Mets torrid extra-inning pace only compounding other worrisome issue: Not ideal
SEATTLE — The Mets aren’t getting paid by the inning, but have played this season as if that were the case.They entered Tuesday having already participated in 12 extra-inning games — tops in MLB — with victories in seven.The latest such game was Monday night when they managed only two hits over nine innings and lost 3-2 to the Mariners in the 10th.
Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mike Puma about the inside buzz on the Mets.It was a second extra-inning game in four days for the Mets.
As they began play on Tuesday they had logged 16 extra innings this season (almost two full games), adding strain on a bullpen that has been stretched thin.The franchise record for extra-inning games is 25, set in 1978.The Mets are on pace for 31 extra-inning games, roughly 20 percent of their schedule. “Extra-inning games are great when you win them,” Jared Young said after Monday’s loss.Why so much free baseball played by the Mets? Such is the result of an offense that has largely sputtered this season, averaging only four runs, while the pitching staff has kept the team close enough to win.
The Mets entered the day with a minus-14 run differential.The Mets have already deployed 24 pitchers this season, a number likely boosted by the extra innings the team has needed to cover.The most recent arrival, left-hander Cionel Pérez, was selected to the major league roster after Friday’s 10-inning victory over the Marlins.
Tobias Myers, who pitched an inning that night, was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse.“It’s not ideal,” manager Carlos Mendoza said.“It’s a combination of a lot of extra-inning games and then some of our starters not providing length, but that’s part of it.
You have got to keep going, you have got to find a way.I feel like we have been playing a lot of close games.”A look at the Mets in extras:Mets 4, Pirates 2 (March 28): Luis Robert Jr.
hit a walk-off three-run homer in the 11th ...