Mets Notebook: Sloppy Defense and Surging Offense

QUEENS — One of the classic clichés in baseball is that if a team scores eight runs, that team typically wins. However, that also is dependent on that team’s pitching and defense holding up their end of the bargain.

Friday night, the Miami Marlins scored nine runs, only to lose by 10 in a 19-9 beatdown by the New York Mets. The next afternoon, the Mets put up eight of their own, including the erasing of a six-run deficit, but fell 11-8.

“It’s hard to pick on the offense when you give up 11 and put up eight,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said in a postgame press conference. “We just didn’t shut them down.”

While Tyler Rogers and Edwin Diaz combined to give up three runs in the later innings, the Mets found themselves behind the eight-ball early, as starter David Peterson turned in his ugliest outing of the season.

Simply put, everything went wrong.

“He didn’t have it today,” Mendoza said. “He didn’t get chases below the strike zone, and then when he came in the strike zone, they made him pay. They had a good approach … One of those days that he had to battle, and it was a struggle for him.”

The southpaw — who became a first-time All-Star earlier this summer — was tagged for eight runs in two-plus innings, allowing eight hits and striking out just one batter. Without question, it marked the most runs Peterson had allowed in a game all season and just his second loss at Citi Field all year.

Peterson was by no means sharp, but he was also not helped at all by the gloves on the field, including his own. In the first two games of the series, New York committed three and two errors, respecitvely, and while no errors showed up in the boxscore on Saturday, two key misplays helped Miami to its five-run first inning.

First, Peterson had a comebacker clank off his glove, turning a potential double play into an infield hit, before Brandon Nimmo misread a fly ball which turned into a two-run double.

“They were able to capitalize on that stuff,” Peterson said. “Had a double play that I could’ve gotten myself two outs in the first inning, another thing they were able to take advantage of.”

On the season, the Mets are a middle-of-the-pack team defensively. They rank 17th in errors (65), 15th in defensive runs saved (16), and 20th in outs above average (-9).

For the most part, Peterson has done a good job of pitching around traffic. After all, entering play on Saturday, he held an ERA of 3.18, despite a WHIP of 1.25, while holding opposing hitters to a .238 batting average with runners in scoring position.

Prior to Saturday, Peterson was a rare pillar of stability in the Mets’ rotation. He has finished the sixth inning in 16 of his 26 starts, by far the most of any Met. However, even with an eight-inning, one-run gem against the Nationals on August 19, he now has a 7.56 ERA in his last five starts.

Moreover, Sean Manaea has pitched to a 7.13 ERA in his last five starts, while averaging less than five innings per outing as he works back from an oblique injury while still dealing with loose bodies in his throwing elbow. Finally, Kodai Senga has had problems of his own since returning from the IL, holding a 5.40 ERA since July 11.

The Mets have gotten support recently from rookies Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong, but their success hinges on quality innings from their veteran starting pitchers. Peterson, for the most part, has provided that, but Saturday was without a doubt one to forget.

Nonetheless, Mendoza reiterated his confidence in his guys, regardlless of the inconsistencies from his arms.

“I’m not concerned, because I know they’re good and talented,” Mendoza said. “Peterson has been very consistent for us, and he had a tough one today. I believe in Sean Manaea, I believe in Kodai Senga. Clay [Holmes] has been very consistent fror us, so I trust those guys.”

A Surging Offense

Despite going just 11-16 in August, with one game still to be played, the Mets’ bats cannot shoulder any of the blame.

Over the past month, New York leads baseball in wRC+ (144), batting average (.288), and with four homers on Saturday, finished just the third-ever calendar month in franchise history to see 50 home runs.

Arguasbly the most impressive part, is the Mets’ depth in the lineup. In Monday’s 13-3 win over Philadelphia, New York rode Tyrone Taylor, Jeff McNeil and Luis Torrens, who went a combined 8-for-13 with five runs scored, two doubles, a home run and nine RBI out of the bottom third of the order.

In scoring 19 runs on Friday, Torrens, Nimmo, Juan Soto, Pete Alonso, and Mark Vientos each left the yard, with Nimmo hitting a pair of longballs. Saturday’s contest had the makings of a competitive ballgame, even with Peterson’s early struggles.

After being staked to a 5-0 lead, Marlins starter Edward Cabrera immediately served up a home run to Francisco Lindor, before Brett Baty crossed on an unearned run in the second.

Following Miami’s three-run third inning, Vientos responded with a three-run shot to once again make it a game. Soto slugged a solo shot in the fourth before he finally tied things up with a left-on-left, two-run shot in the sixth.

“He’s a special player, special hitter,” Mendoza said. “He’s locked in right now. That second homer, I’m thinking, ‘here’s a line drive right at the right fielder’ and before you know it it’s over the fence. Pretty impressive.”

By the end of the night, Soto had reached base all five times, with two walks, two homers and a hit by pitch. He also stole two bases, bringing him to 25 for the year. The steals are a new addition to Soto’s game, as he has already far surpassed his previous career high of 12 from two years ago.

“[I’m most satisfied] with the walks,” Soto said. “It’s definitely one of the things that help me the most. It just means I’m seeing the ball well, seeing everything in the right spot, and when they’re coming at me, I’m making damage.”

In the last seven games, Soto has reached at a .545 clip with a .739 slugging percentage. Over that same span, Alonso is slashing .394/.412/.636 with an OPS of 1.048, while Vientos is slugging .810 with eight homers in his last 15.

The one area offensively that New York did not see success in was hitting with men on base. As a team, the Mets went just 2-for-12 with RISP, including squandering a leadoff triple behind by a run in the seventh inning.

“We put ourselves in this situation,” Mendoza said. “I’ve been saying it, it starts on the mound … I feel like the arms that we’ve faced this series, offensively we’ve done a really, really good job. We haven’t been able to shut down their offense … We haven’t been able to play clean baseball. Again, [we] can’t worry about what’s in the past.”