Mets squander early lead against Dodgers in latest punchless loss

Hopefully, the plot to the movie “The Catch” being filmed at Citi Field on Friday isn’t as predictable as the game that was played.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mike Puma about the inside buzz on the Mets.

That went as everyone in the ballpark, a crowd of 35,338, would’ve expected.The Dodgers spotted the Mets an early lead, then did what they so often do: Win convincingly.The Mets countered by not hitting — a season-long theme — in another loss, 4-2 to the heavy favorites to win it all again.The Mets lost Juan Soto to his nagging sore calf after two at-bats and received two solo home runs by Luis Robert Jr.

and Francisco Alvarez, and little else.In a season full of similarly punchless performances, this latest one was merely a sidenote ahead of the Aug.3 trade deadline, in which the Mets are expected to be sellers.

Who goes, and what they bring back in return, is the lone remaining question in this lost season.Freddie Freeman, the Mets’ longtime tormenter, had three hits and a surprising stolen base.Previously struggling right-hander Roki Sasaki was brilliant, because almost all pitchers are when facing the Mets, tossing seven innings of one-run, nine-strikeout ball.

To add salt into the wound, struggling slugger Kyle Tucker — the $60 million per-year outfielder who spurned the Mets for the Dodgers in the offseason — put the game away with a two-run homer in the eighth.It elicited one of many rounds of “Let’s go Dodgers” chants, and a reminder of how far the Mets have fallen in the last year-plus.The Mets’ big offseason additions, Jorge Polanco, Marcus Semien, Bo Bichette and Robert, went a combined 1-for-12 with six strikeouts.

And the team’s strength, their bullpen, struggled in allowing three runs in the seventh and eighth innings.The Mets find themselves a season-low 18 games under .500 at 43-61.In 2024, the Mets reached the NLCS, losing to the eventual World Series c...