Credit: Mary Holt-USA TODAY Sports
All quiet on the offensive front for the Mets as they were swept by the Tampa Bay Rays by a score of 7-1 on Sunday. Their record for the campaign now sits at 18-16.
The team that won seven straight going into the series looks sapped of its energy. Two more injuries led to the departure of starters Jeff McNeil and Michael Conforto. Now, the highly touted offense before the season views a two-run deficit as insurmountable.
McNeil led off and singled to open the game. Still working through his injury from last Tuesday against Baltimore he was the DH with Jose Peraza starting at second for the fourth straight game. McNeil didn’t play on Saturday.
With a man on and one out, Conforto stepped up and grounded into a double play. He came up lame and subsequently left. The Mets announced it was right hamstring tightness. McNeil departed with left hamstring tightness.
Patrick Mazeika replaced McNeil at DH. Jake Hager played right field, a spot he has never played professionally.
The Mets still had Marcus Stroman on the mound. Stroman allowed just one hit to Ji-Man Choi through the first three innings. New York responded with one hit themselves through the first five innings.
Choi reached again in the fourth, singling to right field. Manuel Margot up with two outs continued his excellence against the Mets. He smacked a two-run drive to left-center for the first runs of the game.
Stroman struggled again in the fifth. He hit Francisco Mejia with a pitch to start then gave up another two-run home run to Willy Adames. Brett Phillips singled and Randy Arozerena walked before he could get the first out. Austin Meadows flew out and Choi hit into a double play to end the inning, limiting the damage.
New York gained one back in the top of the sixth. Mazeika recorded his first big league hit. A home run to right field off reliever Diego Castillo. The last Met to homer for his first hit was current Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner.
Tampa Bay came right back with Brandon Lowe hitting their third home run. A solo shot to right field. Three home runs against in one game ties Stroman’s career-high.
Robert Gsellman replaced Stroman in the seventh. He allowed one hit and struck out two. Edwin Diaz pitched the eighth in a non-save situation. He allowed two runs on three hits, striking out one.
The Mets failed to record a hit over the final three innings.
New York hoped to reset itself with a win before a three-game series with the 2020 NL East division champs Atlanta Braves. Instead, the Mets are scrambling to find players that haven’t hitched their saddlebags to the medical team.
No McNeil, Conforto, Brandon Nimmo, J.D. Davis, Jacob deGrom, Luis Guillorme, nor Albert Almora. The only players left on New York’s bench are backup catchers.
Taijuan Walker will start tomorrow. The first pitch in Atlanta is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.
