The New York Mets’ losing streak is now 12 games, the longest endured by the club since the 2002 season and one that makes them the first team in MLB history to log a winning season and then endure a losing streak of such length in April of the following season.
The streak advanced from 11 to 12 thanks to the Mets’ 5-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night in Queens. The Mets have not won a game since April 7 and are now 7-16, which is the worst record in baseball. That record also puts the Mets on pace to go 49-113 this season.
For much of Tuesday’s contest, it appeared that the Mets would end their slide. They took an early 3-0 lead — their biggest lead since April 5 — on Francisco Lindor’s third-inning home run, and young ace Nolan McLean made it stick for most of the game. The 24-year-old rookie right-hander didn’t allow a base-runner until the sixth inning and kept the Twins scoreless until he allowed a home run to Byron Buxton later that same inning.
McLean came out for the seventh and allowed the tying run before the Mets went to the bullpen. McLean wound up striking 10 against zero walks with three runs allowed on five hits in 6 2/3 innings.
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The tie held until the top of the ninth, when reliever Devin Williams, signed away from the New York Yankees this past offseason, walked two batters, permitted Kody Clemens to reach safely via sac bunt, allowed a run to score on a single, and then walked home another run before being lifted without recording an out. The Mets went one-two-three in the home half of the ninth to cinch their 12th straight defeat.
Earlier in the losing streak, the Mets didn’t lead for 66 consecutive innings. Now, though, they’ve blown back-to-back leads to extend the streak. The struggling Mets offense managed just four hits on Tuesday night despite facing emergency starter Simeon Woods Richardson, who was pressed into duty after the Twins placed Mick Abel on the 15-day injured list with elbow inflammation.
Overall, the current losing streak is now tied for the sixth-longest losing streak in Mets franchise history:
|
Losing streak
|
Year
|
Final record
|
|
17
|
1962
|
40-120-1
|
|
15
|
1963
|
51-111
|
|
15
|
1982
|
65-97
|
|
13
|
1962
|
40-120-1
|
|
13
|
1980
|
67-95
|
|
12
|
2002
|
75-86
|
Many of those streaks occurred when the Mets were in their infancy as a franchise and, like most expansion teams, were struggling badly. This present streak, however, stands athwart preseason expectations of contention and perhaps even a division title. It’s still April, which means there’s plenty of time to flip the script. The historical reality, however, is that no team that’s endured a losing streak of 12 games or more has ever made the playoffs.
The most immediate hope for the Mets is that Juan Soto’s Wednesday return from a calf injury will give the New York offense the jolt it needs, starting with the second game of the series against the Twins. The Mets’ current issues, however, are such that even a player as great as Soto won’t be able to fix them.
That will remain the story until the losing streak is over and the win streak reaches one.
