The Mets had a chance to finally complete a ninth-inning comeback on Monday night, but instead, a brutal at-bat from Francisco Alvarez reinforced a trend that this group wants no part of.
Trailing 1-0 in the ninth against Phillies closer Jhoan Duran, Alvarez stepped in with the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position with two down in the ninth. With runners on second and third, Alvarez feebly whiffed on three straight curveballs from Duran, each one well out of the zone, to seal a narrow 1-0 win for the Phils.
The loss for New York increased its deficit in the NL East to eight games with just 18 games left to play.
The defeat also inflated the team’s failure to produce a ninth-inning rally this season. The Mets entered the night 0-59 when trailing after eight innings, the only team to not have a single win when facing that scenario. That mark has now fallen to 0-60.
Much of the talk surrounding the Mets offense earlier in the season was the failure to come through with runners and scoring position, a concern that was temporarily quieted when the bats collectively came to life for a dynamic stretch in late August and early September. But the lineup seems to have cooled down a bit again, never more apparent than their quiet night against Aaron Nola and company.
The Mets have three more games against the Phils and are suddenly trying to hold off the surging Giants for the final Wild Card spot, as San Francisco has clawed its way to within three games of New York in the standings.