KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Mets finally had a Sean Manaea sighting, but otherwise Sunday served as a frustrating final game for them before the All-Star break.
One letter separates “sweeping” from “sleeping.” The Mets offensively were guilty of the latter — and therefore never attained the former — in a 3-2 walk-off loss to the Royals at Kauffman Stadium to complete a .500 road trip.
Nick Loftin’s RBI single against Manaea in the ninth delivered the winning run. Manaea, in his fourth inning of work in his season debut, surrendered a single to Tyler Tolbert to start the winning rally. Tolbert stole second and scored the winning run.
The Mets finished 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left eight runners on base. It was the fourth time in five games the Mets failed to score at least four runs.
The Mets are 14th in MLB, averaging 4.39 runs per game.
“We have been through stretches where it’s hard for us, but then there’s stretches where the offense is clicking,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Overall, we have a good offense and we just have got to understand that at times you are going to have a hard time scoring.”
The Mets, after slumbering for eight innings, rallied to tie it 2-2 in the ninth. Jeff McNeil smashed a pinch-hit triple for the first run and after Brett Baty was retired on an infield grounder, scored on Jared Young’s sacrifice fly. Ronny Mauricio began the game-tying rally against Carlos Estévez with a leadoff double.
Mendoza said he didn’t hesitate to send out Manaea, who had dominated over three innings, for the ninth. After the Royals rallied, Loftin was going to be the last batter Manaea faced regardless — because of pitch count (he was on a 65-pitch limit).
Manaea, who pitched in a piggyback role behind Clay Holmes, was sidelined in spring training with an oblique strain and was later slowed by a bone fragment in his elbow. He allowed one earned run over 3 ¹/₃ innings and struck out seven.
“It sucks losing, but for me personally it just feels good to be healthy and back on the mound,” Manaea said. “It’s a very weird juxtaposition.”
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Manaea, last season’s de facto ace, gives the Mets a full rotation for the first time as they prepare to open the second half on Friday against the Reds.
“I felt great out there so I feel like if I just continue doing that, I will have a successful second half,” Manaea said.
Holmes pitched five innings and allowed two earned runs on five hits with two strikeouts and one walk. It placed Holmes, a converted reliever, at 103 ¹/₃ innings headed into the All-Star break. His previous career high for innings pitched in a season was 70, split between the Pirates and Yankees in 2021.
John Rave’s two-run double in the second inning pushed the Mets into a 2-0 hole. Maikel Garcia doubled against Holmes leading off the inning and Salvador Perez was plunked before Rave delivered with one out. Rave was thrown out by Luis Torrens attempting to steal third.
Holmes’ successes included getting Bobby Witt Jr. to hit into a double play in each of his first two plate appearances. Jonathan India had singled leading off the inning (in the first and third) both times.
The Mets wasted Mark Vientos’ first-inning triple — a ball Jac Caglianone misread in right field — and left two runners on base in the fourth. In the latter inning, Noah Cameron escaped by striking out Torrens and Luisangel Acuña after Brandon Nimmo and Tyrone Taylor had each singled.
Taylor singled leading off the seventh, but was erased when Torrens hit into a double play. Acuña then singled with two outs before Francisco Lindor was retired.
“I feel like Friday we got some big hits,” McNeil said, referring to the team’s eight-run outburst to open the series. “This game is about timely hitting and we weren’t able to get those timely hits today.”