Reed Garrett blows lead in 8th inning as Giants hand Mets 4th straight loss
NEW YORK — Just when it looked like the Mets‘ luck was about to turn, the reliever that had been so reliable through the first six weeks of the season gave up the biggest hit of the game.
San Francisco Giants catcher Patrick Bailey‘s eighth-inning grand slam off right-hander Reed Garrett doomed the Mets to an 8-7 loss, their fourth in a row, Friday night at Citi Field. With two outs and the Mets up 6-3, Garrett (5-2) fell behind on Bailey and left a fastball over the plate. The second-year catcher connected and dumped the ball into the visitor’s bullpen in right-center field.
Down 8-6, the Mets rallied for a run in the bottom of the ninth. They capitalized on sloppy play by the Giants (26-26) to cut the deficit to one run and load the bases on closer Camilo Doval (nine saves), but Mark Vientos chopped one to third base and Matt Chapman made the out to end the game.
The Mets hit three home runs for the third game in a row and still lost, becoming just the fourth team in the wild-card era to complete the feat. The Arizona Diamondbacks last did it in September 2012. Vientos, J.D. Martinez and Pete Alonso all homered, with Alonso and Vientos homering for the second straight game.
The Mets are at a season-worst with eight games under .500 (21-29).
It spoiled another gem of an outing by rookie Christian Scott, who exited with a 5-2 lead. Scott allowed two earned runs on two hits, walked one and struck out four over six innings, all while laying off his put-away pitch, the sweeper. In his fourth career start, he went extra heavy on the four-seam fastball while mixing in sliders and the occasional sinker.
He gave up a two-out home run to Jorge Soler in the second inning, which tied the game at 1-1. In the third, No. 9 hitter Marco Luciano led off the inning with a debatable triple. Luciano’s ball was well-hit to the right field corner, but Starling Marte couldn’t make the catch off the bounce and chased it back to the warning track. Luis Matos scored Luciano on a grounder to shortstop.
Left-hander Kyle Harrison pitched around a two-out walk in the third before the Mets got to him for two runs in the bottom of the fourth. Vientos and Martinez went back-to-back off Harrison with two outs in the fifth to end the lefty’s day. He was charged with five runs (four earned) on six hits over five innings.
Meanwhile, Scott retired the final 12 hitters he faced after giving up the triple. He struck out the side in the fifth, getting Heliot Ramos, Mike Yastrzemski and Luciano on fastballs. He faced the top of the order in the sixth and fell behind Matos and LaMonte Wade Jr. before getting them both out.
Thairo Estrada worked him for six pitches, swinging through a sweeper. Scott finally got a feel for it on pitch No. 94.
As if things weren’t bad enough, Edwin Diaz came in during the seventh inning with the Mets up by two runs. The Mets are using the closer in low-leverage situations after his recent struggles in an effort to rebuild his confidence. It was his first time pitching since blowing a save to the Miami Marlins last weekend.
The trumpets didn’t play while he ran out from the bullpen and there was no light show at Citi Field, but eventually “Narco” did play and Diaz pitched around a one-out walk.
Alonso homered off right-hander Alex Avila (1-0) in the seventh to put the Mets up 6-3. But then came Bailey’s grand slam and Jorge Lopez gave up a solo shot to Yastrzemski in the top of the ninth.
Fans then hit the turnstiles afterwards.
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