Pressure mounting on Mets, who lose edge in NL wild card race entering Saturday’s games

MILWAUKEE — It is hard to imagine a more nightmarish beginning to the Mets' all-important series against the Brewers.

From the opening inning on Friday night, the Mets saw their advantage in the National League Wild Card race crumbling away. With each passing frame, the calamity grew larger and larger.

After two days off due to rainouts in Atlanta, the Mets could not meet the moment during a lopsided 8-4 loss to the Brewers in the teams' series opener in front of 33,996 fans on Friday night at American Family Field in Milwaukee.

Friday's lackluster result included an abbreviated outing by Sean Manaea, Carlos Mendoza's ejection and Francisco Alvarez also exiting with back spasms.

"We feel bad because we lost, but we have to keep going. Tomorrow is another day," Alvarez said. "We have to think about the next game. We come in here tomorrow to win and the next day is another game too, and let’s keep going.

The energy that might have been brought with Francisco Lindor's return from an eight-game absence with a back injury was quickly snuffed out by the Brewers. The Mets fell behind by four runs in the opening inning and could never recover as the mistakes mounted and the Mets showed no resistance against the Brewers' speed on the bases.

Mark Vientos blasted a two-run home run for his 27th long ball of the season, but the Mets could never fight back within less than three runs. The Mets cashed in for two runs with the bases loaded in the eighth to make it 7-4, but Luis Torrens flew out against Trevor Megill for the final out, stranding three runners

"Honestly, they kept fighting," Mendoza said. "I was very pleased with the at-bats, and they kept fighting. We got down early and we didn’t give up. So turn the page and we gotta get ready for tomorrow."

Mets' edge in Wild Card race is lost

The Mets might still control their own destiny heading into their final four games, but Friday's result provided added pressure heading into the final two games of the series with the Brewers

With the loss, the Mets moved into a tie with the Braves for the final Wild Card spot in the National League. The Braves currently hold the tiebreaker over the Mets with two games to play. The Diamondbacks also lost on Friday, leaving a three-way tie for the final two playoff spots. The Mets and Braves each hold tiebreakers over the Dbacks.

Those two postponements in Atlanta led to a makeup doubleheader on Monday. Entering Friday's game, Mets brass was focused on the moment at hand. But the margin for error shrunk following Friday night's clunker.

Sean Manaea puts pressure on the pitching staff

Sean Manaea lingered in a crouched position as Rhys Hoskins rounded the bases.

Before Manaea could get through the opening inning, the Mets were in a world of trouble. The veteran left-hander gave up a leadoff single to Brice Turang and a pair of two-out walks to Williams Contreras and Willy Adames.

After Manaea picked up two quick strikes against Hoskins, the Brewers first baseman tormented the Mets once again, plastering a sinker for his third grand slam of the season.

"I thought they put together some good at-bats, laying off that fastball at the top," Mendoza said. "That two-seam right down the middle, Hoskins got him. But honestly, they kept fighting."

Manaea's laborious start was not ideal for the Mets in the first of five games in four days. He only lasted 3⅔ innings while surrendering six runs (five earned) on seven hits and two walks with one strikeout.

Bench coach John Gibbons, filling in for Mendoza who was ejected for arguing balls and strikes in the fourth inning, leaned on Jose Butto, Danny Young, Adam Ottavino and Alex Young across the final 4⅓ innings, leaving the Mets' high-leverage arms rested for the remainder of the weekend.

Francisco Lindor's return

The major question heading into the opening game of the series was the health of Lindor.

In his opening at-bat, Lindor drew a walk against Brewers starter Frankie Montas but was stranded at first base. In the second inning, Lindor showed some rust in the field when he skipped a throw past Pete Alonso on a chopper by Blake Perkins, who scored on an RBI double by Turang in the next at-bat to grow the Brewers' lead to 5-0.

Lindor struck out in his next at-bat on a lower cutter and beat out an infield single deep to the third baseman in his next at-bat in the fifth. Lindor finished 2-for-4 with a pair of singles.

"I felt like my bat speed was there," Lindor said. "I’ll have to go back and look at it. I felt like my eyes were good enough. They’re good pitchers"

Now, the biggest question is how he bounces back. Lindor was encouraged with the results, leading him to believe he will be able to play in the Mets' final four regular-season games.

"I felt good enough," Lindor said. "The pain would come and go, so I’m happy with that."

Brice Turang helps Brewers torch the Mets on bases

Turang was a menace on the bases, as the Brewers leadoff batter collected three of the Brewers' season-high six stolen bases in the Mets' loss. Turang's third gave him 50 swipes on the season.

"They outplayed us today. I made the error, they ended up scoring," Lindor said. "They ran the bases better than we did. They hit better than we did. They hit with people in scoring position."

"Overall, I know the Brewers played better than us today, so tip our cap to them and come back tomorrow and try to beat them."

Mendoza knows that will need to be cleaned up if the Mets hope to grab some pivotal wins or if they face the Brewers in the playoffs down the round.

"We gotta quicken our times to the plate because that’s what they do as a team," Mendoza said. "We knew that coming in, so we have to make some adjustments and stop them from continuing to run like that."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Pressure mounting on Mets, who lose edge in NL wild card race entering Saturday’s games