Bullpen can't hold 7-1 lead in second walk-off loss to Nationals

Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News on Apr 27, 2025

Published in Baseball

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WASHINGTON — The New York Mets’ bullpen has been dominant over the last month, protecting leads for four innings or more as the starting rotation has struggled to go deep into games in the first month of the season. But the relief corps might be starting to show some cracks.

The Mets watched the Washington Nationals erase a six-run lead in the third game of a four-game set Sunday at Nationals Park. Jose Butto couldn’t hold the inherited runners on base, and then gave up three of his own in the bottom of the seventh before Ryne Stanek blew his second save of the series.

The Nationals walked off for the second time in three days, handing the Mets an 8-7 loss.

“Obviously, things didn’t go the way I wanted,” Stanek said. “I felt like I executed a lot of pitches but a blocked double down the line kind of happens, and then get some ground balls and things just didn’t work.”

Through three games in Washington, the Mets’ bullpen has blown two saves, been credited with two losses, allowed an eight-run comeback effort and lost left-hander A.J. Minter to a lat strain. The starting rotation has been excellent, and Tylor Megill was as well against Washington on Sunday, but they’ve thrown only 138 1/3 innings, ranked 20th in the league.

Manager Carlos Mendoza said there is “probably” a correlation with the bullpen.

“We’ve been using these guys pretty hard,” Mendoza said. “When you look at some of the usage, especially today, the guys that pitched were the guys that we had available, and we just couldn’t finish a game.”

The Mets (19-9) jumped out to a 5-0 start in the top of the first and were up by as much as 7-1 in the fifth. Left-hander Mitchell Parker, who started his sophomore campaign with five straight quality starts, was throttled by the Mets lineup right from the start.

Megill limited the Nats (13-15) to three runs on three hits over 6 1/3 innings. Crews homered in the second inning to make it 6-1 and snap a streak of 14 games without a Mets starting pitcher allowing a home run. It was the only blemish on an otherwise outstanding outing for the big righty.

“He was pretty dominant today,” Mendoza said. “You get to the seventh inning with a pretty comfortable lead there, to not be able to finish things off is frustrating.”

Up 7-1 in the seventh, Butto struck out Crews for the second out, before allowing two straight singles and a three-run homer to catcher Riley Adams. Suddenly, the big lead was down to one run, 7-6.

The Mets went quietly in the eighth and the Nats loaded the bases on Huascar Brazobán in the bottom of the inning. The right-hander got out of the jam to keep the one-run lead intact.

With Edwin Diaz unavailable, the Mets turned to Stanek again. The right-hander gave up a leadoff double to Alex Call in the bottom of the ninth. Jacob Young pinch-ran for him, getting to third on a ground-ball before scoring easily on a pinch-hit single by Keibert Ruiz. James Wood then walked to put two on. Luis Garcia Jr. rolled over on a splitter, sending a slow roller to first baseman Pete Alonso at the edge of the infield dirt.

Stanek (0-2) sprinted over to cover first base, but Alonso’s throw was too high and it sailed past the pitcher. Abrams came home as the Nationals ran out of the dugout to celebrate.

“We just didn’t make a play,” Mendoza said.

It’s not a shock that the bullpen is scuffling at the moment. It was bound to happen at some point, especially with the volume of innings they’ve absorbed already this season. But it’s relatively unexpected considering just how tough the bullpen has been on opposing hitters.

“A little surprising because we’ve thrown the ball so well. but over the course of a long season, you’re not going to be perfect,” Stanek said. “You just execute and move on. It’s just a blip on the radar over the course of a full season. We play 162, we scuffle for a couple and we forget about it. Move on to the next.”

Parker lasted five innings, and allowed seven runs on seven hits, walking five and striking out none. It was a mistake-filled five-innings for the Nats, that featured a collision between two defenders in the outfield and two fly balls missed in foul territory, but both teams were forced to contend with the sun. Juan Soto lost a ball in the sun in the seventh inning, and Tyrone Taylor and Soto were initially both unsure of where Crews hit his home run ball.

Still, with such a large lead, it’s a disappointing loss. The Mets scored five runs on three hits, three walks and an error in the first inning alone.

“Tough one there to let that one get away, especially after that outing from Megill,” Mendoza said. “A lot of good things offensively early in the game, so for us to be there 7-1 in the seventh and let that one get away, that’s a tough one. We’ve got to turn the page and get ready for tomorrow.”

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