No one thought the winning would go on forever, right?
After back-to-back victories over Minnesota, the Mets got another dose of reality Friday, dropping their series opener to Colorado, 4-3, at Citi Field.
For those keeping score, that’s now losses in 13 of their last 15. The Mets seem to be in an unlikely race to the bottom of the NL East with the Phillies.
This one involved some late drama, as the Mets rallied for two runs in the bottom of the eighth to pull within a run, but with two on and one out, Mark Vientos lined into a double play to end the threat.
It was the fourth double play of the night by the Mets — the first three on the ground.
And they failed to take advantage of a game against a Rockies team that entered 10-16.
The issues that have plagued the Mets, who dropped to 9-17, so far this season haven’t gone away and it became obvious Friday that Juan Soto’s return alone won’t fix the lineup.
“We’ve still got a long way to go,” manager Carlos Mendoza said before the game. “We put ourselves in this position, but we understand what’s ahead.”
After scoring 10 runs Thursday, their bats went silent again versus right-hander Michael Lorenzen, who entered the game with a 7.48 ERA, but limited the Mets to just one run over seven innings.
In the process, Lorenzen outdueled Freddy Peralta, who dropped his third straight start.
Peralta wasn’t bad — two runs in 5 ²/₃ innings — but he wasn’t nearly enough to overcome another disappearing act from the offense.
“He’s an ace,’’ Mendoza said of Peralta. “He’ll get there.’’
The offense nearly came all the way back in the bottom of the eighth — with Lorenzen replaced by right-hander Jaden Hill.
Ronny Mauricio and Bo Bichette singled to lead off the inning, but Juan Soto lined out to first.
Francisco Alvarez singled to left to load the bases for Brett Baty, who delivered a two-run single to center to make it 4-3.
Vientos’ line drive double play kept them a run short and the Mets have scored more than three runs just three times in their last 15 games — as they now deal with life without Francisco Lindor, out indefinitely with a left calf strain.
“We had a lot of hard-hit balls,” Marcus Semien said. “[Vientos] hit that ball 107 [mph] in the middle of the field. Most of the time, that’s a base hit.”
That’s not the way it’s going right now in Queens.
“Every loss is frustrating,’’ Semien said. “They put together good at-bats when they needed to … [and] we hit into some double plays.’’
The Mets went ahead in the bottom of the second when Baty, heating up offensively, doubled to right to open the inning and moved to third on Vientos’ infield single.
With runners on the corners, Semien hit into a double play, scoring Baty to put the Mets up, 1-0.
Colorado threatened to score in the third, as ex-Yankee prospect TJ Rumfield and Tyler Freeman opened with singles.
Troy Johnston followed with a fly ball down the left field line, where Carson Benge made an outstanding sliding grab for the first out to save at least one run.
It was the rookie’s second excellent diving catch in as many games and Peralta retired the next two batters.
The Rockies tied it in the fifth, loading the bases on a pair of singles and a walk before Rumfield hit a slow roller in front of the plate to score Brenton Doyle.
The Mets fell behind in the sixth when Peralta walked Kyle Karros and Ezequiel Tovar reached on a slow roller to third.
Jake McCarthy hit a run-scoring double to right-center to put the Mets in a 2-1 hole.
With the infield in, Peralta fanned Doyle and was lifted for Sean Manaea, who struck out Mickey Moniak.
But Manaea faltered in the seventh, giving up a two-run single to Johnston that made it 4-1.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
