The free fall by the Mets nearly hit a new low Wednesday, when they didn’t get a hit until the bottom of the ninth.
Juan Soto’s one-out homer to dead center broke up Gavin Williams’ no-hit bid, but the Mets still lost 4-1 to Cleveland at Citi Field.
Not only was it their fourth straight defeat — and eighth in their past nine games — the Mets were hitless from the fourth inning of Tuesday’s loss until Soto’s blast, as their listless lineup finds new ways to embarrass itself.
Afterward, no one had any answers.
Not Carlos Mendoza, as the manager credited Williams before adding, “We also know we’re better than that. They know they’re better than that. We couldn’t make any adjustments. There were a lot of empty at-bats there.”
Asked why, Mendoza said, “As a team, we’ve got to be able to recognize how they attack us, and once you get the first time through [the lineup], you’ve got to make adjustments. Good-hitting teams make those adjustments. That’s the next step for us.”
Mendoza declined to criticize hitting coaches Eric Chavez and Jeremy Barnes, but the comments — and performance — hardly help their job security.
“The coaches are working really hard, and we’ve got to go out and do it,’’ Mendoza said. “It falls on all of us. It falls on me as the manager. But we’re in this together. I’m not gonna point fingers here.”
Soto, who entered the game in another slump before the homer, was just as lost.
“I really don’t know what’s going on,’’ Soto said. “We have the talent. The guys are capable [of doing] damage here. One day it’s gonna turn around.”
Another veteran, Francisco Lindor, agreed with Mendoza.
“Speaking just for myself, the consistency of making adjustments is not there,’’ Lindor said. “I’m preparing, the hitting coaches prepare me every day and get us ready, but for some reason, I haven’t made the adjustments. It’s not lack of preparation or effort.”
Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
Whatever the reason, it’s been especially ugly the past two games, and the home crowd wasn’t shy about letting the Mets hear it, with boos finding the slumping Soto on a pair of occasions.
Plenty of others drew the wrath of the fans the rest of the way — including after Pete Alonso grounded out to end the sixth, keeping him one homer away from tying Darryl Strawberry’s franchise record.
Brandon Nimmo and Cedric Mullins drew walks in the second before Williams retired 20 of the next 21 batters, prior to Soto’s homer.
After Soto’s blast, Alonso flied to right and Nimmo walked to end Williams’ day after a whopping 126 pitches, then Mark Vientos flied out to end the game.
Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
It all happened after Mendoza put Lindor back at the top of the lineup Wednesday, hoping to spark the offense, with the manager saying it was “like going back to the way we started the year with the Opening Day lineup. Just try to create and get something going.”
That didn’t happen.
Vientos had the first legitimate chance for a Mets hit with a shallow fly ball to right with one out in the seventh that was caught by a diving C.J. Kayfus.
David Peterson wasn’t at his best — though he did at least get through six innings for a sixth straight start.
But after posting a 1.42 ERA over his previous five starts, the lefty allowed four runs — and two homers.
And the lineup, which got its final hit on Tuesday with a Jeff McNeil single to open the bottom of the fourth, was even worse Wednesday.
“Nobody said it’s going to be easy for us,’’ Soto said. “It’s a challenge. We’ve got to go out there and take it from them. Nobody is going to bring the trophy over here and give it to us. We’ve got to go out there and take it.”