NEW YORK _ The Mets hoped they would board their charter plane (bigger than usual to account for proper social distancing) to Atlanta in positive spirits Thursday night. But first on the agenda was trying to win a four-game series against the Red Sox.
The Mets offense, which has struggled to put up consistent hits, again failed to produce the clutch moment _ leading to a 3-4 season record before their six-game road trip.
The lineup had plenty of opportunities to connect in their 4-2 loss to the Red Sox on Thursday night. The Mets went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position with nine men left on base.
Their best opportunity to score came in the bottom of the eighth inning, when Pete Alonso was on third and Ryan Cordell, pinch-running for JD Davis, was on second with a stolen base. Michael Conforto, who went 0-for-3 Thursday, struck out swinging. Next up, Yoenis Cespedes battled over an eight-pitch at-bat and drew a walk, which set up a bases-loaded situation for rookie Andres Gimenez.
Curiously, manager Luis Rojas didn't pinch hit for Gimenez, who ended up grounding out to end the inning. Dominic Smith, who's 2-for-7 with a home run and five RBI, was on the bench and went unused.
Steven Matz didn't pitch as well as he did in his 2020 debut, coughing up three earned runs on eight hits over 5.1 innings. Christian Vazquez wasn't letting up on Matz, as the Red Sox catcher crushed two home runs off the southpaw before he finally struck him out swinging in his third at-bat. Still, the Mets trailed Boston by just one run by the time Matz exited in the sixth.
Drew Smith and Jeurys Familia combined for 2.2 perfect innings and four strikeouts between them. It was a refreshing performance from the bullpen after Wednesday's implosion from reliable relievers Seth Lugo and Justin WIlson. Familia, in particular, looked dominant as he used his slider to generate all three outs, including two strikeouts. Smith also retired all five batters he faced.
