Mets bullpen struggles continue as they blow 9th inning lead in loss to Dodgers
NEW YORK — The Mets’ late-inning relief issues continued to plague them in the first game of the day, and they were simply beaten by a better team in the nightcap.
Tylor Megill shut out the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first game of a doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon at Citi Field, but once again, the Mets blew a ninth-inning lead and lost 5-2 in 10 innings. The Mets managed only three hits against right-hander Gavin Stone in the second game and the Dodgers completed the twin-bill sweep with a 3-0 win.
The Mets held a 2-0 lead going into the eighth inning of the first game, but right-hander Reed Garrett allowed a run, and right-hander Adam Ottavino blew a save in the ninth when he allowed another. Right-hander Jorge Lopez (0-2) gave up three runs in the 10th.
Mookie Betts singled on the first pitch he saw from Lopez in the top of the 10th, scoring the automatic runner. Lopez got Ohtani out but then gave up a two-run homer to Freddie Freeman.
The Mets (22-32) were booed off of their home field twice on Tuesday.
With Edwin Diaz in a deep slump, the Mets are trying to piece together ninth-inning save opportunities with a rotating cast of relievers. So far, they haven’t found an effective reliever. Garrett blew a save Friday against the San Francisco Giants and the Mets decided to go back to Diaz in the closer role on Saturday. Diaz then blew his fourth save and third in a row.
Ottavino was warming up in the eighth in case he was needed with Garrett struggling, so the Mets stuck with him in the ninth.
“We mixed and matched but once we got Otto hot in the eighth, with us playing two I just decided to go with Otto,” said manager Carlos Mendoza.
Ottavino allowed back-to-back singles to start the inning, putting runners on the corners. Chris Taylor dropped a bunt down in front of home plate and Ottavino dropped it before finally getting it in his glove, but not before all of the runners tagged up.
Hernandez scored the tying run for the Dodgers (35-22). The Mets loaded the bases on Daniel Hudson with one out in the ninth but came up empty.
“We gave them extra outs in the eighth with makeable plays and when you’re playing good teams, they’re going to make it painful,” Mendoza said. “In the ninth, [Ottavino] continued to make pitches. The story here could be the bullpen, but at the end of the day, we had the bases loaded in the night and we couldn’t cash in.”
Francisco Lindor gave the Mets a 2-0 lead in the third with a two-run shot off right-hander Tyler Glasnow.
Glasnow (6-4) was tough, but Megill, a Southern California native, was tougher. He blanked the Dodgers, the team with the second-best record in the National League, over seven innings, limiting them to only three hits. Megill struggled with command issues last season and walked five hitters through his first two starts this year. He walked only one hitter, maintained high velocity throughout his outing and attacked hitters.
Tyrone Taylor made a clutch play in the second when he robbed Teoscar Hernandez of a home run. Leading off, Hernandez hit a high fly to dead center. Taylor lept at the wall and caught the ball, but it popped out of his glove. However, it was ruled a ground-rule double. Megill then retired the next three in order, stranding Hernandez at second base.
He struck out nine, one shy of his career-high mark, for the first time since May 4, 2022. Megill struck out the side in the seventh to put an exclamation point on one of his best outings in years.
“He was in complete control of the game,” Mendoza said.
But the Mets couldn’t get him the win.
“We’re on to the next one,” Megill said. “Can’t really dwell.”
The results weren’t much better once the sun set. Left-hander Jose Quintana (1-5) allowed three earned runs over six innings, putting the Mets in a hole right away by giving up a first-inning homer to Will Smith. Miguel Rojas made it 2-0 in the second with an RBI double. In the sixth, Miguel Vargas, a light-hitting reserve outfielder, got a hold of one and sent it deep to left field. It stayed fair for a home run.
The three hits Stone allowed were all singles. The rookie struck out seven in seven innings.
Fittingly, it was the seventh loss for the Mets in eight games.
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