The Mets lost Sunday's series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays, 9-0, amid right-hander Griffin Canning's worst start of June and the offense's poorest performance in almost a month.
New York is on the wrong side of a sweep for the first time in the 2025 season and enters June's second half with questions that need answers as a six-game NL East road trip looms.
Takeaways
- Pitching could be a problem. The Mets have depth to potentially withstand Kodai Senga's injury, but Canning's latest outing continued a concerning trend. With June 4 at the Los Angeles Dodgers as the exception, four of his past five starts have seen him struggle. After the Rays (39-32) totaled six runs on four hits in 4.1 IP, he has now allowed 10 earned runs and 11 hits (two homers) over 9.2 IP of his past two starts. Before his six scoreless innings at the Dodgers, he logged just 5.2 IP across his May 23 (Dodgers) and May 28 (Chicago White Sox) outings, allowing eight runs (six earned) on four hits while battling walks (eight). Canning (6-3, 3.80 ERA) is ultimately heading in the wrong direction at a time when the Mets need him to step up.
- Even if Canning were to have pitched better, the offense did not give the Mets (45-27) a chance. Aside from Brandon Nimmo, Ronny Mauricio, Luisangel Acuña and Francisco Alvarez -- who each singled, including Acuña's two -- New York had no answer for opposing starter Shane Baz and Tampa Bay's bullpen.
- Mauricio -- his knock came during a pinch-hit situation when he led off the seventh inning but went to waste after the Rays subsequently retired Alvarez, Acuña and Francisco Lindor in order -- has two hits over the past two games, including Saturday's fifth-inning home run. Mauricio replaced an 0-for-2 Brett Baty as the New York lineup's seventh batter and was a bright spot in a game where there were virtually none.
- The Mets remain in first place in the division with a 2.5-game lead over the second-place Philadelphia Phillies, who are 42-29. Getting swept stings, and New York must reset, but it will soon have a chance to make up direct ground against the Phillies with its matchup later this week.
Who's the MVP?
Baz, who walked four Mets but struck out six and allowed only three hits while throwing 60 strikes on 106 pitches in 6.2 scoreless innings.