The New York Mets’ offensive woes deepened Tuesday night as they suffered their seventh consecutive defeat, falling 2-1 to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Los Angeles. The team’s batting performance has deteriorated significantly during this losing stretch, with opponents outscoring them 36-10 overall.
Currently sitting at the bottom of the NL East division with a 7-11 record, the Mets are struggling without their top offensive threat Juan Soto, who remains out with a calf injury for an expected two to three more weeks.
Francisco Lindor provided the lone offensive highlight, launching a leadoff home run off World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto that boosted his batting average 18 points to .194. The blast marked Lindor’s first RBI of the season and ended a 20-inning scoreless drought that nearly resulted in three straight shutouts for the first time since 1992.
However, Yamamoto dominated from that point forward, retiring the next 20 consecutive batters he faced. New York managed only three additional hits: Bo Bichette’s seventh-inning double and singles from Carson Benge and Lindor in the eighth frame.
In the decisive ninth inning, trailing by one run, the Mets became overly aggressive at the plate, allowing Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia to strike out three straight batters to seal the victory.
“We chase and it’s hard to score in situations like that,” manager Carlos Mendoza explained. “You really have to force those guys to come in the strike zone and right now we’re not doing that, especially at the end of the game.”
The statistics paint a grim picture of New York’s offensive struggles during this skid. The team is batting just .178 overall and a dismal .083 with runners in scoring position, going 2-for-24 in those crucial situations. They’re averaging merely 1.43 runs per contest with only eight extra-base hits.
“You’re down one run and you’re basically trying to hit one out of the ballpark and that’s when the chase comes,” Mendoza noted. “If you continue to swing at pitches out of the strike zone, they’re going to continue to do that, so we have to make adjustments.”
The Mets recorded 11 strikeouts in Tuesday’s loss, marking their fourth consecutive game reaching double digits in that category. Jorge Polanco, Brett Baty, and Mark Vientos each struck out twice.
“It’s easy to put too much pressure on yourself,” Mendoza observed. “You got to go back to your fundamentals, you got to go back to what got you to this level, understanding that you are a great hitter.”
The manager warned that without proper adjustments, the offensive problems could continue escalating.
“I know it’s tough right now, but the last thing you could do is just panic and try to do too much,” Mendoza said.
Despite the loss, rookie pitcher Nolan McLean delivered an outstanding performance for New York. The 24-year-old right-hander surrendered just one run on two hits across seven innings, striking out eight while walking two batters.
“He pretty much dominated one of the best lineups,” Mendoza praised. “It sucks losing when you get that type of outing.”
McLean has now allowed two or fewer earned runs in 11 of his first 12 major league appearances.
Even Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was impressed by the young pitcher’s performance.
“It was fun to watch McLean pitch,” Roberts commented. “Man, he’s special.”
