The crud-ass New York Mets were able to manage a series split on the road against division-leading Atlanta during the long weekend, overcoming severe bullpen issues for 10-9 and 7-6 victories on Sunday and Monday. But before any fan could even begin to think about letting their guard down or their hopes up, New York returned home to kick off a series with the Royals and deliver another entry in this year's contest for "Most Frustrating Loss." Again, the Mets offense did their part, but Kansas City beat the brakes off some minor-league relievers to win Tuesday's game 16-12.
The Royals play 500 miles from the nearest Defector blogger, and they don't possess the largest payroll in baseball, so we haven't given them a fraction of the attention we've devoted to the Mets. But they've sucked just as bad, albeit in a less spectacularly disappointing way. They spotted the Mets a 9-4 lead through four innings; Carson Benge opened the scoring on a three-run, three-error slapstick display that, defensively, is basically what you do when you want your 6-year-old nephew to feel like he hit a home run.
Lest anyone start to think that the Royals are on the Mets' level, however, the KC offense teed off on New York's alleged pitchers in the middle innings. Special credit should be given to Tyler Tolbert, the speedy utility man who tied an MLB record with hits in 12 consecutive plate appearances during his 5-for-6 night. But every Royal in the lineup got fat on Mets cooking.
Austin Warren, a 30-year-old who'd never pitched more than 20 innings in a season before this year, replaced Kodai Senga in the fifth and threw a yes-hitter, facing six batters without recording a single out. With the score 9-9 in the seventh, interim manager Andy Green sent out Matt Seelinger, a 31-year-old who'd just come over from Detroit's Triple-A club. The 28th-round pick from 2017 was making his long-awaited big-league debut, but the outcome was anything but inspirational. The woebegone rookie allowed four hits, walked another quartet, and got the third out only after surrendering seven runs. Seelinger did return for a four-batter eighth inning—it was as close to a feel-good story as the Mets have gotten this year—but by that point the score was 16-11.
Boy howdy, these guys stink.
