SEATTLE — As the New York Mets blitzed through the summer’s middle months, climbing back first from the brink of irrelevance and then firmly into postseason contention in the National League, they were guided by a diverse and punishing offense. In a muddled senior circuit that lacks its typical standouts, the Mets’ potent bats loomed as a significant marginal advantage — a strength that could separate them from their peers in the playoff fringe.
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Since the All-Star break, though, that offense has fizzled more often than it’s feasted. On Friday night, it went hungry in a 6-0 loss to the Mariners.
Bryce Miller and three Seattle relievers combined on the shutout. The right-handed Miller paired a downward biting splitter with heaters above the zone; it’s an effective mix. The Mets’ chances came few and far between: a pair of two-out doubles early, a two-on, no-out opportunity squandered with the game within reach against the Seattle bullpen in the seventh.
Only two of their eight at-bats with a runner in scoring position came against the starter Miller.
“They executed their plan,” said Francisco Lindor. “Hats off to them.”
NYM 0
SEA 6
FinalThe Mariners at T-Mobile Park are the stiffest test of an offense in baseball this season. The Mets did not pass in their first try.
They're 61-55.
— Tim Britton (@TimBritton) August 10, 2024
Now, going from Coors Field to T-Mobile Park is like walking off the beach and into a tax audit. It’s a dizzying shift in ambiance that would unmoor just about any offense.
But Friday night wasn’t the first time in the past few weeks that the Mets’ offense has struggled. New York has played 21 games since the All-Star break. In more than half of them, the Mets haven’t crossed home plate four times. In an even third of them, they haven’t even reached three.
As in any offensive slump, there is no single culprit. That said, so much of the Mets’ turnaround was fueled by Lindor and Brandon Nimmo at the top of the lineup. Nimmo has been in a funk since the break. Despite a double on Friday, he’s batting .164 with a .287 on-base percentage and woeful .205 slugging percentage in the second half.
Lindor owns a .531 OPS over the past two weeks, with just one extra-base hit.
We don’t want to make a Mount Rainier out of a molehill here. Lindor and Nimmo will not perform like this for much longer, and others in the lineup like Pete Alonso and J.D. Martinez have looked sharper of late.
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But, if you’ve found your eye wandering toward what a three-game wild-card series could look like come October, well there are worse approximations than a weekend set in Seattle against Miller, Logan Gilbert and Luis Castillo. The Mariners in their home park present as stern a test as there exists in baseball; they entered Friday with a 2.85 ERA at home this season, best in the majors by nearly a half-run. They lowered it Friday behind Miller, who’s probably their fifth-best starter.
This recent stretch for the Mets has revealed just how much they rely on their offense to be not just good but a difference-maker. New York doesn’t possess Seattle’s standout rotation or, say, Cleveland’s lights-out bullpen. The Mets’ chances to reach October, their chances of doing damage upon arriving there, reside in their lineup. It gets another shot at an elite starter in Gilbert on Saturday.
The lack of offense made it a tough night for Jose Quintana, whose final line — 6 2/3 innings, five earned runs — was about as misleading as they come. After surrendering a two-run homer in the second, Quintana retired 14 consecutive Mariners into the seventh inning. A leadoff walk and a pair of softly hit ground balls to the right side helped Seattle plate four runs in the frame, three of them charged to Quintana.
(Photo of Pete Alonso: Jason Redmond / Associated Press)
Tim Britton is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the New York Mets. He has covered Major League Baseball since 2009 and the Mets since 2018. Prior to joining The Athletic, he spent seven seasons on the Red Sox beat for the Providence Journal. He has also contributed to Baseball Prospectus, NBC Sports Boston, MLB.com and Yahoo Sports. Follow Tim on Twitter @TimBritton
