QUEENS, NY — Jeff McNeil flew around second base as Jakob Marsee, the Miami Marlins’ left fielder, tracked down the fly ball that should have landed either in foul territory or in his glove.
The ball touched down inches inside fair territory, bounced off the wall and past Marsee, who retreated to limit the damage. By then, McNeil was halfway to third base. He’d make it there standing. The leadoff triple put the New York Mets’ tying run 90 feet from the plate, in the bottom of the seventh inning in a game they’d trailed by as many as six, created by another pitching implosion.
New York’s no-quit offense, which had set franchise records this month with 176 runs and 53 home runs, had once again dragged the club into the fight. McNeil’s leadoff triple increased the Mets’ win odds Saturday by nearly 20%. Anything — ground ball, fly ball — that got through the infield would tie the game.
The bottom of the order fumbled. Brett Baty grounded out. Starling Marte, pinch-hitting for Luis Torrens, struck out. Cedric Mullins lined out.
Carlos Mendoza, the Mets’ manager, wouldn’t blame his offense for leaving McNeil stranded.
“It’s hard to pick on the offense when you give up what, 11?” Mendoza said. “And we put up eight. We just needed to shut them down.”
The offense was not to blame for Saturday’s 11–8 home loss to the Marlins, in which the Mets generated 12 hits. But it left the club and its sellout crowd with the biggest “What if?” moment of the afternoon.
David Peterson struggles early
David Peterson lasted just two innings, plus five batters in the third. He allowed eight hits and eight earned runs, walking three. He had just one strikeout. Of his 65 pitches, 36 were strikes.
“He didn’t have it today,” Mendoza said. “From the get-go, he didn’t get chases below the strike zone. And then when he came in the strike zone, they made him pay. They had good approaches. They forced him in the strike zone, and they were aggressive. So yeah, one of those days when he had to battle, and it was trouble for him.”
Peterson uses five pitches: a sinker (29.2%), four-seam fastball (23.3%), slider (19.7%), changeup (14.7%), and a curveball (13.1%).
Since 2022, he has steadily increased his sinker usage, peaking last season (31.3%). This pitch has, over that time frame, overtaken his fastball and slider as his most-used weapon.
The sinker was problematic early. The first five hitters of the afternoon all made contact on the pitch, resulting in three runs on four hits, as Peterson left several pitches up in the zone and failed to get the Marlins to chase anything below.
“I don’t think the off-speed stuff was in the zone early enough,” Peterson said. “And so then they were able to kind of just lay off of it. Felt good with it. Felt like I was making good pitches with it. They just … they weren’t going after anything beneath.”
In the first frame, Peterson conceded singles to the Marlins’ first two hitters, Xavier Edwards and Otto Lopez. They advanced to second and third on a soft ground ball. He averted disaster as Heriberto Hernández’s towering fly ball was ruled a double instead of a home run — it hit the orange line on Citi Field’s outfield wall. Eric Wagaman doubled to bring home two. Connor Norby walked. Joey Wiemer put the Marlins up by five with another two-run double.
Peterson threw 37 pitches in the first inning. He was charged with five earned runs on five hits. He faced all nine Marlins hitters.
After a 1-2-3 second inning, Peterson again unraveled in the third. He allowed a leadoff double, two walks, and two RBI singles without recording an out. He was done for the day, leaving New York a 7–2 deficit as he left the field to the tune of scattered boos.
What else, in Peterson’s mind, went wrong on Saturday?
“Getting behind in the count,” Peterson said, “And then having to come back in, and they were able to capitalize on that stuff. Had a double play that I could have gotten myself two outs in the first inning. Another thing that they were able to take advantage of.”
Mets’ offense overshadowed by poor pitching
The makeup of the Mets’ pitching staff is a combination of David Stearns’ reluctance to pay up for big-ticket free agent pitchers, subpar pitching from the staff he’s assembled, and thrilling performances from youngsters Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong.
Where the pitching staff falters, the offense, which is stacked with stars like Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, and Juan Soto, is often responsible for giving the Mets a boost in games like these. The result is several high-scoring games like Saturday’s: thrilling as a fan, nightmarish for anyone in the clubhouse.
Good offense can’t offset the weight of poor pitching. That’s why Saturday’s game ended up as it did: with New York on the wrong end of a high-scoring affair.
The Mets’ offense has set franchise records this month for runs and home runs. But their August record, entering the final day of the month, is 11–16.
They deserve credit. Before any Mets hitter stepped into the batter’s box Saturday, they were down 5–0. Lindor kick-started the offense with a leadoff solo home run on his bobblehead day. Mark Vientos closed that gap further with a three-run homer in the third. Soto hit two long balls: a solo shot in the fourth to close Miami’s lead to two, then a game-tying shot in the sixth.
“It feels good,” Soto said. “But at the end of the day, you want to win the game, even if you come through or not, you want to win the game. So it’s not that satisfying when we lose the game.”
But on the play, they should have scored — McNeil’s leadoff triple — the offense shriveled up. And their best opportunity of the night became the play that got away.
