The Mets’ losing streak hits 12 despite a dominant start against the Twins

The Mets appeared to be on their way to ending their 11-game losing streak in the series opener vs. Minnesota on Tuesday night. Nolan McLean was dominant and retired the first 15 batters that he faced while Francisco Lindor came up big with a three-run blast to right field that ended up being the only significant offense from the Mets all night. Still, it looked like it would be enough until Byron Buxton took McLean deep over the left field wall just three batters after Matt Wallner became the first Twins batter to reach base with a single to open the sixth inning.

The two-run home run brought Minnesota within one and put some pressure on New York’s offense to add some runs. Instead, the Mets made 12 straight outs against the Twins’ beleaguered bullpen. While the Mets flailed about, Minnesota broke through against McLean again with Kody Clemens hitting a double with one out in the seventh and Luke Keaschall following up with an RBI single to tie the game. Huascar Brazoban kept the score steady until the ninth, which set the stage for Devin Williams to blow a game for the second time in a row.

Williams started by walking Josh Bell on four pitches and then gave Ryan Jeffers a free pass as well. Clemens bunted to the first base side, but the Mets failed to record an out when pinch runner Josh Outman beat Mark Vientos’ throw to third base. With the bases loaded and nobody out Keaschall hits a ground ball to the left side that bounced past New York’s drawn-in infield. What looked like it could yield an out at home plate turned into an RBI single. Not content to let his defense shoulder some of the blame, Williams then walked Wallner to make the score 5-3 Minnesota.

Austin Warren did an amazing job striking out the side to prevent further damage, but it didn’t matter much since the Mets were lifeless in their half of the ninth. I’m all for Warren or Brazoban getting the next save opportunity since it would show the clubhouse that performance matters, but I don’t expect Carlos Mendoza to rock the boat so much despite a disastrous start to the season.

The Mets are back at it tonight with Juan Soto in the lineup against a southpaw making his MLB debut. Surely, now is when the Mets take a break from losing, right?

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