On Beatles night at Citi Field, the Mets took a long and winding road to defeat.

Another bullpen meltdown keyed Friday night’s 11-9 loss to the Seattle Mariners, spoiling a game in which the Mets overcame three different deficits and got two home runs from Francisco Lindor.

The Mariners tagged high-leverage relievers Tyler Rogers, Ryan Helsely and Brooks Raley for six runs, including five in the seventh inning, as the Mets (64-58) suffered their 14th loss in 16 games.

“Bottom line, we’ve got to start playing better,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Especially when you get the lead, we’ve got to shut those games down.”

The Mets took a 6-4 lead into the sixth, but it all submarined from there.

Seattle chipped away with No. 9 hitter Cole Young’s two-out RBI single off of Rogers.

In the seventh, Helsley gave up a leadoff double to Cal Raleigh on a 101-mph fastball, followed by an RBI double by Eugenio Suárez on a hanging 0-2 slider that tied the score, 6-6.

Raley replaced Helsley but wasn’t any sharper, surrendering three run-scoring hits, including Dominic Canzone’s go-ahead single and Young’s two-out, two-RBI double that gave the M’s a 10-6 lead.

The Mets have blown a lead in seven consecutive games and lost six of them.

“I haven’t seen anything like this,” Raley, an eight-year MLB veteran, said of the Mets’ prolonged struggles. “Been playing a long time, but I feel everybody in here is doing everything they can to show up and play hard. Our offense did that tonight. You score nine against a team like that and you feel like you should win the game. I was part of the problem.”

The Mets revamped their bullpen with last month’s trades for Rogers and Helsley, hoping to shorten games and take pressure off of their starters.

But Friday marked the third consecutive blown save by Helsley, who also squandered a lead and took the loss in Thursday’s 4-3 defeat by the Atlanta Braves.

Helsley was charged with two earned runs in 1/3 inning and took the loss (3-4) on Friday as well. The two-time All-Star has allowed nine runs (five earned) in seven appearances since the Mets acquired him from the St. Louis Cardinals.

“They’re going through a stretch here where it’s really hard as a unit, and we’ve got to get them back on track,” Mendoza said of the bullpen. “For us to get to where we want to get, they’re gonna play a huge role in this.”

Friday night’s game doubled as a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Beatles’ famed Shea Stadium concert on Aug. 15, 1965.

Citi Field commemorated the anniversary by hosting a pregame concert from 1964 The Tribute, playing Beatles music throughout the night, and distributing replica models of Shea Stadium to the first 15,000 fans in attendance.

But not enough came together for the Mets to snap their slump.

Mets starter Sean Manaea allowed four runs — including two on Raleigh’s MLB-leading 46th home run — in five innings, but the Mets repeatedly picked him up.

Lindor erased a 1-0 deficit with a solo home run against Luis Castillo in the first, then capped a two-run rally in the second with a go-ahead RBI single.

The Mets trailed, 4-3, when Lindor struck a two-run homer off of Castillo in the fourth. Soto’s subsequent solo shot was his 30th homer of the season.

Lindor finished 3-for-5 with four RBI and is now 9-for-16 with three homers in his last four games. That surge immediately followed an 0-for-21 skid, which included five hitless games in a row.

A three-run home run by Francisco Alvarez re-engaged a crowd of 41,200 in the eighth, but that capped the scoring for the Mets. In his first relief appearance since being removed from the rotation, Frankie Montas allowed one run in two innings.

“We’re not clicking at the same time, and the other team is outplaying us,” Lindor said. “Mendy’s right: We have a lot of talent. We have a lot of good people here. We’re having a tough stretch. We’re not having a terrible season.”

The Mets got a little help from the Milwaukee Brewers, who erased a seven-run deficit to beat the Cincinnati Reds, 10-8, on Friday night. That kept the Mets a half-game ahead of the Reds for the third and final National League wild card spot.

But the division-leading Philadelphia Phillies won Friday, extending their lead over the Mets in the National League East to six games.

The Mets now turn to prized pitching prospect Nolan McLean, who is set to make his MLB debut on Saturday afternoon. All-Star ace Bryan Woo (10-6, 3.08 ERA) is slated to start for Seattle.

Originally Published: August 15, 2025 at 8:18 PM EDT