Good morning, Mets fans! How do you feel about Carlos Mendoza?
The 11th loss in a row might have been the most frustrating. The Mets led 1-0 in the ninth at Wrigley Field when Michael Conforto tied the game with a pinch-hit double off Devin Williams. Nico Hoerner won the game with a walk-off sacrifice fly off Craig Kimbrel in the 10th.
Lost because of the end result was that the move to start Tobias Myers and piggyback David Peterson worked. The pair combined for 5 2/3 scoreless innings. But the only offense was an MJ Melendez home run.
This is the longest Mets losing streak in 22 years. SNY studio analyst Todd Zeile, who was on the 2004 team, noted, however, that this team had high preseason expectations. The 2004 Mets went 71-91. At 7-15, the Mets are tied with the Royals for the worst record in baseball.
The Mets are off Monday. A nine-game homestand starts Tuesday with Nolan McLean (1-1, 2.28 ERA) facing Twins RHP Mick Abel (1-2, 3.98 ERA). Mendoza reiterated to reporters Sunday that Juan Soto is expected to return during the homestand, though he didn’t specify when.
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Francisco Lindor and Williams were asked for thoughts on Mendoza after the game and both gave him a vote of confidence.
“He’s done a fantastic job,” Lindor told reporters. “This is not on him. He has made sure everybody here is prepared. Every coach here is prepared. We have the information. It comes down on us. Mendy’s our guy. He’s our leader. He’s in control and he’s done a tremendous job. We just haven’t executed. It would be unfair to put everything on him because at the end of the day, he has gotten the ship in the right direction. We just have to, the people are paddling. We’ve got to paddle and execute.”
Said Williams: “It’s absolutely on us. He doesn’t swing a bat and he doesn’t throw a baseball. We’ve been in a lot of these games. It’s been close. Him or somebody else isn’t going to just magically flip a switch and we’re going to get it done. He’s putting guys in good positions. We’re not performing.”
Latest MLB News
The Dodgers placed Freddie Freeman on the paternity list and called up 1B-OF Ryan Ward from Triple-A Oklahoma City.
The Phillies placed closer Jhoan Duran on the 15-day injured list with a strained left oblique.
Latest on MMO
Johnluke Chaparro has more on the loss to the Cubs.
James Villani puts the losing streak in historical team context. The franchise record is 17 losses in a row in 1962.
I wrote up a Mets minors recap of Saturday’s games. Ryan Clifford homered twice.
On This Date in Mets History
2020: Variety breaks the news that power couple Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez were trying to team up with JPMorgan Chase to buy the Mets.
2006: Julio Franco, 47 years and 240 days old, becomes the oldest player in MLB history to homer in a 7-2 victory over the Padres. The oldest player to homer before Franco was Philadelphia Athletics pitcher Jack Quinn, who hit one out at age 46 in 1930. In the same game, Kazuo Matsui hits an inside-the-park homer, becoming the first player since Ken Griffey Jr. (1997-1999) to homer in his first at-bat of the season three years in a row.
1967: Tom Seaver earns the first of his 311 wins. He strikes out five Cubs over 7 1/3 innings in front of 5,379 at Shea Stadium. Tommy Davis homers.
Born on This Date: Sean Green (1979), Jason Roach (1976), Masato Yoshii (1965).
