Laura Albanese: Mets need to score runs, not just 'prevent' them
Mets rightfielder Carson Benge is unable to make a diving catch on a fly ball during the 11th inning, which allowed the Cardinals to win the game on Wednesday in St. Louis. Credit: AP/LG Patterson
ST. LOUIS — “Run prevention.” It was the phrase that defined the Mets’ offseason, the preordained panacea for last year’s woes, and the magic words that would stave off another disaster.
And so far, the 2026 Mets are pretty darn good at run prevention. Sure, there’ve been some bobbles at the corner infield positions as Bo Bichette and Jorge Polanco get acclimated to their new roles, but their 2.50 ERA was third-best in baseball before the evening slate of games Wednesday. One time through the rotation, their starters are humming, and their bullpen has been about as good as anyone could have hoped.
Wait, what’s that? You’ve got to score runs, too?
That’s right, folks: It turns out you can’t win a game without scoring any runs, and right now, the Mets are feeling the burn of that inconvenient fact.
To be clear, we’re six games into the season, and manager Carlos Mendoza was right to keep things in perspective after the Mets brutally frustrating 2-1 loss to the Cardinals in 11 innings at Busch Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
“They’re good hitters,” he said, “and right now, for the last couple of games, we haven’t gotten it done...Yes, we've got to make some adjustments, but they're good hitters."
But the RISP numbers all but spit in the face of probability: The Mets went 1-for-29 with runners in scoring position as they dropped two out of three to a rebuilding Cardinals team that, admittedly, likely has better pitching than most people gave them credit for. Wednesday, they were 0-for-11 and left 11 men on base.
And it’s not just this series. After scoring 11 runs in a promising Opening Day win against the Pirates, they’ve gone to score 12 runs in the next five combined. They have a .162 batting average with runners in scoring position in this young season, behind only the Reds and the Royals.
Normally, fans would wait a minute before busting out the old sackcloth and ashes, but you can’t fault them for getting a little antsy. Last year’s poor situational hitting is seared into their memories, and that team had "good hitters," too. And no one's going to forget that the Mets came a single game away from making the playoffs. So, while one loss to the Cardinals on April 1 is generally not a big deal, it could certainly be one to look back on a few months from now.
“You can’t compare” it to last year, Mendoza said, with completely sound logic that will nonetheless do very little to soothe anyone’s concerns. “It’s completely different guys, a different lineup.”
Wednesday, we saw the Mets squander an excellent outing from Freddy Peralta. We saw Francisco Lindor make two mental lapses – one on defense in the first that gave the Cardinals an extra out, and another when he was picked off without attempting to get back to the bag in the sixth. And we saw them botch a bases-loaded, one out situation in the 11th: Brett Baty hit into a force out at home and Marcus Semien, whose gotten off to a frigid start, flied out to right.
Tobias Myers tried his best to keep the Cardinals at bay in the bottom of the 11th, but when you don’t take advantage of opportunities, opportunities take advantage of you. Myers, who had pitched a scoreless 10th, was one out away from stranding the ghost runner at third when Masyn Winn hit a blooper with a .180 expected batting average.
Carson Benge, playing a little deep and maybe not tracking the ball as well as could be hoped, came in from right. Baty, with his back to the play, scrambled toward the outfield. Semien, who had the furthest to go, ranged over as well. Benge seemed to slip as he dove – the ball skittering just inches away from his glove.
Lindor, contrite about his errors, didn’t think the current problem was indicative of something that will carry on throughout the season.
“It happens,” he said of the offense. “It’s baseball…We’ve just got to go out there and believe in each other and pass the baton. I trust the guy behind me more than I trust myself, so it’s that type of mentality [that we have to have] and we’re going to be on top more times than not.”
It helps, of course, that the pitching has been this good. They’ve “done a tremendous job,” Lindor said.
“We’ve got to score runs for them.”
Ah, yes. That part. It’s important to not forget that part.
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
