3 infuriating Mets takeaways from their series loss to the Phillies

The New York Mets could have just as easily won all three games in Philadelphia over the weekend. They terminated the Phillies midway through Friday night and never looked back. Then came Saturday which looked like another win only to cough it up. On Sunday, it was a tighter battle and the far more alarming conclusion because of Edwin Diaz being the one to blow it in a non-save situation.

Winning every series possible has felt like a must for them regardless of who the opponent is. If you’re infuriated, it might be because of these three reasons.

1) The Mets are wasting a terrific starting pitching staff

Once again, the Mets received some superb starting pitching. Jose Quintana matched Aaron Nola then gained a huge cushion to cruise. Luis Severino’s problem was called Bryce Harper. David Peterson was right there alongside Quintana until a late run came across.

All three pitchers performed well enough to get a victory. Unfortunately, only Quintana did.

Critics of the Mets viewed this ball club’s major weakness as the starting pitching staff. It wasn’t an outrageous take to have because of the questions surrounding the different arms in the rotation. The moment Kodai Senga landed on the IL, it looked even more implausible for the Mets to compete for a playoff spot. Well, they’ve been stable and lately it is the starting pitching leading the way. We’ve seen it countless times this month already. If nothing else, the starters regularly give them a chance to at least compete.

There isn’t much in baseball more infuriating than a wasted quality start. The Mets, due to their two ongoing weak points, threw two more into the rubbish bin against the Phillies this weekend.

2) The Mets remain too reliant on home runs, one big inning

At some point the Mets offense became a one-inning type of team. It seems like every day they score in only one or two innings. There’s never a game where they scratch together a run in the first on a sacrifice fly, back-to-back two out doubles in the second, come home on a wild pitch in the third, and cap it off with a three-run home run in the fourth. The Mets skipped right to the three run home run.

What we saw from the Mets offense on Friday against the Phillies was brilliant. But it was also pouring the whole bottle of syrup onto the waffle. It was welcomed to see after a series against the Toronto Blue Jays when they waited until the 9th inning to even get a hit. In their Monday game, it took scoring twice late without putting the ball in play to get the win.

Mets hitters have been miserable for most of September and it didn’t change in Philadelphia outside of Friday. A one-time murmur perhaps? Those double-digit run-scoring games are enjoyable but oftentimes a fluke. It was not a game to get Brandon Nimmo or Francisco Alvarez red hot after all.

The Mets offense is only capable of being good in theory right now. And even when they do score, there’s one more element to spoil the day.