New York Mets: Six games from 2019 they wish they had back
By Ed Stein
# 2 Sept 21 at Cincinnati
Zack Wheeler had a rough go of it in the bottom of the first inning. The first two batters reached base before Eugenio Suarez hit a hot ground ball. Mets third baseman Todd Frazier mishandled it and all hands were safe. In baseball scorers can’t assume a double play but had Frazier handled the ball cleanly, it would have been a twin-killing. To their credit, the Mets fought back, tying the game at two with a run in the third, and another in the fifth.
The score stayed that way until the bottom of the eighth when Seth Lugo gave up an RBI single to pinch hitter Christian Colon. That put Cincy ahead 3-2. Although that would be the winning run, it was the fifth inning NYM regrets the most.
Michael Conforto led off the inning with a walk. Frazier followed with a single, then Amed Rosario flew out to center moving Conforto to third. Wheeler came up and hit a sacrifice bunt to the right side which Joey Votto of the Reds made a bad throw on, to put Wheeler on first and load the bases. Brandon Nimmo came up next and was hit by a pitch to send the tying run home and leave the bases loaded.
The Mets had their two best hitters due up next. Unfortunately, both Jeff McNeil, the Alonso both struck out. Instead of New York blowing the game wide open, they missed a golden opportunity. Unlike the other games that made the list, the New York Mets were in contention for the playoffs at the time this one was played. This loss dropped them 4.5 games behind Milwaukee with eight left to play, essentially taking them out of the race. To lose the way they did with so much on the line was heartbreaking.