Cheers turned to groans as the Mets made some costly defensive mistakes and the offense came up empty on a few big chances in a 6-2 loss to the Reds.
NEW YORK — The Mets organization pulled out all the stops to honor David Wright during the captain's number retirement on Saturday afternoon at Citi Field.
The Mets provided some theatrics late, but the only thing that was lacking was a victory to match the moment.
Cheers turned to groans as the Mets made some costly defensive mistakes and the offense came up empty on a number of big opportunities in a 5-2 loss to the Reds in front of a sold-out crowd of 42,605 fans in Flushing.
In the Mets' opening two games of the second half, they have earned an advantage only to give it right back.
For the second straight game on Saturday, the Mets got out to a two-run lead through the first two innings. This time, Mark Vientos hoisted the Mets up with an RBI single and Brett Baty supplied a solo home run but the rest of the lineup came up empty.
Once again, that two-run edge slipped through the Mets' fingers.
While the bullpen may have shouldered the lion's share of the blame on Friday, it was haphazard defense and another collection of missed opportunities that spelled a series defeat.
Shaky Mets defense helps Reds gain advantage
With the Mets holding 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning, the Reds put the pressure on against Clay Holmes with a leadoff double and after Noelvi Marte was hit by a pitch.
But Luis Torrens supplied more of a burden when he attempted a pickoff to first base with Pete Alonso away from the base. The ball skipped into the outfield and Fraley scored while Marte moved to third. Two batters later, the Reds had tied the score on a Matt McLain RBI single.
After the Reds moved ahead 3-2 on a Fraley RBI single in the fourth inning, Holmes appeared to settle in with a perfect fifth inning. But he issued a leadoff walk to Austin Hays and Spencer Steer reached on a slow roller to the left side.
With one out and runners on the corners, Ronny Mauricio had the chance to convert and inning-ending double play but threw wide to second base, pulling Baty off second base as only one out was made and a Reds run scored. In the next at-bat, Faley dropped an RBI double into right field.
Holmes' day was down after 5⅓ innings as he was charged with four earned runs (five total) on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts.
Mets offense cannot keep up early momentum
After Vientos' RBI single in the first inning, the Mets had an opportunity to tack on more runs. They loaded the bases on a Jeff McNeil walk, but Ronny Mauricio grounded out to second base.
It kicked off an afternoon filled with missed opportunities.
In the fourth inning after back-to-back singles by Baty and Torrens, Brandon Nimmo flew out to right field. The glaring missed opportunity came in the bottom of the sixth inning and the Mets trailing 5-2. The bottom of the Mets' lineup loaded the bases with one out on a trio of walks. But Nimmo struck out against Reds reliever Scott Barlow and Francisco Lindor dribbled a ground ball to first base to end the threat.
The Mets left 11 runners on base and their only hit with runners in scoring position in 10 attempts was Vientos' hit in the first inning. They struck out 11 times in the loss.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Mets put up dud following David Wright retirement, lose to Reds
Category: Baseball
