Mets Help Blue Jays Celebrate Canada Day By Contributing An Embarrassing 9-3 Loss

The New York Mets have become the Zen masters of bad baseball, and they helped the Toronto Blue Jays celebrate Canada Day by gifting the Jays a 9-3 romp that featured more inept Mets offense to go with another poor start by Freddy Peralta. 

The Blue Jays got a run in the first on a single by Nathan Lukes followed by a double by Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who returned to the Jays lineup after struggling with a back issue. The Jays nearly broke it open as Peralta got himeslf into more of a mess after that, but he managed to extricate himself and postpone blowing up until the third inning. 

That was when Toronto got four more, with the big blows being a double by Ernie Clement and a three-run homer by Sean Keys. That made it 5-0, and it ended yet another pathetic start by Peralta as his four-inning line included five runs on seven hits to go with three walks and four strikeouts. 

The rest of the game was mostly about filling up the box score and the scorecard. The Blue Jays pounded out four more runs in the seventh on an RBI single by Daulton Varsho and yet another three-run homer, this one by Myles Straw. 

Toronto went with an opener in this one, but it barely matters whose pitching against the Mets these days most of the time. Carson Benge ruined the Blue Jays shutout party with a two-run homer in the top of the eighth, and Benge continues to be one of the Mets few bright spots. 

The return of Francisco Lindor from the IL is another one, sort of, and he chipped in with a meaningless solo homer in the ninth off Patrick Corbin, as the Jays trotted him out for the last five innings to save their bullpen. 

The loss leaves the Mets with the ongoing question of what to do about Peralta, who continues to look like prime trade bait as the deadline approaches. He should have plenty of company, but Mets' owner Steve Cohen said today that it's somehow "too early" for evaluations. 

It was also the Mets’ ninth in their last 11 games, and they’re now 15 games below .500 as they head off to Atlanta to provide cannon fodder for the first-place Braves, who are 15 games over .500 entering tonight’s contest against the St. Louis Cardinals. Christian Scott will start for the Mets against Atlanta, which hasn’t named its starter yet.