New York was held without a baserunner through six innings and Chris Flexen was charged with five runs in three innings as the Mets were blanked for the second consecutive game with the Rays, 9-0, on Sunday afternoon at Citi Field.

For a full box score of the game, click here.

Things you should know about today's game...

The Mets will call up Triple-A Las Vegas RH reliever Drew Smith and OF Kevin Kaczmarski prior to Friday's game, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.

They optioned RHP Chris Flexen and RHP Paul Sewald to Triple-A Las Vegas after Thursday's game. 

Danny Abriano, SNY.tv | Twitter | I noted earlier that the Mets could go one of two ways here. They could call up two relievers or call up one reliever and one position player, which would restore the five-man bench. The latter is the route that made sense, and the way they went. I wrote on Wednesday about how it's time to give the 24-year-old Smith a chance. He isn't on the 40-man roster, but the Mets can clear a spot by shifting either AJ Ramos or Jamie Callahan to the 60-day DL. Smith has pitched incredibly well and has lots of upside. It's time to see what he can do.  

The Mets played incredibly undermanned in the bullpen on Friday night and paid for it, when Paul Sewald -- one of only three relievers who was legitimately available -- imploded during his 1.2 innings of work in the Mets' 7-4 loss to the Cubs.

Sewald, who has struggled mightily lately and had a 5.29 ERA in May, had allowed runs in his last two appearances before Friday night. That the Mets had to turn to him to protect a 2-0 lead -- the night after going to Hansel Robles in a scoreless game -- was less than ideal. 

Sewald allowed both of the runners he inherited from Zack Wheeler to score in the seventh inning, and allowed a run of his own as the Cubs went ahead, 3-2. Sewald then allowed three runs in the eighth inning...

Mets RHP Zack Wheeler allowed two runs on seven hits in six-plus innings against the Cubs on Friday night at Citi Field before the bullpen gave up five runs in a 7-4 loss.

Wheeler had allowed baserunners in each of the four innings without allowing a run, but the Cubs' offense finally broke through in the seventh inning when he allowed back-to-back hits. After he was pulled, Wheeler's baserunners came around to score against Paul Sewald, tying the game at 2-2. 

Wheeler finished the night with four strikeouts and two walks in a no-decision. He has now reached six innings in seven of 10 starts this season and turned in his fifth quality start of the season...

Brandon Nimmo provided the Mets with an early lead and Zack Wheeler allowed two runs in six-plus innings, but the Cubs scored five runs against New York's bullpen and went on to win, 7-4.

For a full box score of the game, click here.

Things you should know about tonight's game...

1) Brandon Nimmo gave the Mets a 2-0 lead in the third inning with a two-run homer, his seventh of the season.

The Mets bullpen blew a 6-4 lead by allowing four runs in the seventh inning in Sunday's 8-7 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Relievers Robert Gsellman, Jerry Blevins and Paul Sewald surrendered four runs, four hits and a walk in one inning after Zack Wheeler settled down after a three-run third inning.

Gsellman retired two of the first three batters he faced before giving up a two-out walk to Jesus Aguilar. Manager Mickey Callaway opted to bring in Blevins, who had not given up a run in his last 11 appearances entering Sunday, to face Travis Shaw. A lefty specialist, left-handed hitters were 7-for-26 off Blevins entering Sunday. (By contrast, right-handed hitters were 1-for-10.)

The Mets entered their series with the Diamondbacks having lost seven of their previous eight games. Meanwhile, the Mets are 11-7 in starts made by Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard and 17-3 when the team scores four or more runs in a game.

In other words, with deGrom and Syndergaard pitching two of three games, during which the Mets scored 12 runs, sweeping the D-backs this past weekend should be what is expected from a team that entered this season hoping to make the postseason.

"That was a huge sweep," Syndergaard said after getting Sunday's win. "We'd kind of been struggling a little bit. But just as easily as we were struggling, it's that easy to turn it around."

Andy Martino, SNY.tv | Twitter 

No one in the Mets front office is kidding themselves about Mickey Callaway's week. From a batting order snafu to questionable bullpen management, the rookie manager has shown his inexperience.

Behind the scenes, at least, his work has been more encouraging: Callaway is said to be communicating well with his bosses, making adjustments to his game management based on their feedback and displaying none of the apparent defensiveness that occasionally emerges in his postgame sessions with reporters. The Mets consider Callaway thoughtful and responsive, and remain hopeful about his future.

Danny Abriano, SNY.tv | Twitter | The Mets were leading the Phillies, 1-0, with two outs and two on in the bottom of the sixth inning in Philadelphia -- 10 outs away from a rain-shortened two-game sweep.

Right-handed reliever Paul Sewald was on the mound, hoping to clean up the small mess he created. The Phillies announced left-handed hitting Nick Williams as the pinch-hitter, and Mets manager Mickey Callaway had lefty specialist Jerry Blevins ready in the bullpen for that exact scenario. But instead of going to Blevins, he stuck with Sewald.

After being passed over, Blevins shook his head and looked exasperated in the bullpen. And of course, Sewald allowed a game-changing three-run homer to Williams...

