs postgame show took a shot at Mendoza. 

Before the game, the music in the Mets clubhouse was notably loud in an attempt to keep their spirits up. Didn’t work! Next time, vibe to some Sade or something.

Juan Soto (calf), who is still expected to be activated during the upcoming homestand, took in a performance of MJ: The Musical. (Not Melendez.)

The Triple-A Syracuse Mets game against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Yankees affiliate) was postponed due to rain. They’ll play a doubleheader on June 3rd now.

The Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies were no-hit by five Akron RubberDuck pitchers in a 4-0 loss. LF Chris Suero and 2B Wyatt Young each drew two walks, at least. LHP Jonathan Santucci got the loss. He gave up two earned runs on four hits in four innings while walking two and punching out five.

The High-A Brooklyn Cyclones lost in 10 innings to the Greensboro Grasshoppers (Pirates) by a score of 6-4. CF John Bay went 2 for 4 with a home run, a run scored, and three RBI. The rehabbing LHP A.J. Minter (lat) opened the game for the Cyclones. He lasted two thirds of an inning, allowing one hit while throwing 23 pitches. RHP Dakota Hawkins was impressive. He tossed three shutout frames, permitting just one hit, walking nobody, and fanning four. 

The Low-A St. Lucie Mets destroyed the Daytona Tortugas (Reds) by a score of 13-4. SS Elian Peña went 3 for 5 with a double, a run scored, three RBI, and a walk. 2B Vladi Gomez went 2 for 3 with a double, two runs scored, and a walk. The rehabbing RHP Dylan Ross got the win. The one run that scored in his one inning of work was unearned. He walked one and struck out two. 

20 years ago today, Kaz Matsui hit an inside-the-park home run in his first at-bat of the season. Matsui became the only player in MLB history to homer in his first plate appearance in three consecutive seasons. 

Mercifully there is no game today. Enjoy the Knicks, perhaps.