The New York Mets did almost nothing offensively, and the result was the kind of listless loss we've seen before.
The New York Mets had a chance to get a series sweep against the Texas Rangers in the final game of the three-game set, but they went down quietly in a 3-1 loss as their offense went almost completely flat.
Both teams got on the board in the first, with the Mets scoring first on a ground-rule double by Francisco Lindor to right, and Carson Benge brought him home with a lined single to right off starter Kumar Rocker.
But the Rangers got that run back and topped it with one of their own on a single from Justin Foscue and a two-run homer off Mets starter Zac Thornton from Corey Seager to make it 2-1.
That score held through five as both starters settled down, and Thornton left a little earlier than usual as he threw 83 pitches through five innings. It was another good start, but the Mets are being careful with their young starters as the season winds down, as Nolan McLean could have easily pitched into the eighth in the previous game.
But the home run came back to plague the Mets in the sixth when Jefrey Yan entered the game, as Corey Seager lined a rocket just over the wall in right to pad the Rangers lead to 3-1.
Rocker left after five as he gave up just that initial run, and the Rangers bullpen was nails in giving the team a win they absolutely had to have. The Mets gave away plenty of at-bats, and three Texas relievers set up Jordan Montogmery for his first save of the season that was also just the second of his career.
Thornton took a tough loss he didn’t deserve, but that’s life starting for the Mets this season when their offense goes dormant, which has happened far too often this year. Fixing that problem will be a major offseason priority, and hopefully we’ve heard the last of those meaningless promises about “run prevention.”
The Texas win puts plenty of pressure on the Houston Astros in their game, as they’ll now have to outhit the A’s in West Sacramento. The Mets get the minor satisfaction of winning the series, which they’ve now done back-to-back as they recover from a disastrous stretch against the Baltimore Orioles, Pete Alonso and the New York Yankees.
The Mets continue their final road trip over the weekend against the Washington Nationals, and a series sweep would allow them to finally escape from the basement in the NL East.
