The Mets’ rotation has been unable to provide consistent length, and manager Carlos Mendoza recognized that has been among the club’s most significant problems.
Sean Manaea, in a groove through five innings in a scoreless game Monday night, looked like he would buck that trend.
Alas.
Manaea spotted the Guardians five runs in the sixth inning, which he could not complete after recording two outs. The Mets’ lineup picked him up in a massive way, tying the score in the eighth, but things went awry in the 10th inning of a 7-6 loss in front of 37,866 at Citi Field.
“It happened fast,” Mendoza said. “Solid through five. Like, dominated.”
Manaea made his fourth start and fifth appearance of 2025 after missing the first three-and-a-half months of the season with a right oblique strain (and a minor setback with loose bodies in his left elbow).
The biggest blow came on Gabriel Arias’ three-run homer that made it 5-0. Manaea allowed seven hits in a season-high 5 2⁄3 innings, striking out three and walking none.
“No way around it, I mean, that sucks,” Manaea said. “I mean, not just for me personally, but as a team. I was hoping to limit the damage, but yeah, I mean, the home run was huge.”
The Mets (63-50) have lost six of their last seven and fell 1 1⁄2 games behind the NL East-leading Phillies, who defeated Baltimore, 13-3.
With the Mets down 5-0 in the sixth, Pete Alonso cranked a three-run homer — the 251st of his career, moving him within one of Darryl Strawberry’s franchise home run record. They rallied for two more runs to tie it in the eighth. “I know we didn’t get the W, but there’s a lot of positives,” Alonso said. “Because, I mean, I think it’d be more concerning if we just kind of got blown out 5-0. But for us to kind of battle back and keep fighting, that’s a lot of good signs.”
The Guardians (57-55) scored two runs off Ryan Helsley (3-2, 2.84 ERA) in the 10th. With runners on first and second and no outs, David Fry bunted on one hop to third baseman Brett Baty. Baty fired to Francisco Lindor, who was covering second, but the throw scooted into the outfield as the Guardians scored to take the lead.
“I just got to make a better throw on that play,” Baty said.
Arias’ sacrifice fly made it 7-5.
To start the bottom of the 10th, Mark Vientos grounded out and Cedric Mullins lined out to right. Baty’s two-out RBI single cut the Mets’ deficit to 7-6, but Luis Torrens flied out to rightfield to end the game.
Lindor, Juan Soto, Alonso and Jeff McNeil hit four consecutive singles off Hunter Gaddis to start the eighth, with Alonso’s RBI single cutting it to 5-4. The bases were loaded for Mark Vientos, whose sacrifice fly evened things. Gaddis got Cedric Mullins to ground out, then Cade Smith (4-4, 2.92) induced Baty’s groundout to end the inning.
Francisco Alvarez hit a leadoff single in the ninth. Lindor hit a one-out double, though Tyrone Taylor — pinch running for Alvarez — was held at third.
“I think that’s the right decision there,” Mendoza said. “Because the ball didn’t get all the way to the wall. And you get Taylor thrown out of the plate right there with Soto and Pete coming up, you’re going to be second-guessing that decision.”
Soto was intentionally walked to load the bases. Alonso struck out and McNeil lined out to shortstop to end the inning.
Tyler Rogers pitched a scoreless seventh, and Reed Garrett and Edwin Diaz followed with scoreless innings. The Guardians had a runner on third with no outs in the ninth, but Diaz retired the next three batters.
The Mets’ rotation entered Monday with an MLB-low 148 1⁄3 innings thrown since June 24, the day Frankie Montas returned from a right lat strain.
On Sunday, Mendoza was noncommittal about Montas’ future in the rotation following the righthander’s rough start in a 12-4 loss to the Giants.
On Monday, Mendoza revealed that Montas would pitch in Milwaukee on Saturday — though potentially not as a starter.
“Maybe an opener in front of him,” Mendoza said. “But as of right (now) on Saturday, he’s going to play a part of that game.”
Montas is in the first season of a two-year, $34 million contract.
President of baseball operations David Stearns was asked Monday about promoting Triple-A righthanders Nolan McLean and Brandon Sproat, the Mets’ No. 3 and No. 5 prospects, and said “we’re not at that point quite yet.”
But the chatter has grown louder.
“I think they’re getting close,” Stearns said. “I think they both had really good months and are making progress.”
Ben Dickson joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins’ teams.
#Mets #rally #fall #10th #inning #Pete #Alonsos #251st #homer
