The Mets hit three home runs, including Pete Alonso’s record-tying blast, but a meltdown by Ryne Stanek and Ryan Helsley in the seventh inning lead to the team’s sixth straight loss this time by a score of 7-4.

Pete Alonso certainly left his mark at American Family Field last year in the playoffs with his dramatic ninth inning home run in Game 3 of the Wild Card, and he again had a memorable day with his second inning blast to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. That home run was number 252 for his career which ties him with Darryl Strawberry for the most in franchise history.

That second inning as a whole, despite the home run, was an outright disaster for Francisco Lindor and a harbinger of things to come. Lindor came up with the bases loaded and two-outs but struck out in the top of the inning and then made a fielding error in the bottom of the inning that allowed the Brewers to take a 2-1 lead. In the fourth the shortstop came up with runners on again after the team took a 3-2 lead but this time he grounded out into a double play. And then in his final two at-bats he struck out, once in the seventh and once in the ninth when they were in desperate need of baserunners. How Lindor goes this team goes and with his struggles on both sides of the ball, its hard to see how this team wins many ballgames until he turns it around.

Granted, they do have other talent that can come through. Starling Marte and Juan Soto both hit solo home runs and Cedric Mullins’s RBI single in the fourth briefly gave them a 3-2 lead.

On the other side of the ball, in an effort to get Frankie Montas going, the team went with Reed Garrett as an opener and Montas entered after him in the second inning. It is debatable whether this was the correct move. On one hand Montas wasn’t an outright disaster like he has been. Granted he couldn’t hold any of the leads he was given but he wasn’t helped out by Lindor’s error either. He pitched three innings, gave up three runs, one earned, walked two and struck out three.

However, on the the other hand, with Garrett pitching the first he was unavailable to pitch the seventh which is where it all fell apart. The team actually had a 4-3 lead with Gregory Soto and Tyler Rogers doing their jobs, but Ryne Stanek could not. A single, ground rule double, and a ground out tied the game. Helsley followed and gave up another single and a home run which unofficially ended the game. With the team now down 7-4, this offense just doesn’t have the juice to overcome a three-run lead and they went down with a whimper in the last two innings.

Things are certainly bleak right now and it does not seem like their tough September schedule will end up mattering if they take themselves out of the race in August.

Big Mets winner: Juan Soto +11.6% WPA
Big Mets loser: Ryan Helsley -36.1% WPA
Mets pitchers: -57.0% WPA
Mets hitters: +7.0% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Juan Soto home run in fifth
Teh sux0rest play: Isaac Collings RBI single seventh