The Mets have gone 7-16 since starting the season 11-1. And their downward spiral culminated on Wednesday, when they lost their three-game series to the National League-worst Reds in Cincinnati.

Manager Mickey Callaway, who faced questions about the lineup snafu that cost the Mets a scoring chance in the first inning on Wednesday, said "It's tough right now," but is staying even-keeled. 

Danny Abriano, SNY.tv | Twitter | If the Mets had won Wednesday's game, the lineup incident would've been a funny aside. Instead, it's a main topic. But in the grand scheme of things, I couldn't give less of a damn about it. What I give a damn about is how the season has spiraled out of control with no immediate fix on the horizon...

Thursday's 4-3 loss to the Cardinals was difficult to swallow, especially since the Mets are now 2-4 on this road trip -- 4-7 during their last 11 games -- and have dropped three consecutive series.

Closer Jeurys Familia has blown three of his last five save opportunities. The thing is, had Juan Lagares not lost Jose Martinez's fly ball in the sun, the Mets win the game, 3-2. Instead, Tommy Pham scored to tie the game, Paul Sewald ran out of gas in the 13th inning and the Mets eventually lose.

Michael Conforto hit a solo homer off teammate Paul Sewald during the Mets' intrasquad game on Monday in what was their final tuneup before Opening Day at Citi Field this Thursday >> CLICK HERE for the full boxscore

The game ended after 6 1/2 innings.

Conforto, who is ahead of schedule as he recovers from shoulder surgery, was a candidate to be on the team's Opening Day roster as a pinch-hitter, but will remain in extended Spring Training in Port St. Lucie.

Along with Conforto, all of the Mets' everyday players participated in Monday's game -- with half playing for the 'Mets' and the other half playing for the 'Las Vegas 51s.'

As Spring Training wears on, the pieces of the Mets roster are beginning to fall into place. The bullpen -- a long time thorn in the team's side -- has a strong foundation emerging, and there are several relievers looking to snag a spot for Opening Day.

The back-end of the bullpen is set, and has the potential to be strong. Jeurys Familia is solid so far this spring, and looks to be fully recovered from last season's surgery. A.J. Ramos has also come out strong, and should bring a much-needed consistency that the Mets have often lacked. The newest acquisition, Anthony Swarzak, has seen limited action due to an early calf strain, but should be seeing action this weekend. And Jerry Blevins is looking to continue his stretch as one of the top lefty relievers in the game.

This core quartet leaves either three or four spots for a bevy of competitors to vie for, depending on how many bench players the Mets intend to carry. Paul Sewald, who pitched better last year than his final line indicated, is at the front of the pack currently, having given up only one run this spring over four appearances. He doesn't throw hard, but his sidearm delivery offers a nice complement to the other fireballers on the staff.

Danny Abriano, SNY.tv | Twitter | The Mets are expected to have an eight-man bullpen for the majority of this season, and Hansel Robles should not be guaranteed a spot in the Opening Day version of it.

This isn't a reaction to the four runs Robles allowed to the Astros in one inning of work on Monday afternoon (including a first-pitch homer). Rather, it's a reaction to the 4.92 ERA (5.13 FIP) he posted in 2017 as his walks continued to tick up (a career-high 4/6 per 9) and his strikeouts continued to trend down (a career-low 9.5 per 9).

And yes, I cringed a bit when Robles began his famous "point" on the home run he allowed on Monday before stopping himself...

Mets manager Mickey Callaway announced the starting pitchers and relievers for the first three Grapefruit League games.

Zack Wheeler will start on Friday against the Braves at 1:10 p.m. on SNY, with Hansel Robles, Chris Flexen, Paul Sewald, Corey Oswalt, Jacob Rhame, Tyler Bashlor, Jamie Callahan, and Drew Smith also scheduled to pitch.

Seth Lugo will start on Saturday against the Cardinals at 1:10 p.m. on WPIX, with Kevin McGowan, Marcos Molina, P.J. Conlon, Corey Taylor, and Gerson Bautista also scheduled to pitch.

Earlier this offseason at the MLB Winter Meetings, new Mets manager Mickey Callaway explained that he doesn't intend to designate any one pitcher as the team's 'closer.'

"I think that we're going to pitch guys when it makes sense," Callaway explained in December. "I'm going to pitch guys to their strengths and they're going to face the batters they should be facing." Callaway expanded on that philosophy earlier this week.

"We wouldn't name Wilmer Flores as our Wednesday infielder and then start him even if we're playing against Corey Kluber," Callaway explained, according to NY Post columnist Ken Davidoff. "So, why name a closer and put him in a situation where he doesn't fit?"

Michelle Ioannou, MetsBlog | Twitter | 

Another Monday, another look at how the Mets spent their off time this past week. Just like the rest of you, I wish I was sitting here writing about the great signings and trades that happened at the Winter Meetings. But, we all know that didn't happen, minus the signing of catcher Jose Lobaton after the meetings concluded, and the signing of relief pitcher Anthony Swarzak.

Speaking of Swarzak, if his first tweet as a New York Met has any indication of the type of person he is, it looks like we may have another Jerry Blevins-esque personality on the team. And they're both relief pitchers! Maybe this is the start of a beautiful friendship, or at the very least, reliable bullpen guys...