Juan Soto homers twice, but Mets fall to Diamondbacks, 4-2

The Mets fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday afternoon by a score of 4-2, losing their first home series of the season.

Here are the key takeaways…

–Kodai Senga looked great early, punching out three D-backs in the first couple of innings. But he dealt with a lot of traffic on the base paths in the third and fourth. While the righty was able to escape a bases-loaded jam in the third, striking out Pavin Smith to end the threat, he couldn’t repeat that Houdini act in the fourth, as Alek Thomas delivered an RBI single to center.

Things could have gotten worse in the inning, but Brandon Nimmo made a terrific leaping catch at the wall, robbing Corbin Carroll of extra bases and likely three RBI.

With his pitch count at 87 (50 strikes), Senga’s day ended after 4.0 innings, allowing one earned run on five hits while striking out six and walking three. His ERA rose slightly to 1.38, but Senga was clearly a little bit off during this outing.

–Genesis Cabrera, making his Mets debut, got the call in the fifth inning, but he walked a hitter and allowed Josh Naylor to hit a double off the very top of the wall, as it hit the orange line and stayed in play. Max Kranick came in to clean up the mess, allowing a sac fly to Eugenio Suarez to make it a 2-0 game.

Kranick continues to give the Mets needed outs, though he did allow a solo shot to Geraldo Perdomo in the seventh. Still, the right-hander turned in a solid 2.2 innings.

-Arizona starter Zac Gallen came into Thursday’s game struggling, pitching to a 5.57 ERA which is far from the norm for him, considering that twice he’s finished top five in NL Cy Young voting.

But the Cy Young candidate version of Gallen returned on Thursday, as he handled the Mets’ lineup with relative ease. Gallen allowed a Pete Alonso groundball single in the first, and then a whole lot of nothing, until the sixth…

-With one out and nobody on, Juan Soto blasted a solo home run to left field, his first home run as a Met at Citi Field and his first home run in general since April 15. Soto’s fourth homer of the season was the first he’s hit in 16 home games this season.

But he wasn’t finished just yet.

Facing Kevin Ginkel in the eighth, Soto once again displayed his seemingly effortless power to the opposite field, hitting his second homer of the day to once again cut the Arizona lead to one run. The Mets would later put two runners in scoring position with one out, but the potential tying and go-ahead runs were left stranded, as Mark Vientos and Nimmo went down on strikes.

-Manager Carlos Mendoza made a questionable decision in the ninth inning, allowing Reed Garrett, who pitched a scoreless eighth, to go back out for the ninth in lieu of Edwin Diaz, who was warmed up and ready to go with Arizona holding a 3-2 lead coming into the inning. Garrett allowed a solo homer to Tim Tawa, and while it was the first earned run he’s allowed all season, it came in a huge spot as Arizona doubled their lead and took the momentum right back.

Who was the game MVP?

Gallen, who went 6.0 innings, allowing just one earned run on two hits, striking out eight and walking three.

Highlights

Upcoming schedule

The Mets hit the road for a Friday night showdown with the St. Louis Cardinals to start a three-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. on SNY.

RHP Clay Holmes (3-1, 2.64 ERA) gets the start for New York and will pitch opposite RHP Sonny Gray (3-0, 3.60 ERA).

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