A chance to win a game.
A chance to win a series.
A chance to seize momentum under interim manager Andy Green, and a chance to begin a streak that might rescue a team that is hurtling toward the trade deadline.
All of those chances were wasted on an afternoon in which wasted chances became the theme.
The Mets mounted threat after threat and could not capitalize, continually letting Phillies pitchers slip out of jams in what became a 5-4 disappointment at Citi Field in front of 38,770, who were lively in moments of hope and furious in the more numerous moments of despair.
The Mets (35-49) lost another game — that’s eight of nine — and another series — that’s four straight — and have not been instantly transformed under a new manager.
They continue to find different ways to lose, Sunday going 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position to ruin their chances of stealing the game and the series.
And yes, it would have been a steal.
They played without Francisco Lindor, who is being eased back into an everyday role following a two-month absence with a calf strain and a brief rehab assignment.
The lineup without him featured cleanup hitter Eric Wagaman and Nos. 6-9 who entered with OPSes of .644 (Mark Vientos), .530 (Tyrone Taylor), .586 (Brett Baty) and .569 (Luis Torrens).
In several key moments, Green left Lindor’s bat on the bench, apparently determined to give the shortstop a full day off.
With their starting pitchers depleted and no fifth option to give the ball, they cobbled together a bullpen game without the unit’s best arms because Devin Williams, Luke Weaver and Huascar Brazobán had pitched on three of four days.
So Kodai Senga (four innings, two runs) was forced to provide some length as a reliever and was burned in the seventh, when he was asked to face the top of the order and served up a towering, two-run homer to Kyle Schwarber that became the difference.
Still, the Mets had a chance — many of them, in fact.
Their last good one arrived in the eighth, when they loaded the bases with one out against Orion Kerkering.
But Ronny Mauricio popped out and Francisco Alvarez swung through high heat, hearing loud boos on his walk back to the dugout.
Between Mauricio, Alvarez and Baty, it was not a good day for the one-time Baby Mets.
An inning prior, they put runners on second and third with two outs, but Baty grounded back to Jose Alvarado to kill the rally.
The game ended just as it started.
For five innings against Jesus Luzardo, the Mets put runners on base and could not cash in.
They had runners on the corners without an out in the fourth, only to strike out three straight times, Vientos hearing loud boos in whiffing to end the inning.
In the fifth, Carson Benge poked a left-on-left, first-pitch RBI single against Luzardo and cut the deficit to 3-1, but they proceeded to load the bases so Bo Bichette could strike out and Wagaman could fly out.
Through five innings, Benge’s knock was the only hit in nine plate appearances with runners in scoring position.
Frustration turned to elation in the sixth, when Luzardo exited and Chase Shugart entered.
After an Alvarez double, A.J. Ewing pinch-hit for Tyrone Taylor against the righty, sat on a breaking ball and smoked a two-run shot 382 feet to right field for his fourth homer of the season and first career pinch-hit dinger.
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The kids were not done in the inning.
After Baty walked and Torrens singled, Benge won a battle against another lefty in Kyle Backhus.
Benge crushed a pitch that deflected off Backhus’ glove and went for a fielder’s choice that drove in Baty, pushing the Mets ahead, 4-3, for the first time.
But after Senga faced Schwarber, those at-bats from the young outfielders became wasted, too.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
