Mets’ Offense Crumbles in Game 1 Loss

Timing is everything in life, and, once again, the New York Mets failed to deliver the goods offensively in one of the biggest spots of the year. There were some worrying trends to emerge from the Game 1 defeat to the San Diego Padres in the National League Wild Card on Friday, and if they continue that pattern, then what has been an incredible 2022 season could be over by the close of play today.

As good as the Mets have been for large chunks of the year, and as stellar a year as some of their hitters have enjoyed, there has been a disturbing pattern offensively this season. In some key stretches, the bats have gone cold at the worst possible time, including in the series sweep to Atlanta that ultimately clinched the NL East for the Braves.

In that three-game set, the Mets could only produce a combined total of seven runs, and they were guilty of leaving runners in scoring position on a plethora of different occasions. It wasn’t the first time that the offense falling in a slump has cost this team, and sadly it wasn’t the last after what happened on Friday night at Citi Field.

For as bad as Max Scherzer was on the mound – and he was bad by allowing seven earned runs and four homers on 16 hits – the offense was just as guilty for their part in ensuring the Mets are now on the brink of elimination from the postseason. Other than Eduardo Escobar, who went 2-for-3 with a home run, a double and a walk, the offense couldn’t get anything going against Yu Darvish and the Padres.

“We just didn’t score any runs,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said after the game. “The expectations for Max are always high because of the strike record, but we just didn’t score any runs. We knew Yu Darvish was going to be a challenge and it was. We had a man on third and one out twice and a chance to hit back early and gain some momentum to get back into it. We had a chance to but Darvish wouldn’t let us.”

It wasn’t just that the bats couldn’t get anything going; it was that even when they did, they couldn’t take full advantage of the position they put themselves in. As filthy as Darvish’s stuff was on Friday, and he was absolutely dealing, he was there for the taking in the opening innings, but the Mets just couldn’t get the job done.

Things are magnified even more in the heat of postseason battle, and if you can’t get the perfect balance of hitting long balls and also getting runners on base and then driving in runs, you aren’t going to get very far. That was the difference on Friday, with the Padres able to blast four home runs while also making it count when they had runners on base and also getting contributions from up and down the lineup.

The Mets went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position, and the one hit didn’t even drive in a run. Francisco Lindor stole second in the first, and Jeff McNeil singled to put two men on base with one out, but two of the biggest hitters on the team, Pete Alonso and Daniel Vogelbach, were unable to produce the power needed to drive in a single run. It was the same in the second as Starling Marte singled and then stole a base, and the Mets also went down in order in both the third and the fourth. Then, when Brandon Nimmo tripled in the fifth after Escobar homered, they were still unable to drive in runs, with Francisco Lindor this time unable to produce in the clutch.

That was the case all night long, with the Mets consistently unable to come up with the goods in huge spots, and their inability to manufacture runs and take advantage of runners on base was just as much to blame for the loss as was Scherzer’s implosion on the mound. The lack of power and failure to hit with runners on just isn’t going to cut the mustard, especially in the postseason when the margins are already razor thin.

It gets worst too. The offense walked just once all night (which was a hit-by-pitch), and the hitters collectively left 15 runners on base while some of the biggest power hitters on the team endured nightmare plate appearances. Vogelbach left three runners on base, Alonso left two, Mark Canha left two, and the top of the order (the 1-4 hitters) went a combined 3-for-15. Against a team like the Padres, who boast plenty of pop and firepower themselves, that just isn’t going to get the job done, and if the offense struggles again on Saturday and leaves as many runners on base as they did on Friday, then it could be a very, very short return to the postseason for the Mets.