Quinton Fesq
The New York Mets lost to the Minnesota Twins 5-3 on Tuesday night, dropping their 12th consecutive game and falling to 7-16 — the worst record in Major League Baseball.
Nolan McLean was the best pitcher on the field for most of this game. He retired the first 15 batters he faced, worked into the 7th inning, finished with 10 strikeouts and zero walks in 6.2 innings, and gave up just 3 earned runs — 2 of which came on a Byron Buxton two-run homer in the 6th that cut the lead to one. That’s a performance that wins baseball games. It didn’t win this one.
The offense had exactly 1 moment. Francisco Lindor unloaded a 3-run shot to right field in the 3rd inning to give the Mets a 3-0 lead, scoring Carson Benge and Marcus Semien after Benge had swiped second on a steal. That was it. The Mets collected 4 hits on the night, went hitless over the final 5 innings, and stranded runners in the 4th when Brett Baty and Mark Vientos reached but Bo Bichette, MJ Melendez, Francisco Alvarez, and Luis Robert Jr. combined to go 0-for-their-last-chance innings without a run to show for any of it.
8 strikeouts. 4 hits. 3 runs, all in one swing.
Devin Williams Couldn’t Get an Out
Devin Williams entered the 9th protecting a 3-3 tie after Huascar Brazobán had bridged the gap from the 7th with 1.1 scoreless innings. Williams walked Josh Bell to open the frame, then walked Ryan Jeffers. Kody Clemens laid down a sac bunt to load the bases and get out of his own way, and Luke Keaschall lined a single to left to score the go-ahead run. Williams then walked Matt Wallner to force in another. Two runs. Zero outs recorded. That’s an ERA of 9.95 for a reason.
Pinch hitters Luis Torrens and Tyrone Taylor combined to go 0-for-4 with 4 strikeouts in the 6th and 9th innings respectively. The bottom of the 9th went three up, three down.
The Mets have gone 1-12 in the last 13 games without Juan Soto, and this is now the longest losing streak the franchise has endured since 2002 — tied for the 6th longest in team history. No team in MLB history has lost 12 straight and made the playoffs. Soto is expected back tonight for Game 2 of this series, which means the most important question heading into Wednesday isn’t whether the Mets can win. It’s whether this offense, outside of one Francisco Lindor swing, is capable of helping him when it matters.
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