There were so many David Wright jerseys that dotted the Citi Field stands on Saturday afternoon that it almost felt as if the captain himself had returned to action. And by the end of the day, it felt as though the Mets were back in the past.
But not the illustrious seasons of Wright’s past, the more dubious ones, like 2009.
A memorable day of honoring the career achievements of Wright was followed by a game the Mets will want to forget. Clay Holmes ran out of gas in the sixth inning once again, the defense defended little and the Mets chased all sorts of pitches in a 5-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.
The Mets dropped the series, their first one coming out of the All-Star break, to a team that’s dangerously close to jumping into the NL wild card standings.
But hey, at least the home run apple worked, unlike that one time in 2009. It rose with the No. 5 for Wright after Brett Baty hit a second-inning homer off of right-hander Nick Martinez. But once again, after a few early runs the Mets (55-44) failed to plate more. They left two on in the fourth inning, one on in the fifth and left them loaded in the sixth.
A sellout crowd of 42,605 expressed their displeasure. They booed just about everyone in the Mets lineup and every pitcher who walked off the mound. The only one who was spared was Jeff McNeil, who covered significant ground in center field tracking down a fly ball from Tyler Stephenson to prevent a run and end the eighth inning.
The Mets are in the process of evaluating the relievers in their system, but they might have to evaluate the role of Holmes. Initially, the club looked smart when they converted him to a starter, but over the last month the right-hander has struggled to go deep into games and pitch efficiently on a limited pitch count.
His command of the strike zone was erratic right from the start, with a ball to the backstop and off the mask of home plate umpire Manny Gonalzez in the first inning. However, he still managed to retire the Reds in order, and pitched around a two-out single in the second. He carried a 2-0 lead into the third, but gave up a double and hit a batter before an error by catcher Luis Torrens allowed a run to score. A two-out single by Matt McLain tied the game at 2-2.
The Reds (52-47) took a lead in the fourth, but Holmes limited the damage, getting out of a jam with runners on the corners. He pitched into the sixth inning and walked Austin Hays before getting a ground-ball out. But Gavin Lux’s grounder moved Hays to second, where he was able to score on an infield single by Spencer Steer. That was the last batter Holmes would face.
Right-hander Reed Garrett came in and couldn’t hold the inherited runners on base. A fielder’s choice scored one and got the second out, but Garrett couldn’t finish off Jake Fraley. The right fielder lined a double to right field to score Stephenson and give the Reds a 5-2 lead.
Holmes (8-5) was charged with five (four earned) on six hits over 5 1/3 innings. He hasn’t logged a quality start since June 7.
Right-hander Nick Martinez (8-9) held the Mets to two earned runs over five innings. The Reds mixed and matched effectively to keep a scuffling Mets offense at bay. They put runners on the corners in the ninth with one out, and Juan Soto barely missed a game-tying home run. A full-count checked swing was called strike 3, and the fans were ready to riot.
Pete Alonso gave a 1-1 fastball from Emilio Pagan a ride, but it fell into Fraley’s glove in right field for the final out.
