Red Sox 3, Mets 1 - On a chilly night in Boston, Mets’ bats remain cold as they drop opener

On a chilly, windy, downright unpleasant night in Boston, the Mets’ bats remained cold en route to an 3-1 loss against the Red Sox. It was the Mets’ third loss in four games on this road trip, and the offense remained a big culprit.

The vibes were putrid in this one from the first inning. Against Hunter Dobbins, Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto went down in order, and then Pete Alonso hit a ball that grazed the very top of the Green Monster and returned into play. As a result, Alonso was thrown out at second—he was initially called safe before replay review corrected the call. Kodai Senga, who entered with a 1.02 ERA, could not have gotten off to a worse start, as he surrendered a leadoff double, walked the next batter, and then issued a wild pitch in a span of six pitches. An Alex Bregman grounder scored the first run and, after Wilyer Abreu failed to get the run across, Trevor Story singled home the second run. Boston plated a second run against Senga in second, as the right-hander walked Carlos Narváez and surrendered a Jarren Duran triple.

To Senga’s credit, he settled down after that and hurled four scoreless innings from there. He navigated a Bregman leadoff double in the third and retired the next three batters without much trouble. He navigated a difficult fourth inning, made tough by a Pete Alonso throwing error—his second in two days. On the play, Alonso cleanly fielded a ball and shoveled it over Senga’s head as he went to cover first. The error put runners on second and third with one out and, after Devers walked, Bregman grounded out to end the frame. He sat down the side in order in the fifth and sixth to conclude a quality start in which he allowed three earned runs on five hits, with five strikeouts and three walks. He three 100 pitches, with 60 going for strikes.

The Mets’ bats, unfortunately, could not hold up their end of the bargain on the night despite plenty of chances. After a quiet second, the Mets got their first run in the third. Francisco Alvarez led off with a double and ended up coming home on a Tyrone Taylor single. After Lindor walked, the Mets had a golden opportunity to go ahead, but Soto hit into his ninth double play of the season to end the inning.

The Mets again went quietly in the fourth before threatening again in the fifth. Alvarez again got things started with a one-out single, and Jeff McNeil singled him to third. After Taylor was called out on a really questionable strike three call (to put it mildly), Boston replaced Dobbins with Justin Wilson, who struck out Lindor on the tenth pitch of their battle. The Mets again tried to break through in the sixth but to no avail. Soto kicked things off with a single off the Green Monster—he was caught watching his hit and settled for first base, but he made up for it by stealing his fourth base in five games. After Alonso walked, but Brandon Nimmo grounded into a 5-6-3 double play, and Mark Vientos would fly out against new Boston pitcher Greg Weissert to strand Soto at third.

The Mets again tried their best to score in the seventh, this time mounting a two-out rally. Brett Baty and Alvarez struck out to begin the inning, but a McNeil walk and a Taylor single, coupled with an Abreu fielding error, put runners on the corners. The Red Sox went to Justin Slaten, who got Lindor to ground out on the first pitch to end the inning. That out put Lindor in a 1-for-22 slump.

That would be the last scoring chance the Mets would enjoy in this one. The heart of their order—Soto, Alonso, and Nimmo—went down meekly against Slaten in the eighth. Against Aroldis Chapman, Vientos struck out, and Starling Marte contributed a pinch hit single with one out. However, Alvarez hit into the team’s third double play of the game to end the Mets’ feeble comeback attempt. The Mets ended the night 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position as they left another eight runners on base. This remains a concerning trend and is not the ideal recipe to win ballgames. The lone positive was the bottom third of the lineup, which contributed five of the team’s seven total hits.

The Mets will try to rebound and even up the series on Tuesday. Clay Holmes will take the ball opposite Walker Buehler, who is returning from the IL. It’ll be the Mets’ first time facing Buehler since the 2024 NLCS.

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