Mets in free fall after losing 10th straight game - ESPN

CHICAGO — The New York Mets will have to defy the odds if they plan on making the postseason this year after dropping their 10th consecutive game on Saturday, a 4-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs.

Only three teams in the divisional era (since 1969) have made the postseason after a double-digit losing streak — including last year's Cleveland Guardians.

«No one is going to feel sorry for us,» Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said after the latest defeat. «We have to keep going. We haven't been playing good baseball. We have 5½ months ahead. We have the opportunity to write our own story.»

The Mets say they can't point to any single thing which has led them to their longest April losing streak in franchise history. They certainly aren't hitting enough, scoring just 18 runs during the streak, the fewest for them over 10 games since June 3-5, 2018.

They're also making bad pitches, like the one reliever Brooks Raley made to pinch hitter Carson Kelly in the sixth inning Saturday. Kelly deposited Raley's first pitch cutter into the left field bleachers for a three-run home run, breaking a 1-1 tie. The Cubs cruised to victory from there.

«We haven't been able to put together a complete game,» Mendoza said. «It's either the offense or starting pitching, like not making [that] pitch, not making a play, not getting a big hit. Just having a hard time playing a complete game right now.»

Mendoza's job is seemingly safe after president of baseball operations David Stearns said Friday he thought his third year manager was doing a good job and is putting players in a position to succeed. Of course, things can change if the losses continue to pile up for the Mets, who missed the postseason last year after a disastrous second half.

The team is trying