It took the Red Sox nearly a full day to get from Chicago to Queens because of plane issues.
Boston likely would have hitchhiked to Queens from the Midwest if they had to in order to get a piece of the Mets, who can’t get out of their own way for long.
Fresh off their first series win in nearly a month, the Mets used the advantage of facing a team dealing with a litany of travel woes to remind everyone that they’re capable of wasting just about any good fortune with a 6-2 loss.
By the end, Citi Field sounded more like Fenway Park, especially after Wilyer Abreu’s game-clinching two-run shot in the ninth.
The Mets also squandered a solid start by Nolan McLean, who allowed just two unearned runs in six innings, as an offense that briefly came to life as the Mets won four of five games heading into Friday went quiet again.
Down three runs in the eighth, with runners on the corners and no one out after A.J. Ewing opened the inning with base hits, Francisco Lindor, Carson Benge and Jorge Polanco failed to drive in a run.
Against a Red Sox team that’s surging back into the American League wild-card race with a winning streak that’s now at seven games, the Mets quickly fell behind.
After the start of the game was pushed back 36 minutes due to Boston’s travel issues — which stemmed from mechanical issues to the team’s plane — the Mets got off to a bad start.
Juan Soto dropped Anthony Seigler’s fly ball to left for a two-base error to lead off the game.
Seigler moved to third on Ceddanne Rafaela’s bunt and after a four-pitch walk to Abreu, McLean struck out Romy Gonzalez.
But Masataka Yoshida slapped a two-run double to left to put the Mets in an early hole.
The Mets got a two-out double from Jared Young in the second on a ball misplayed by Abreu, but Francisco Alvarez grounded out to end the inning.
Soto helped the Mets get a run back in the third against Sonny Gray, who allowed one run in six innings.
Brett Baty started it with a single to extend his career-best hitting streak to 10 games. Zack Short walked and Ewing reached on a force out that moved Baty to third.
Soto’s sacrifice fly made it 2-1 and Jaren Duran’s throwing error from left field sent Ewing to third for Lindor.
Ewing was stranded when Lindor flied out.
McLean, after being burned by Soto’s poor defense in left in the first, benefitted from Benge’s arm in right in the fourth.
With Connor Wong on second and two out, Tsung-Che Cheng singled to right, where a charging Benge fired home in time to get Wong at the plate on an overturned call after a Mets challenge to keep it a one-run game.
McLean ran into trouble in the fifth when Seigler led off with a single and after Rafaela grounded into a force out, Abreu doubled to right.
With the infield in, McLean got Gonzalez looking for the second out before Yoshida grounded out.
But A.J. Minter struggled in the seventh after taking over for McLean, as the left-hander gave up a bunt hit to Cheng and a two-run shot to Seigler to make it 4-1.
It was a blow for Minter, who figures to be a trade candidate by the Aug. 3 deadline, as he gave up four hits in his lone inning of work.
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He’d given up just one run and 11 base runners in 17 innings prior to Friday.
The Mets then blew the opportunity to get back into the game in the eighth, as they went 0-for-8 for the game with runners in scoring position.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
