ST. PETERSBURG — Edwin Diaz took the Tropicana Field mound in the bottom of the ninth without having blown a save in nearly two years. After retiring two hitters in quick order, the unthinkable happened.
He gave up a game-tying home run to Randy Arozarena, blowing a save for the first time since May 25, 2022.
The Mets went up 6-5 in the 10th when Brandon Nimmo legged out a grounder and scored the automatic runner (Harrison Bader) with two outs. He chopped one up the middle past right-hander Erasmo Ramirez and shortstop Jose Caballero made the throw to first, where umpire Mark Wegner ruled Nimmo out. The Mets challenged the play and it was overturned, giving them a 6-5 lead.
But left-hander Jake Diekman gave up a triple to Jonny DeLuca with runners on the corners (including the automatic runner) and none out. The Rays walked off with a 7-6 win to sweep the Mets.
Francisco Lindor hit his sixth homer of the year, Omar Narvaez went 2-for-2 with a run scored and Nimmo reached base five times, going 1-for-3 with an RBI single, a walk, two hit-by-pitches and an error in the top of the 10th that scored the automatic runner. The Mets had plenty of offensively opportunities to pad the lead but the big hit never came. They stranded 13 and went 4-for-16 with runners in scoring position.
Luis Severino labored through five innings with erratic command until the fifth, when he finally pitched a clean inning using only eight pitches. The Mets needed that fifth inning from the right-hander and he delivered, exiting with a 5-4 lead intact.
Severino walked six hitters — the most of his career — and hit one, forced to work out of the stretch nearly his entire outing. However, he got out of trouble when needed and got plenty of help from the defense. The damage was limited to four earned runs on four hits, with six strikeouts.
Starling Marte made two tough catches in right field in the third. Severino needed 26 pitches to get through a long fourth inning that included two walks and two stolen bases, but Bader tracked down a fly ball by Amed Rosario on the run to end the inning and strand runners on the corners.
The Mets (16-18) spotted Severino a 2-0 lead after Lindor homered off right-hander Ryan Pepiot in the first inning. Down 3-2 after Severino allowed three runs in the second, Marte hit Pepiot with a come-backer to load the bases. The right-hander exited the game with a lower-leg contusion and was replaced by Manuel Rodriguez, who got two outs before walking DJ Stewart.
Tampa Bay (17-18) went up 4-2 in the bottom of the inning, but the Mets capitalized on poor defense by the Rays to take the lead in the fourth.
Jose Siri dropped a shallow fly to center field by Bader. A single by Brett Baty advanced Bader to third base and a single by Narvaez scored Bader. Right-hander Kevin Kelly replaced Rodriguez and gave up a single to Nimmo to hand the Mets a 5-4 lead.
The bullpen bent, but didn’t break. Right-hander Jorge Lopez pitched around a one-out double in the sixth. Reed Garrett allowed a one-out single to Arozarena, and Tomas Nido promptly threw him out at second base. The Mets replaced Narvaez with Nido for defensive purposes after he and Severino allowed three stolen bases, but even he struggled with the speedy Caballero, who stole second and third after being walked by Garrett.
Bader made a fantastic sliding catch on a sinking line drive from Austin Shenton to end the inning and strand Caballero on third.
Marte bailed out Sean Reid-Foley after he walked DeLuca to lead off the eighth. Pinch-hitter Harold Ramirez flared one to right field with DeLuca running to second. Marte sprinted in to make the catch and doubled off DeLuca at first by about a mile. Reid-Foley then struck out Yandy Diaz on three pitches.
The walks and stolen bases hurt the most in this one. The Mets couldn’t out-hit their mistakes in three games in Tampa Bay.
