QUEENS, NY — Carlos Mendoza watched the pitch clock tick down. The New York Mets trailed by three in the bottom of the ninth, but Juan Soto at the plate represented the tying run. Cincinnati Reds’ catcher Tyler Stephenson called for a mound visit, barely evading a costly pitch clock violation.
Soto got a hold of a ball and drove it deep into the right field seats. The only problem? It was a few yards foul. Had the ball landed a little to the left, it would have left the park, and the Mets would have tied the game. A quick review confirmed what the sellout crowd at Citi Field knew: the ball was foul.
Soto was later called out on a close check swing.
“I can’t hear the catcher,” Mendoza said of the violation-avoiding timeout, which would have awarded Soto a walk. “He said that the catcher called timeout before the clock got to zero. From the dugout, it’s hard, and then just sit the check swing, it’s a 50-50 call there.”
The Mets’ late rally had fallen short on the day they honored their captain David Wright, whose number five was retired prior to first pitch.
For the second straight night, New York had the tying run at the plate. For the second straight night, its big bats did not come through.
“Obviously we’d like to put a few more runs on the board,” Brandon Nimmo said. “We’ve had streaks in both games where we put a lot of pressure on, just not able to get the big hit right now.”
Mistakes in the field prove costly
Mendoza has previously praised Jeff McNeil’s versatility in shifting defensive assignments. On Saturday, he was in center field. He put his defense on display.
The Reds had a man on in the top of the eighth inning. They led by three when Tyler Stephenson lined a ball to center field. McNeil dove and caught the ball, ending the inning and preventing Cincinnati from adding more run damage.
Nimmo made a similar diving catch in the top of the second to rob Austin Hays of extra bases.
Minus these two plays, New York’s fielding was overshadowed by two poor throwing mistakes. In the top of the third, Luis Torrens attempted to throw to first base in a pickoff attempt. He missed. The ball continued down the right field line as the Reds’ Jake Fraley scored to put his club on the board.
“We’ve seen it at times where he’s kind of like a delayed pick to bases,” Mendoza said. “He’s just seen that situation. It’s not the right decision, obviously.”
In the top of the sixth, Ronny Mauricio made a poor throw to Baty at second. Hays scored as the Mets could not turn a double play, and the Reds took a 4–2 lead.
“Maybe just a little too quick there,” Mendoza said. “Knowing the runner and the situation there, and maybe making sure that we finish the play there, and we didn’t do it.”
These types of mistakes cannot happen. Not as the second half of the season ticks on.
Brett Baty the Mets’ lone bright spot as offense goes cold
New York’s lone bright spot Saturday, arguably, was Brett Baty.
On the first pitch he saw on Saturday afternoon, a 93-mph fastball from Reds starter Nick Martinez, Baty cranked it into the second level of Citi Field’s right field seats for his ninth home run of the season.
Nine of Baty’s 10 home runs this season have come at Citi Field. He trails Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto, who each have 12, for the team lead in this metric.
Baty was one of only two Mets batters with multiple hits Saturday — Torrens was the other. He added a single in the bottom of the fourth, pulling a Martinez change-up to right field. In the bottom of the sixth, he worked Reds reliever Taylor Rogers for a walk to reach base. Rogers was subsequently taken out of the game.
Baty entered Saturday hitting .296 (16-for-54) in his past 20 games, dating back to June 24. He amassed five runs, four doubles, one home run, and six RBI during that span. He carried a .361 OBP and a .787 OPS.
Baty also made a skillful defensive play from his second base defensive assignment, throwing out Elly De La Cruz with his glove to end the top of the fifth.
Squandered opportunities at the plate
New York’s best opportunity to crawl back into the game came in the bottom of the sixth inning.
They trailed 5–2 and had one out when Luis Torrens walked to load the bases, bringing up Nimmo. He whiffed at two curveballs out of the zone, and eventually struck out. Francisco Lindor’s bat went flying as he grounded out.
Mark Vientos struck out to end the seventh and bring New York’s strikeout total to 10. The Mets struck out 11 times as a team on Saturday.
In the bottom of the eighth, McNeil led off by reaching base on a fielding error by Cincinnati third baseman Noelvi Marte. Ronny Mauricio subsequently grounded into a double play and was booed off the field.
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