Manaea Hit Hard, Mendoza Ejected in 8-4 Loss to Brewers

Andy Bernard, a character in “The Office,” said in the series finale: “I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.”

It’s the final weekend of a Mets season that – however it ends – should be looked back on years from now with a smile. I mean, click this link to see a work of art. If you didn’t, it’s a fan’s chart showing the rise and fall of the Mets’ playoff odds all season overlaid with all the ups and downs that no one could have seen coming.

You can see everything from the impact of the Francisco Alvarez injury, the Grimace first pitch and seat installation, the downturn after Kodai Senga’s injury and the shots in the arm provided by Phil Maton (?) and Luisangel Acuña. Side note, maybe no more tickets for comedian Kevin James.

For fans who have no use for non-baseball shenanigans – OMG concerts, rally pimps and Hawk Tuahs – I get it. It’s been a crazy ride if all that stuff is ignored, too.

There were probably fans cursing the contract of Francisco Lindor in April who were chanting “M-V-P!” at him in July. Mark Vientos started the year in the minors, came up and almost immediately hit a walk-off homer, only to be sent back down days later. He was promoted again, thankfully, and smacked another 26 homers. The pitching in May (4.85 ERA) looked like it would sink the season. (You may recall one frustrated reliever was ejected and gifted a lucky fan his glove.) The staff’s ERA for September was 2.88 entering Friday.

The 2024 New York Mets lugged all that experience into Milwaukee, looking to inch closer to a playoff spot, ready to battle for one more good, old day. The Brewers had other plans.

Mets nemesis Rhys Hoskins hit a grand slam in the first inning and Milwaukee led the entire way in an 8-4 victory over New York on Friday night at American Family Field. In Atlanta, the Braves beat the Kansas City Royals 3-0 to pull even with the Mets in the standings with four games to play.

Sean Manaea (12-6), making his final regular season start, was off his game. He gave up six runs (five earned) on seven hits and two walks in 3 2/3 innings. It was the most runs he’d given up since June 8.

Trailing 5-2 in the fourth, Alvarez took a border line 3-2 pitch with two on and two out. Home plate umpire Ramon De Jesus hesitated before calling strike three and Alvarez, who had begun on his way to first, was incensed. He jumped twice in frustration and spiked his helmet. Manager Carlos Mendoza defended his player, got in a face-to-face shouting match with De Jesus, and was ejected.

The strike call was huge. A walk would have loaded the bases for Tyrone Taylor. Instead, the inning was over.

Down 7-2 in the eighth, Harrison Bader was robbed of an extra-base hit with the bases loaded when Jackson Chourio made a running, one-handed catch in front of the left-field wall. He settled for a sacrifice fly. The Mets added another run when Brice Turang dropped a pop fly in short right off the bat of J.D. Martinez.

With two on and two out, Milwaukee (92-68) brought in Trevor Megill, who got Luis Torrens to fly out to right as the tying run at the plate.

Lindor, playing for the first time in 12 days after hurting his back, was 2-for-4 with a walk and a throwing error that led to an unearned run in the second inning.

In the seventh, Alvarez hurt his back on a routine slide into third base as he advanced without a play on him on an infield groundout. He winced in pain on the ground before leaving the game. The Mets later announced that he was dealing with back spasms.

Martinez was 0-for-3 and is now hitless in his last 35 at-bats. The franchise record for a position player is Rey Ordóñez, who went 0-for-37 in 1997. Going in the other direction is Jose Iglesias, who went 2-for-3 to extend his hitting streak to 18 games, the longest active streak in the majors.

Vientos hit a two-run homer in the third that cut the Mets’ (87-71) deficit to 5-2.

To return to Andy Bernard’s quote, I went to a lot of games as a kid. They were all good, old days. My favorite was a Mookie Wilson walk-off home run in September 1981. The most famous was Tom Seaver’s return on Opening Day, 1983.

On May 16, 1982, (Baseball Reference is an excellent resource) my dad and I were lucky enough to watch a bad Mets team beat the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers, 13-4. New York scored nine runs in the sixth inning, and on our way out dad told me to take a good look at the “9” on the scoreboard because it wasn’t something I would see again soon.

Take a good look again at that chart. You won’t see a year like the 2024 Mets had again soon.

Stat of the Game

The Mets are 0-2 this season against the Brewers on Fridays after a rainout. New York lost 3-1 to the Brewers on March 29 after a rainout postponed Opening Day at Citi Field.

Player of the Game

Vientos was 1-for-5 with the home run and two RBIs. He has homered in back-to-back games and has hit six in September.

On Deck

Another big one is on the horizon for the Mets. Jose Quintana will start for the Mets while the Brewers have to yet to announce who they’re going with. The game will air at 7:15 p.m. ET on FOX.

The post Manaea Hit Hard, Mendoza Ejected in 8-4 Loss to Brewers appeared first on Metsmerized Online.