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Bradford Doolittle
Multiple Authors
NEW YORK — For five innings Tuesday, the New York Mets were perfect. But for a team that suffered its 12th straight loss, the last four frames were perfectly discouraging.
The Minnesota Twins capped their comeback from a 3-0 deficit with a two-run ninth against Mets closer Devin Williams, beating a beleaguered New York club 5-3 on a frigid night at Citi Field.
As one might expect, the Mets’ mood after the game was as cool as the air on the field during it. Another game, another loss, another round of the same questions.
“It’s tough, man,” Williams said. “I’ve never been a part of something like this, you know?”
Williams, who inked a three-year, $45 million contract with the Mets over the winter and inherited New York’s closer role from Edwin Diaz, entered the game to begin the ninth with the score tied at 3-3. He failed to retire any of the five batters he faced, walking three and giving up two runs before being pulled by Mets manager Carlos Mendoza.
“I felt a little out of sync mechanically,” Williams said. “I couldn’t really land my changeup for a strike. So it was tough to try and just beat guys with just a fastball.”
The start of the game was as promising for the Mets as the ending was discouraging. Rookie starter Nolan McLean rolled through five perfect innings, racking up eight strikeouts and finishing with 10. It was the second time this season that he began a game with five perfect innings, only the third pitcher in Mets history to achieve that feat.
Meanwhile, Francisco Lindor touched up Twins starter Simeon Woods Richardson for a three-run homer in the third, a margin that felt substantial given McLean’s dominance. But the sixth inning proved to be the point when the Mets’ wave crested and rolled back — as it has done far too often during a skid that has lasted for two weeks.
“It sucks because you’re feeling good, especially with the way the game was developing there,” Mendoza said. “You watch Nolan kind of dominate pretty much a whole lineup there for the first five innings. Lindor sets the tone with a three-run homer. You feel like you’re getting some momentum. But then after that, couldn’t do anything else.”
McLean pitched into the seventh but gave up a two-run homer to Byron Buxton in the sixth and a tying single to Luke Keaschall in the seventh, departing with his second career game of double-digit strikeouts. The score was tied when he was replaced, but the New York offense was in the midst of finishing the game by being retired 14 straight times.
“Nobody’s feeling it more than us players,” McLean said. “Guys are showing up early, getting their work in. Everybody’s working their butts off. So it stings to go out there and not be able to get it done.”
The sting the Mets are feeling now has a historical component to it: With the losing streak reaching 12, the Mets became the 139th team of the World Series era to suffer a skid that long during a season. None of the other 138 has gone on to reach the postseason.
Lindor was asked how he and his teammates can change that.
“By winning,” Lindor said.
The answer, simple enough, has proved to be elusive for the Mets for 12 games now. But everyone asked about the streak spoke of how in baseball, tomorrow is always a new day. The Mets can only hope that is a good thing.
“I think we just need to get the one win out of the way and I think everything else will take care of itself,” Williams said. “But it’s obviously proving pretty difficult right now.”
