Mets' defense, bullpen waste three home runs in 7-4 loss to Brewers

The Mets launched three home runs, but their bullpen and defense betrayed them late in their 7-4 loss to the Brewers on Saturday evening in Milwaukee.

New York has now lost six in a row and 10 of their last 11 games. The Brewers have won eight straight games.

The Reds won earlier in the day, and are now 2.5 games behind the Mets for the final wild card spot.

Here are the takeaways….

-The Mets decided to go with an opener on Saturday and Reed Garrett got the start. The right-hander struck out two in a 1-2-3 first inning and then gave way to Frankie Montas, who struggled in his first inning of work. 

Two singles and a walk allowed the Brewers to load the bases with two outs. Montas got what he wanted, though, as Joey Ortiz hit a chopper toward Francisco Lindor, but he whiffed, allowing two runs to score on the error. Montas would be unable to give the Mets length, as he only went three innings.

The veteran right-hander tossed 72 pitches (44 strikes), allowing three runs (one earned) on three hits (one home run), two walks and striking out three. 

-Alonso, meet the Straw. After going hitless in the series opener, Alonso greeted the booing Milwaukee crowd with a towering 413-foot blast on a 94 mph fastball up in the zone off of Tobias Myers in the second inning. It's Alonso's 26th homer of the season and the 252nd of his career. The blast tied Darryl Strawberry's all-time record. Alonso finished 1-for-4.

The Mets threatened some more in that frame, loading the bases with two outs thanks to hits by Mark Vientos, Francisco Alvarez and a walk by Cedric Mullins. However, Lindor struck out looking as Myers and the Brewers escaped further damage.

Lindor would swing into some more bad luck in the fourth. With runners on the corners and one out, Lindor smashed a grounder to third baseman Anthony Seigler, who knocked the ball down with his body, threw to Brice Turang at second and he made a nice turn to barely get Lindor at first to complete the inning-ending double play. Lindor finished 0-for-5 with three strikeouts.

–Starling Marte, who has been swinging a hot bat for weeks now, got the Mets back even at 2-2 with his opposite-field solo shot in the third inning. It's the second consecutive game he went yard. Prior to this series, Marte hadn't hit a home run since the first week of June. Over his last 30 games, Marte is slashing .320/.358/.490. He finished 1-for-4. 

Juan Soto joined in on the fun with his solo shot in the fifth. It's the third straight game the slugger has hit a homer and now has 28 of the season. He went 1-for-4 with a walk.

Mullins has been struggling since arriving to the Mets at the trade deadline, but he blooped an RBI single in the fourth to give the Mets the lead. The veteran outfielder went 2-for-3 with a walk. 

-With the lead, Carlos Mendoza went to recently-acquired relievers to try and get the final 15 outs. Gregory Soto got the Brewers in order in the fifth, Tyler Rogers did the same in the sixth before Ryne Stanek took the mound in the seventh. Stanek pitched into trouble after a leadoff single and a ground-rule double put runners on second and third with one out. Sal Frelick hit a slow chopper to the right of Stanek and Lindor's only play was to first to get the second out, but the tying run scored. Ryan Helsley came in to try and get out of the inning, but Isaac Collins hit a scorcher the opposite way at Ronny Mauricio at third base, but the young infielder muffed it, allowing the Brewers to score the go-ahead run. 

Even weirder, Helsley looked to get William Contreras to fly out on the first pitch he saw but was called for a pitch-clock violation. Helsley climbed the mound again after heading toward the dugout when he thought the inning was over. The next pitch Helsley threw, Contreras deposited the 100 mph fastball over the left center field wall to put Milwaukee ahead 7-4.

-That was all the Brewers needed as they shut out the Mets in the final two innings, striking out five times in that span. The team struck out 12 times as a whole.

Game MVP: William Contreras

The young catcher's homer was a backbreaker and with how cold the Mets' offense has been, three runs was more than enough.

Highlights

What's next

The Mets and Brewers complete their three-game series on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is set for 2:10 p.m.

Sean Manaea (1-1, 3.52 ERA) will take the mound against Quinn Priester (11-2, 3.15 ERA).

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