The Mets finished a gut-punch of a homestand during a gut-punch of a season with one more gut-punch. It is not just that they continue to find ways to lose games. It is how they lose games that makes the team particularly frustrating for the fan base. Yet again, the Mets played well enough to hold a late lead. And yet again, the worst team at finishing games failed to finish while closing a 10-game homestand with just three victories. Jake Diekman served up a go-ahead, two-run home run to Ketel Marte in the ninth inning, which led to a 5-4 lo s to the Diamondbacks in front of 31,059 at Citi Field, and led to a major league-worst sixth defeat after holding a lead after eight innings. Mets reliever Jake Diekman reacts as the Diamondbacks Ketel Marte rounds third base on his ninth-inning home run on Sunday. Robert Sabo for the NY Post Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, left, looks on as Diamondbacks Ketel Marte, right, celebrates after hitting a two-run home run during the ninth inning on Sunday. AP The Diamondbacks Ketel Marte and Paul Sewald, an ex-Met, celebrate after Sundays win. AP Add in the 3-7 record the Mets hold in extra-inning games, and the Mets lead the league in heartbreak. Were really close, said Jose Quintana, the latest to echo the fact that at least the team is not getting blown out. Three outs left to win games. We keep fighting. We need to find a way to close the games. The formula was familiar for the latest crusher: A starting pitcher failed to pitch deep Rob Refsnyder Jersey into the game, which put a strain on a bullpen that has collapsed under its workload. Quintana lasted just four innings in which he allowed three runs on 84 pitches in a fifth straight game that the Mets starter did not survive six innings. Explore More Fans give a thumbs-down to the Mets after their lo s on Sunday. Robert Sabo for the NY Post Im not happy with that kind of outing, said Quintana, who blamed poor location on a pair of home runs he served up in the first inning. I expect more than that. Quintana left with a one-run lead that the Mets would hold until the ninth because of a series of bullpen emergences. Dedniel Nuez, Danny Young, Reed Garrett and Adam Ottavino combined for four scorele s innings with nine strikeouts and just two hits allowed. But with three outs to go, manager Carlos Mendoza was running out of options for a team that no longer has the likes of Edwin Diaz, Brooks Raley and even Jorge Lopez. He said the just-activated Drew Smith was only available in an emergency situation. He opted for Diekman, who had been pitching well, over Sean Reid-Foley. The only other unused arm being Adrian Houser, who pitched two innings Thursday. Mets fans react after the teams lo s to the Diamondbacks on Sunday. Robert Sabo for the NY Post Going with the lefty turned around the switch-hitting Marte to his more-powerful right side. Diekman tried a sweeper that caught too much of the plate and it was rocketed 439 feet to center for Martes second homer of the game. I dont think Im executing well enough in certain situations, Diekman said after the Mets (24-35) lost more momentum from Thursdays players-only meeting, following a pair of wins by dropping two in a row for a series split. The homer, if its two more inches in, it might be a swing and mi s. His margin for error was tiny. The Mets margin for error, with an offense that has not been loud enough and rotation that has not gone deep enough, has been tiny. Pete Alonso reacts after striking out in the eighth inning of Sundays Mets lo s. Robert Sabo for the NY Post We gotta be perfect, Mendoza said. I thought the bullpen obviously did a hell of a job. Piecing it together all the way to the ninth inning. We couldnt get the last three outs. And they couldnt get a run beyond the third inning. They exploded for four runs in that frame, highlighted by back-to-back triples from Brandon Nimmo and J.D. Martinez (for a team that entered play with two triples all season). But they only had one more hit a DJ Stewart single for the rest of the game against Brandon Pfaadt and the Arizona bullpen. It was a fitting way to end a homestand that included plenty of devastation. There was the late collapse against the Giants and a dazzling play from third baseman Matt Chapman to throw out Mark Vientos; there was the five-run 10th inning from San Francisco; there was the meltdown Tuesday against the Dodgers, who scored five runs from the eighth through 10th; and there was the on-field and off-field fiasco Wednesday that led to Lopezs exit from the team. Not good, Mendoza said of the homestand. We got to play better, especially here at home. Fred Lynn Jersey
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