NY Mets lose to Brewers on Friday; The Braves are even tied in the NL wild-card race
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NY Mets lose to Brewers on Friday; The Braves are even tied in the NL wild-card race

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NY Mets lose to Brewers on Friday; The Braves are even tied in the NL wild-card race

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MILWAUKEE — It’s hard to imagine a more nightmarish start to the Mets’ most important series against the Brewers.

From the first inning on Friday night, the Mets saw their lead in the National League Wild Card race shrink. With each passing frame, the misery became greater.

After two days off due to rain in Atlanta, the Mets struggled to keep up the momentum in an 8-4 loss to the Brewers in the teams’ first game in front of 33,996 fans Friday night at American Family Field in Milwaukee.

Friday’s poor performance included the abbreviated appearance of Sean Manaea, the ejection of Carlos Mendoza and Francisco Alvarez, who also missed the game with back spasms.

“We feel bad because we lost, but we have to move on. Tomorrow is another day,” Alvarez said. We have to think about the next match. We come here tomorrow to win, and the next day there is another match and we keep playing.

The energy that could have been brought by the return of Francisco Lindor after an eight-game absence with a back injury was quickly snuffed out by the Brewers. The Mets gave up four runs in the first inning and could never recover as the errors mounted, and the Mets showed no resistance to the Brewers’ speed on the bases.

Mark Vientos hit a two-run home run for his 27th long ball of the season, but the Mets were never able to rally in less than three runs. The Mets scored on two runs with the bases loaded in the eighth to make it 7-4, but Luis Torrens singled against Trevor Megill in the final, leaving three runners on

“Honestly, they kept fighting,” Mendoza said. “I was very happy with the attack and they kept fighting. We went down early and didn’t give up. So turn the page and we must prepare for tomorrow.”

The Mets’ lead in the wild-card race was lost

The Mets may still be in control of their fate heading into the final four games, but Friday’s result provided added pressure heading into the final two games of the series with the Brewers

With the loss, the Mets were tied with the Braves for the final wild-card spot in the league. The Braves currently lead in overtime against the Mets with two games to play. The Diamondbacks also lost on Friday, leaving a three-way tie for the final two playoff spots. The Mets and Braves have a tiebreaker over the Dbacks.

Those two postponements in Atlanta led to Monday’s make-up doubleheader. Going into Friday’s game, the Mets were focused on the moment. However, the margin for error narrowed after Friday night’s confusion.

Sean Manaea puts pressure on the pitching staff

Sean Manaea remained crouched while Rhys Hoskins rounded the bases.

Before Manaea could get through the first inning, the Mets were in deep trouble. The experienced left-hander gave up a leadoff single to Brice Turang and two walks to Williams Contreras and Willy Adames.

After Manaea gave up two quick hits against Hoskins, the Brewers first baseman tormented the Mets once again, tapping the sinker for the third time in a Grand Slam season.

“I thought they created some good shots by throwing the fastball up top,” Mendoza said. “Those two seams up the middle, Hoskins got him. But honestly, they kept fighting.”

Manaea’s plodding start was less than ideal for the Mets in the first of five games in four days. He lasted only 3⅔ innings, giving up six runs (five earned) on seven hits and two walks with one hit.

Bench coach John Gibbons, replacing Mendoza, who was ejected for arguing and hitting in the fourth inning, leaned on Jose Butto, Danny Young, Adam Ottavino and Alex Young for the final 4⅓ innings, leaving the Mets’ arms rested for the rest of the weekend.

The return of Francisco Lindor

The main question in the opening game of the series was Lindor’s health.

In his first at-bat, Lindor walked against Brewers starter Frankie Montas, but was stuck at first base. In the second inning, Lindor showed some rust on the pitch when he passed Pete Alonso on a chopper to Blake Perkins, who scored on Turang’s next at-bat on Turang’s RBI double to extend the Brewers’ lead to 5-0.

Lindor hit a low hit deep into the third baseman’s infield on his next at-bat in the fifth. Lindor finished the game 2-for-4 with a pair of singles.

“I felt like I had bat speed,” Lindor said. “I’ll have to go back and look at it. I felt my eyes were good enough. They are good pitchers.”

Now the big question is how he will get back into shape. Lindor was encouraged by the results, making him confident that he would be able to play in the Mets’ final four games of the regular season.

“I felt good enough,” Lindor said. “The pain came and went, so I’m happy with that.”

Brice Turang helps the Brewers torch the Mets on the bases

Turang was a bases threat as the Brewers leadoff batter collected three of the Brewers’ six stolen bases on the season in the Mets’ loss. Turang’s third punch gave him 50 for the season.

“They outplayed us today. I made a mistake and they scored,” Lindor said. “They ran the bases better than us. They hit better than us. They were hitting with people in scoring position.”

“Overall, I know the Brewers played better than us today, so let’s let them know and come back tomorrow and try to beat them.”

Mendoza knows this will have to be sorted out if the Mets hope to get key wins or if they face the Brewers in the playoffs later in the round.

“We have to speed up our times because that’s what they do as a team,” Mendoza said. “We knew that when the time came, so we have to make some changes and stop them from continuing to play so well.”

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