The Mets entered Thursday night's game with an eye on winning the series. They had Sean Manaea getting the start to try and accomplish that goal. They faced a major obstacle though–not only were they facing the best team in baseball, they were facing the best team in baseball's Cy Young frontrunner ace in Jacob Misiorowski.
The game had barely even started and it immediately went sideways for Manaea and the Mets. The first two batters reached on a single and a walk, then a one-out Andrew Vaughn single drove in the first run of the game. Gary Sánchez hit into a force-out for the second out that also drove in the second run of the game. Manaea was able to get out of it after that but the Mets were already in an early hole.
Manaea dug the hole deeper in the second inning. He got two outs to start the inning and looked like he might be settling down. But a David Hamilton single was followed by a Jackson Chourio home run to put the Mets behind by four runs. And a comeback would be difficult with Misiorowski on the mound.
The game was quiet until the fifth inning. In the top of the fifth, Chourio started with a single then stole second base to put another runner in scoring position for the Brewers. Luis Lara moved Chourio to third on another single, and William Contreras grounded out but still drove in Chourio for the Brewers' fifth run of the game.
It took until the bottom of the fifth for the Mets to even log a hit against Misiorowski, but once they did it was off to the races. Luis Robert Jr. started the inning with a walk, then he was driven in as the Mets' first run of the game on the Mets' first hit of the game, a Jared Young double. After two outs, Christopher Morel hit a single that brought Jared Young in to score (though there was a lengthy review, it was eventually upheld). Francisco Alvarez grounded out to end the inning, but the Mets cut the deficit to three runs.
To start the top of the sixth, Joey Ortiz hit a triple to center field, putting a runner ninety feet from scoring. Cooper Pratt hit a long one-out sacrifice fly to drive in Ortiz and add another run to the Brewers lead. After a David Hamilton double, Sean Manaea was pulled for Xzavion Curry, who got the last out of the inning without any trouble. Manaea's night ended after 5.2 innings, having allowed six runs on eight hits and a walk and only striking out three.
The Brewers eventually got to Curry in the top of the eighth. A one-out Pratt single led to a two-run Jackson Chourio home run, Chourio's second home run of the game to bring his RBI total to four for the game. Curry was able to escape the inning without giving up any more runs but the Mets were now down six runs with just six outs to go.
The Mets were unable to score any more runs in the final two innings of the game, and they fell to the Brewers 8-2. Tomorrow, the Astros come to Citi Field to start a three game series, with the Astros in the middle of a playoff run in the desolate American League West. The Mets have Christian Scott getting the start against Hunter Brown.
Big Mets winner: Christopher Morel, +5% WPA
Big Mets loser: Sean Manaea, -32% WPA
Mets pitchers: -32% WPA
Mets hitters: -18% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Jared Young's fifth inning RBI double, +7.0% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Jackson Chourio's second inning two-run home run, -14.9% WPA
