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Jesse Rogers
Multiple Authors
CHICAGO — The Mets will have to defy the odds if they plan on making the postseason this year after dropping their 10th consecutive game Saturday, a 4-2 loss to the Cubs.
Only three teams in the divisional era (since 1969) have made the postseason after a double-digit losing streak, including last year’s Cleveland Guardians.
“No one is going to feel sorry for us,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said after the latest defeat. “We have to keep going. We haven’t been playing good baseball. We have 5½ months ahead. We have the opportunity to write our own story.”
The Mets say they can’t point to any single thing that has led them to their longest April losing streak in franchise history. They certainly aren’t hitting enough, scoring just 18 runs during the streak, the fewest for them over 10 games since June 3-5, 2018.
They are also making bad pitches, like the one reliever Brooks Raley made to pinch hitter Carson Kelly in the sixth inning Saturday. Kelly deposited Raley’s first-pitch cutter into the left-field bleachers for a three-run homer to break a 1-1 tie. The Cubs cruised to victory from there.
“We haven’t been able to put together a complete game,” Mendoza said. “It’s either the offense or starting pitching, like not making [that] pitch, not making a play, not getting a big hit. Just having a hard time playing a complete game right now.”
Mendoza’s job is seemingly safe after president of baseball operations David Stearns said Friday that he thought his third-year manager was doing a good job and is putting players in a position to succeed. Of course, things can change if the losses continue to pile up for the Mets, who missed the postseason last year after a disastrous second half.
The team is trying not to focus on the negative this early in the season.
“It’s a big boy league,” infielder Marcus Semien said. “There is no time to dwell on tonight. Tomorrow is a new day. … It’s as simple as showing up tomorrow with a good attitude. Hopefully other guys see a smile on my face when I show up.”
Semien and Mendoza offered few solutions to the team’s plight, though getting All-Star Juan Soto back from a calf injury should help. But that won’t happen for a few more days. With designated hitter Jorge Polanco (wrist) on the shelf as well, the Mets will need others to step up.
A late winter overhaul by Stearns led to a positive feeling about the team entering this season. But those additions, like Saturday’s starter Freddy Peralta, haven’t produced enough. Third baseman Mark Vientos did hit a long home run in the loss, but New York’s offense was mostly quiet the rest of the day.
Mendoza was asked how he thought Mets fans were feeling right now.
“They have the right to be pissed and frustrated,” he said. “They care. Just like we do. … I understand how they’re feeling. I’d be pissed too, if I was a fan. I’m pissed. They’re pissed.”
The 10-game losing streak is the longest in April since the 2023 Chicago White Sox. The Mets are seven games behind the Atlanta Braves in the National League East, an unusually large deficit for this time of year.
“It’s frustrating to lose baseball games, and when you lose this many in a row, it compounds,” Semien said. “The game does not owe you any wins. You have to go out and get it.”
The Mets rank in the bottom half of the league in most offensive and pitching categories, including home runs. They have hit just 15 this season, only ahead of the San Francisco Giants for fewest in the National League. Their starting pitching isn’t much better, ranking 21st in ERA.
The team is hoping Sunday will bring different results.
“We have to do something to get in the W column,” Semien said. “No one is showing up thinking about how it’s going to happen again. We’re thinking about how we’re going to win.”
Mendoza added: “Were putting ourselves in a hole right now. There is only one way to [get out of] it. Come back tomorrow, ready to go.”
ESPN Research contributed to this report.
