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The New York Mets are in the thick of the National League wild card race. Going back to the old “LOLMets” style won't help them.
But that's pretty much what happened in their game against the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday, which began when a pinch-hit by Orioles third baseman Ramon Urias in the fourth inning somehow turned into a run scored.
Mets starting pitcher Jose Quintana and catcher Francisco Alvarez both ran toward the ball on the first-base line, where Alvarez lunged for a wild play with his bare hands. But the play didn't work, as he only deflected the ball slightly as he fell to the ground.
Unfortunately for New York, Orioles outfielder Colton Koozer started the scoring at second base. As he ran toward third base, he saw a completely empty home plate in front of him and took advantage.
Final score: Baltimore scores, 4-1.
But that wasn't the end of it.
One batter later, former Orioles slugger James McCann — a former Mets player the team is paying $8 million this season after cutting his disastrous $40.6 million contract — hit a home run that led to two runs.
The Mets came tantalizingly close to erasing all that. The Orioles cut their lead to 7-5 on a counterattack in the eighth inning, capped by a home run from J.D. Martinez. With Baltimore having had recent troubles in the relief bullpen (They rank 28th in MLB in average run rate in the relief pit over the past 30 days.), that was a lead that could be overcome when the bottom of the ninth inning arrived at Citi Field.
But first, the climax of the ninth inning. And oh, how that happened.
With runners on first and second, the Mets resorted to a full defense of first base to double the Orioles' lead. It started when left fielder Brandon Nimmo fell and missed a fly ball, and it ended when pitcher Danny Young missed third base on a shot.
The two-error play put the Orioles up 9-5, a lead they never relinquished.
You can't embarrass yourself. In front of Kevin James Like that.
The loss moved the Mets to 65-61 on the season, and they trail the Atlanta Braves by 2.5 games in the race for the final wild card in the National League.
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