PITTSBURGH — The Mets were careful not to say that their Saturday win over the Pittsburgh Pirates was enough to fully turn the tide in their direction. They emphasized the work that still needs to be done and the habits that need to be unlearned.
One win can change everything, but in this case, it didn’t, as the Mets fell 2-1 to the Pirates on Sunday at PNC Park. The Mets (31-35) dropped the series, 2-1, and suffered their eighth loss in nine tries.
This loss was like many others: A starting pitcher failed to even make it to the sixth inning and the Mets’ bats went quiet. Right-hander Carlos Carrasco (2-3) limited the damage but increased his pitch count with three walks. He was removed with two outs in the fifth, with the Mets going to left-hander Josh Walker to face left-handed hitter Jack Suwinski, who had homered off Carrasco to lead off the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 1-1.
The bottom of the order produced the go-ahead run in the same frame. Ji Hwan Bae ripped an opposite-field double to left field and Tucupita Marcano brought him home with a single to right to make it 2-1.
This came after Jeff McNeil homered off Mitch Keller (8-2) in the top of the inning to briefly give the Mets a 1-0 lead. Keller held the Mets to only one earned run on two hits over seven innings. He walked two and struck out seven.
Carrasco, on the other hand, gave up two earned on six hits, walked three and struck out one over 4 2/3 innings. Every time it looks as though one of the Mets’ starters has turned a corner, they end up regressing. This has been the case with the entire starting staff this season, including David Peterson, who hasn’t seemed to figure it out in Triple-A either (1-1, 4.68 ERA with Syracuse since his demotion).
It was an improved game for the Mets’ bullpen, with Walker, Drew Smith and Brooks Raley holding the Pirates (34-30, first-place NL Central) scoreless after Carrasco’s exit, but it was yet another game the Mets couldn’t find a way to win. Right-hander David Bednar pitched around a two-out, Tommy Pham double in the ninth to convert his 14th save.
One of Carrasco’s hits was a single by Andrew McCutchen, a one-time Mets target over the winter who ultimately chose to return to the franchise that drafted him. It was the 2,000th of his career.
The Mets went 1-5 on a six-game road trip through Atlanta and Pittsburgh. They’ve lost five of their last six series. They’re not completely out of the playoff mix yet and they likely won’t be unless the season completely spirals out of control.
But they’re running out of time to stop the spiral.
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