The New York Mets’ season keeps getting worse.
The Mets reached a new low point Friday when a 12-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field extended their losing streak to nine games.
The last time the Mets (7-13) lost nine or more games in a row was an 11-game streak in 2004.
For a change in Friday’s loss, the Mets’ offense wasn’t the main culprit.
After pitching poorly and not lasting long in his previous start, Kodai Senga again turned in a bad outing. He allowed seven runs (six earned) in just 3 1/3 innings. Last week against the Athletics, Senga gave up seven earned runs in 2 1/3 innings. Through four starts, his ERA is 8.83.
The Mets’ defense also made mistakes in the latest loss. In the fourth inning, with New York trailing 6-3, the Cubs had runners on first and second with one out. After fielding a ball that deflected off first baseman Brett Baty’s glove, second baseman Marcus Semien threw to second base, where the runner was safe, instead of throwing to first, where reliever Huascar Brazoban was covering for what would’ve been an easy out. Later in the inning, underscoring how the Mets are susceptible at the corners, Baty failed to field a grounder cleanly, and a run scored on the error.
The Mets’ offensive production, which wasn’t anything special on Friday with four runs scored, marked progress. Over their previous eight games, the Mets scored just 12 runs. Heading into action on Friday, they’d hit just .175 as a team, the worst average in Major League Baseball over that span. Their chase rate, which checked in at 37 percent, per Sports Info Solutions, was also the worst.
The Mets are without star left fielder Juan Soto because of a calf strain. Soto is set to return at some point during the Mets’ homestand next week. Soto recently started a running program and took live at-bats. First baseman Jorge Polanco has been dealing with an Achilles injury, but was out of the lineup Friday because of a wrist issue. Polanco may land on the injured list.
Before the game, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns backed manager Carlos Mendoza.
“I think Mendy’s (Mendoza) doing a really good job,” Stearns told reporters in Chicago. “I think he’s putting our players in a position to succeed. He’s enormously consistent.”