PHILADELPHIA — The Mets can blame their four-game losing streak on facing four pitchers who were nearly unhittable, and they wouldn’t be wrong. However, the thing about facing good pitching as a potential playoff team is that in the playoffs, you have to be able to hit good pitching.
Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Ranger Suarez shut the Mets out over six innings in a 9-3 loss Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park, allowing only a single hit, walking three and striking out 12. The best the Mets can hope for is a four-game series split against their NL East rivals, and while the team has maintained optimism this week, their hopes of winning the division are pretty much gone.
The Mets (76-69) remain in third place in the NL Wild Card standings, with the San Francisco Giants only two games behind them. The Arizona Diamondbacks and the Cincinnati Reds are also a threat to move up in the standings, especially since the Reds own the tiebreaker over the Mets.
Mark Vientos homered off former Mets reliever David Robertson in the seventh to make it 4-1, and Juan Soto drove in Jose Siri in the eighth with an RBI single. By then, the game was already out of reach.
Long reliever Justin Hagenman kept the score at 4-0 with a scoreless sixth, but then gave up a three-run homer to Kyle Schwarber, giving the Phillies a 7-1 advantage. Hagenman gave up five earned runs over three innings.
The Mets failed to create any real traffic against Suarez (12-6) or the rest of the relievers. Brandon Nimmo led off the fifth with a single, the only hit the Mets managed against Suarez, but the runner was quickly erased with a double play by Starling Marte. Francisco Alvarez and Jeff McNeil walked to put two on, but Jose Siri, playing in his first game since April, struck out to end the inning.
Suarez retired the side in the sixth with relative ease.
Sean Manaea pitched to his season averages, going five innings and giving up four earned runs. He put the Mets in a 2-0 hole in the bottom of the first that became a 4-0 deficit when Otto Kemp and Harrison Bader hit back-to-back bombs in the second.
While Manaea retired 10 straight to complete his outing, this was the sixth time in 10 appearances the left-hander has given up four or more earned runs. Keeping him in the starting rotation the rest of the month might not be sustainable. Currently, the Mets are using a six-man rotation for this turn, so they could take him out and move him to the bullpen.
The veteran has pitched in a relief role in the past, owning a 3.95 ERA in 84 1/3 innings of relief.
The Mets have to do what they feel is best for their postseason hopes. There are no easy decisions in the month of September, especially when it comes to a pitcher who is so well-liked and well-respected. The playoffs are not guaranteed at the moment.Then again, some run support sure would help matters all around.
Maybe what the Mets are really running out of time for is to play like a playoff team.
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