Kodai Senga had been perfect in the ninth inning since moving into the closer role. Four save chances, four saves. On Sunday afternoon at Rate Field he gave up a solo home run to Tristan Peters leading off the bottom of the ninth, and the Mets lost 2-1.
It was Peters’ first career walk-off homer. It was also the second time in three days the White Sox ended a game against New York with one, after Jake Rogers did it Friday night.
The frustrating part is what the Mets wasted.
McLean was excellent again
Nolan McLean gave the Mets six shutout innings and allowed one hit. He struck out five of the first nine batters he faced, and the only real trouble came in the third, when Sam Antonacci singled and McLean walked Munetaka Murakami and Miguel Vargas to load the bases. Pitching coach Justin Willard came out. McLean then struck out Andrew Benintendi to end it.
He finished with six strikeouts and four walks over six innings, and his ERA dropped from 3.34 to 3.21. He also hit Antonacci, which is becoming a theme. McLean leads the league with 14 hit-by-pitches, and that one was Antonacci’s 24th of the season, a White Sox single-season record.
By win probability added, McLean was worth plus-36 percent to the Mets on the afternoon. Senga was minus-36.
The ninth got away
Chicago finally broke through in the eighth against Daniel Duarte, when Benintendi doubled home Vargas for a 1-0 lead and ended Duarte’s nine-appearance scoreless streak.
New York answered immediately. Jared Young, who started on the bench, singled home the tying run against Grant Taylor in the top of the ninth. The Mets then loaded the bases with two outs and had the go-ahead run 90 feet away.
A.J. Ewing struck out on a 98.6 mph fastball at the letters. Francisco Alvarez had also struck out in the inning. New York’s four pinch hitters went 1-for-5 with four strikeouts on the day.
Then Peters led off the bottom half and ended it. Ewing had a shot at the ball at the center-field wall and could not bring it back.
Where this leaves them
The Mets are 59-72 and last in the National League East, so the standings implications are what they are. The more useful read is on the roster.
Senga’s move to the ninth had been working in a small sample. One blown save does not undo four converted ones, but it does raise the question of whether a starter converted midseason is the right answer in that role for a team trying to evaluate what it has for next year.
New York went 12-5 in its first 17 games after the trade deadline before dropping this one. Saturday’s 10-5 win featured five home runs, including two from Luis Robert Jr. in his return to Chicago. The bats went quiet for one afternoon at exactly the wrong time.
The Brewers come to Citi Field on Tuesday.
