Mark Vientos holey mitt nearly proves costly for Mets

Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mike Puma about the inside buzz on the Mets.At first, it looked like a routine grounder.

It looked like Carlos Mendoza’s decision to stick with Kodai Senga for one more batter had paid off.It looked like Jared Triolo had grounded a ball right to Mark Vientos for what would be the third out of the sixth inning.But then it quite literally went through a hole in his glove and rolled behind him.Vientos bizarrely had a space in the webbing large enough for the baseball to sneak through, allowing the Pirates to extend the inning with runners on second and third.

It was officially scored as a double and not an error, but until Brett Baty snapped the tie with a homer in the seventh, Vientos’ gaffe jeopardized the Mets lead against one of the worst teams in baseball during their 2-1 win Tuesday at Citi Field.“From the dugout, it happened so fast, I didn’t know what happened,” Mendoza said.“Tough break there.

I’ve seen it before, but yeah, it happened there.”Mendoza had walked to the mound, checked on Senga and told the Mets ace that he had one more hitter — with his pitch count already at 99 — before exiting.Reed Garrett walked the next two batters after the double and Senga’s removal.

Vientos still used the glove after the sequence and got the hole fixed in between innings, according to the broadcast.He was removed from the game for the bottom of the ninth inning after Luisangel Acuña entered as a defensive replacement and Baty slid to third.After his start Tuesday, Senga’s ERA (1.22) is the second best through eight starts in Mets history, trailing only Jacob deGrom’s 0.71 in 2021.

Senga also topped 100 pitches for the first time since Sept.20, 2023.David Wright, back at Citi Field on Tuesday, said Pete Alonso is “certainly deserving” of breaking the all-time Mets home run record, which could potentially happen this season.

Alonso, who launched...