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.
A memorable day of honoring the career achievements of Wright was followed by a game the Mets will want to forget. Clay Holmes couldn’t make it through six innings, the defense defended little and the Mets chased all sorts of pitches in a 5-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.
“He was one of my mentors, I was always trying to be like him coming up, so it’s definitely disappointing to lose on his day,” Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo said of losing on the day Wright’s No. 5 was retired and he went into the team Hall of Fame. “But it made it no less special. That ceremony beforehand was amazing, not just for him, but for the fan base to share it with him.”
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. The Reds (52-47) are tied with the San Francisco Giants for fourth place in the wild card standings, two games back from the San Diego Padres. The Mets (55-44) are second in the wild card race, and will go on the road next week to face the Giants and Padres.
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 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, booing just about everyone involved with the Mets, save for Wright.
“Obviously I’d like to put a few more runs on the board,” Nimmo said. “We’ve had streaks in both games where we put a lot of pressure on them. We’re just not able to get the big hit right now.”
Holmes couldn’t throw his sweeper for strikes, which made for a tough outing. 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 Gonzalez in the first inning. However, he still managed to retire the Reds in order, and staved off trouble until the third inning. By then, the Mets had a 2-0 lead, but it wouldn’t last.
Holmes 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.
“I think the big thing is, when it’s a pitch that’s kind of a pretty big part of your arsenal, you can’t just abandon it,” Holmes said. “I feel like I was able to kind of still find spots to throw it, and eventually it got better as the game went on. As a reliever, it’s easy to just kind of maybe abandon it and go to what’s working. We were still able to mix a few in and start to get a little better as the game went on, but it’s definitely something you’ve got to be aware of if it’s not really working.
“You don’t want to overdo something, but at the same time, you can’t just scrap it. So it’s just walking that fine line.”
The Reds took a lead in the fourth, but Holmes still pitched into the sixth inning, walking the first batter before getting an out and giving up an infield single.
“They made him work,” said manager Carlos Mendoza. “The sweeper wasn’t a pitch for him, he had a hard time landing it for strikes. It was only in the fourth inning where he kind of got it back there. He had trouble today, and that’s basically his pitch there.”
Right-hander Reed Garrett came in and couldn’t hold the inherited runners on base. Holmes (8-5) was charged with five runs (four earned) on six hits over 5 1/3 innings. The Mets aren’t concerned about the reliever-turned-starter, but he hasn’t logged a quality start since June 7.
“If I could finish that six, it would put the team in a much better position to win that game,” Holmes said. “It’s something going forward I need to work on, especially in this role. To be able to finish outings would be huge.
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 three, 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.
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