Frankie Montas continues Mets' starting pitching woes, pummeled in loss to Giants

NEW YORK — Carlos Mendoza wanted Frankie Montas to stay on the attack and provide some length on Sunday afternoon.

The Mets right-hander could do neither in his seventh start of the season.

Montas was hit hard across the third and fourth innings, surrendering seven runs on seven hits and two walks, as the Mets dropped the series finale to the Giants, 12-4, in front of 42,876 fans at Citi Field.

The loss meant that the Mets dropped their second straight series and five out of their last six games. With a 63-48 record, they moved into a first-place tie with the Phillies atop the National League East, with the Phils' Sunday matchup pending.

Frankie Montas' continues to struggle

Mendoza's directive for Montas to get deep into the game came after Kodai Senga could only work through four innings on Saturday afternoon.

The Mets had used five relievers out of their bolstered bullpen to cover the final five innings in Saturday's win.

"We want to push starters when we need to because it's hard to ask 15 outs of our bullpen for the next 51 games that we've got here," Mendoza said before Sunday's game. "That's not going to be sustainable."

Unfortunately for the Mets, that became the reality as Montas was tagged for a pair of lengthy innings in the third and fourth.

In the top of the third inning, the Giants evened the score on back-to-back singles, with Patrick Bailey driving in a run. Then, after Helio Ramos walked, Rafael Devers blasted a thigh-high fastball over the right-field wall to move the Giants ahead 4-1.

Montas had to deal with some rough look in the fourth inning. After back-to-back one-out singles, Pete Alonso was caught in between on a sharp ground ball and threw home too late. Then, after a sacrifice bunt, Ramos knocked an RBU infield single deep to the left side of the infield and Devers moved the Giants ahead 7-1 on a single up the middle.

After throwing a combined 56 pitches in those two innings, Montas went back out for the fifth but was removed after a leadoff walk. It was the third straight start that Montas had given up seven hits or more while he has allowed 14 earned runs in his last 14 innings in his three starts since the All-Star break.

Austin Warren helps save the bullpen

While Rico Garcia posted a 2.13 ERA in eight appearances for the Mets including 16 strikeouts in 12⅔ innings, the right-hander met a cruel fate on Sunday when he was designated for assignment for the second time with the team.

Mendoza had considered Garcia to be one of the bulk arms out of the bullpen, but they instead recalled right-hander Austin Warren to fill that gap — if temporarily — on Sunday.

Warren provided a substantial lift in his fifth appearance for the Mets this season. The 29-year-old came in the fifth inning, struck out Dominic Smith and then picked up an inning-ending double play.

He finished with two hits and one walk allowed across four innings while picking up five strikeouts and saving the Mets' bullpen for their upcoming series against the Guardians.

Ryne Stanek could not complete the ninth inning, giving up five earned runs on three hits, including a three-run home run, and two walks while recording two outs.

No repeat performance

One day after delivering one of their biggest offensive performances of the season, the Mets only came up with a fraction of that production.

The Mets struck first when Francisco Lindor belted his 21st home run - a solo shot - to right field. But through the fourth inning, while the Giants offense built their advantage, the Mets' lone baserunner came on a Francisco Alvarez walk against Giants top pitching prospect Carson Whisenhunt.

The Mets tacked on one more run in the fifth inning, with Jeff McNeil singling then scoring on a errant throw back into the infield on an Alvarez double.

Adding insult to injury for the Mets, Jose Butto came into the game in the sixth inning and tossed 1⅔ innings, picking up a double play and three strikeouts against Starling Marte, Mark Vientos and Cedric Mullins.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Mets: Frankie Montas pummeled in loss to Giants