It was as if that violent swing from Juan Soto, which rocketed a no-doubter into the second deck in right, was aimed directly at the Mets’ stomach.
Such was the pain from this gut punch that left the Mets spiraling and nearly out of the playoff picture.
After seven excellent and scoreless innings on defense and on the mound, the Mets caved in the eighth and ninth in a crushing 3-2 heartbreaker to the Rangers in front of 41,752 at Citi Field who began Saturday afternoon cheering for the old timers and ended the night booing what is left of the 2025 Mets.
Carlos Mendoza’s group (76-73) now has lost eight straight — the team’s longest skid since 2018, and none more devastating than No. 8 — and only is clinging to a half-game wild-card edge because the Giants lost, too.
“We got to get going here fast,” Mendoza said after the late-inning collapse furthered the team’s collapse and spoiled a gem from Brandon Sproat. “That’s the bottom line.”
No one within the Mets is calling out another because there is no feeling that anyone is not preparing well. There has been no questioning the work ethic or the process.
And yet a $340 million outfit has been among the worst teams in all of baseball since mid-June, and no one can explain why.
“We have the energy. We have the guys,” said Soto, whose clinching of a 40-30 season was all but forgotten by the end. “We have everything we need to go all the way.
“The only thing is we just keep losing games. I don’t know — I don’t know what else to do right now.”
On the backs of Francisco Lindor’s aggressive legs (which manufactured one run in the fifth) and Soto’s monstrous blast in the seventh inning — plus seven strong innings from Sproat and Brooks Raley — the Mets entered the eighth ahead 2-0.
This is when a team that has gotten creative in finding ways to lose unraveled.
The first miscue: With Tyler Rogers on the mound, Josh Smith swung at a 1-2 pitch and made contact with Francisco Alvarez’s glove.
“It’s a completely different inning” without that catcher’s interference, Mendoza said, but the inning that did occur included Wyatt Langford doubling to put the tying run on second.
After a sacrifice fly and strikeout, Edwin Díaz entered needing to record one out to escape — but this was the wild version of Díaz. After a wild pitch, he walked Josh Jung. Rowdy Tellez then roped a ground-rule double down the right field line to tie the game.
“I was trying to go ahead in the count, and [Tellez] just hit it in the right spot,” said Díaz, who promised he would close out the game if called upon Sunday.
He could not do so Saturday: After a scoreless bottom of the eighth, Díaz returned for the ninth and allowed two singles.
The first, off Cody Freeman’s bat, deflected off the leaping glove of Lindor.
“I should have caught it,” the shortstop said.
The second, a gapper to right-center from Langford, scored the go-ahead run to complete the dagger of a comeback.
The Mets had a chance in the bottom of the ninth, Soto poking a one-out single into center and pinch-hitter Ronny Mauricio smacking a two-out single to right to bring Soto 90 feet away from home. But Brandon Nimmo struck out to clinch yet another series loss.
The culprits for the final two innings were obvious, but there were many more on a night the Mets finished 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left 12 on base.
There was a pinch-hitting Cedric Mullins striking out with two on and two out in the eighth. There was Brett Baty getting picked off second base when the Mets had two runners on without an out in the sixth. There was Jose Siri punched out with Starling Marte on third base to end the fourth. There was Marte staring at Strike 3 with the bases loaded in the first.
“We got a few situations where we didn’t get that big [hit],” Mendoza said. “You add that to the fact that we’re not playing fundamental baseball.”
It is increasingly possible that they won’t be playing any baseball within two weeks.
“Everybody has a sense of urgency, but for some reason we haven’t been able to close out games,” Lindor said. “It’s one of those where: Everybody should look at each other in the eyes saying, ‘S—, keep pushing.”