Three takeaways as the Mets are swept by Guardians, return home at lowest point of 2024

CLEVELAND — The Mets' futility reached new depths on Wednesday afternoon in Cleveland.

They had never been swept by the Guardians in club history and carried a three-run lead into the bottom of the sixth inning. That's when the bottom fell out.

Jose Quintana's dominant effort unraveled with one poor inning, the offense went quiet and the bullpen caved as the Mets were swept by the Guardians with a 6-3 loss in front of 22,322 fans at Progressive Field.

"We got work to do, but I'm pretty confident in our guys here," Carlos Mendoza said. "We're just going through a tough stretch right now, but I'm pretty confident in the guys. We'll continue to work and get through it."

The Mets have lost 10 out of their last 13 games to slip to 21-28 on the season. On their eight-game road trip, which included series with the Phillies, Marlins and Guardians, they finished 2-6. Despite it only being May, the Mets are falling deeper and deeper into a hole.

"If I look around the clubhouse, I know every one of the guys here can play the game the right away," Francisco Lindor said. "It's a bunch of guys that are grinders. We cannot continue to wait to see what's going to happen. We just have to make it happen. "

Jose Quintana's rough inning

Through five innings, Quintana was cruising against the Guardians lineup.

The left-hander faced the minimum 15 batters, using a pair of double plays to wipe out a single and a hit by pitch, both by David Fry, in the second and fifth innings, respectively. He picked up all four of his strikeouts during that stretch.

But in the sixth inning, the Guardians were able to get to Quintana. Austin Hedges laid down a bunt that hugged the edge of the infield grass and stayed fair. Tyler Freeman belted a two-run double into the right-center field gap, and Andres Gimenez ripped a belt-high fastball over the right-field wall for a game-tying three-run home run.

"I feel so close," Quintana said. "I've been throwing the ball way better. I want more. I want to finish in the best way and get results or win the game. That's the reason why are here. It's so tough when we have a hard time like that. You need to keep pushing and believing your stuff."

Quintana was removed from the game despite needing only 70 pitches to get through six innings. It was Quintana's second straight harsh exit after he gave up back-to-back base-hits in the bottom of the sixth and exited during his two-run outing against the Phillies on May 16.

Wednesday's start was Quintana's first quality start since April 28 against the Cardinals when he allowed one earned run across eight innings, but his record remained at 1-4 and his ERA stayed relatively still at 5.13.

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Reed Garrett, Adam Ottavino waver in big spot

Reed Garrett has been one of the most important pieces to the Mets' bullpen.

Garrett has been a stalwart in high-leverage situations, and it will likely continue to be that way following Tuesday's news that Brooks Raley would be heading for elbow surgery. Drew Smith has also been on the shelf since April 27 as he dealt with right shoulder inflammation.

But tasked with keeping the Mets in reach in a 3-3 game in the seventh inning, Garrett could not lock it down. He gave up a leadoff single to Fry and the go-ahead RBI single to Jonathan Rodriguez through the right side.

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Garrett was dealt the loss after his fastball drifted down and away against Rodriguez. He's now 6-1 on the season.

Over his last four outings, Garrett has given up two earned runs on seven hits and one walk across five innings as his ERA has inched up from 0.43 to 1.04. During that stretch, Garrett also secured a two-inning save against the Marlins while filling in for Edwin Diaz, who had blown a four-run lead a day earlier.

"I think some of the contact has just found holes," Garrett said. "They hit two ground-ball base-hits. It stinks. It's part of the game.

"You just take the ball and sometimes things go your way and someone hits a line-drive right at somebody, and sometimes they find holes. I feel like right now, as a collective unit, anything that could go wrong has gone wrong."

Adam Ottavino did not fare much better in the eighth. He plunked Gimenez before allowing an RBI double to Jose Ramirez. After pitching up his second out, Ottavino served up an RBI double to Kyle Manzardo. He exited after walking Rodriguez.

Mets' power surge wasted

For the second straight game, the Mets tied their season-high with three home runs. That produced all of the team's scoring in the game. It was the first time since June 2002 that the Mets have knocked three or more home runs in back-to-back games and lost.

Pete Alonso got things started with a solo home run off Triston McKenzie to right field with one out in the top of the first inning. It was Alonso's 12th home run of the season and gave him 522 RBI on his career as he passed Cleon Jones and Jose Reyes for eighth in Mets history.

Since digging out of a 2-for-37 stretch, Alonso is now 18-for-58 (.310) with three home runs, eight RBI, eight runs and seven doubles in the team's last 14 games.

Jeff McNeil and Harrison Bader each produced a flash of power with home runs on Wednesday.

"A lot of good at-bats now," Mendoza said of what is giving him confidence moving forward. "You start seeing signs of McNeil and Lindor. Up and down the lineup, you're getting contributions. Now, we just have to put it together and start playing complete games."

One night after snapping a streak of 40 games without a home run, McNeil tagged his second home run in as many games with a solo shot to right field to lead off the second inning. Meanwhile, Bader, who had not homered since April 17, drove a 401-foot solo home run to left field to boost the Mets ahead 3-0 in the top of the fourth.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Mets swept by Guardians as standings freefall continues: Takeaways