The Mets dropped their fourth straight game, falling to the Milwaukee Brewers by a score of 7-2 in the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader at Citi Field.
Here are the key takeaways...
-For the first time in 17 days, the Mets had a starting pitcher pitch into the sixth inning, as Clay Holmes overcame some early command issues to turn in a solid start. But after a walk to Christian Yelich and a Jackson Chourio flyout, Holmes was pulled with the Mets holding on to a 2-1 lead.
Unfortunately, Reed Garrett was immediately greeted by Brice Turang, who doubled into the left field corner to quickly tie the game. From there, things snowballed on Garrett, and a 2-1 Mets lead turned into a 6-2 deficit after Joey Ortiz smacked a grand slam to left to quiet the Citi Field crowd. Garrett was charged with four earned runs on three hits and a walk while recording just two outs.
Holmes’ final line: 5.1 innings, three hits, two earned runs, four walks and one strikeout.
-Offensively, the Mets weren't able to muster much of anything against Brewers starter Freddy Peralta. They were able to use the running game to get things going in the third as Luis Torrens and Jeff McNeil executed a hit-and-run to put runners on the corners. McNeil would score on a Brett Baty sac fly. The next inning, Juan Soto singled, stole second, and came in to score on a Pete Alonso single, but Peralta limited the Mets to just two hits over his 6.0 innings of work.
-Francisco Lindor remains mired in a slump, going 0-for-4 with a strikeout. The Mets' leadoff hitter is now slashing just .133/.172/.267 with 13 strikeouts in his last 15 games.
-If there was any sliver of a silver lining in this game, it's that Brandon Waddell did a decent job of saving the rest of the bullpen, which could be a nice boost for the second game of the twin-billing. Waddell went 3.0 innings, throwing 50 pitches while allowing one earned run on four hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
-As a team, the Mets mustered just two hits all afternoon, with the top three hitters in the lineup -- Lindor, Starling Marte, and Soto -- going 0-for-11 with a walk.
Game MVP
Ortiz, who turned the tide of the game completely with one swing of the bat.