Mark Vientos making it hard for Mets to ignore him as offensive onslaught continues

CLEVELAND — For the last two seasons, Mark Vientos has been the odd man out of the Mets' third base discussion.

First, he was stuck behind Eduardo Escobar. Then, Brett Baty pushed his way on the roster. When Vientos was called up last season, he saw most of his time at designated hitter.

Now, Vientos is making it hard to be ignored, particularly with Baty scuffling through the opening two months of the season.

Drawing a rare start against a right-handed pitcher in the Guardians' Xzavion Curry on Tuesday, Vientos rose to the task. He belted a solo home run to straightaway center field and added a double to left-center field one frame later. Vientos finished 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, raising his average to .360, but the Mets dropped a 7-6 result to the Guardians at Progressive Field.

"Nice to grab a ball, it felt good, but we ended up short, so it wasn't the outcome that I wanted," Vientos said.

After falling behind 3-0 in the bottom of the third inning, the Mets got back within one on three separate occasions, including two-run home runs by Jeff McNeil and Starling Marte, but could never get over the hump. They dropped to a season-worst six games under .500 at 21-27 with the loss.

Mark Vientos' offensive surge

Since returning to the Mets on May 15, Vientos is 6-for-17 (.353) with three doubles, three RBI and three runs while striking out five times in five games.

"I'm just trying to simplify things," Vientos said. "I'm not trying to do too much up there, get my pitch and drive it. It all starts with the cage work and your routine and your plan. I feel like we've been doing a good job over here talking about our approach and our plan. I feel like when you speak it out loud, you go do it out there."

Vientos has largely mastered the Triple-A level. Last season, he posted a .999 OPS with 16 home runs, 50 RBI and 38 runs in 61 games. Similar success came at that level this season where he has notched an .876 OPS with 30 RBI in 31 games.

When he was called up for the first time back on April 27, it was a brief stint filling in for Starling Marte, who was on the bereavement list. Vientos still provided some offensive excitement, belting a walk-off home run against the Cardinals on April 28 before being demoted two days later.

But now, the Mets front office cleared the way for Vientos return, ultimately releasing Joey Wendle and leaving a void off the bench in the middle infield. And Vientos has played his way into the discussion to remain.

"Yeah, just experience, doing it before and knowing what it takes to be ready when your name is called," Vientos said. "It's been two years now, so I feel like I'm getting experience, I'm also learning from my teammates and they're helping me out."

Brett Baty's struggles

Despite playing improved defense at the hot corner, Baty has struggled to find consistency at the plate in his second full season.

This season, Baty is slashing .228/.295/.316 with three home runs, 15 RBI and 14 runs with 38 strikeouts in 43 games. In the month of May, Baty is 9-for-50 (.180) with two home runs, six RBI and 22 strikeouts in 56 plate appearances.

On Monday, he finished 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, opening the door for Mendoza to give Vientos a start over the left-handed hitter.

Issues: Is Edwin Diaz's closer spot in jeopardy? What Mets pitcher, manager said after rough outing

"It’s on me. I’ve got to do better," Baty said after the game Monday. "I’ve got to have a better plan and go up there and battle better."

Added Mendoza: "He was missing his pitches, chasing when he gets behind in the count. I thought on Sunday, he had a better day, but it’s one of those where right now, he’s going through it. I like where he’s at mentally. I like the way he’s putting his work in. We just gotta continue to fight."

Adrian Houser's uneven rotation return

In the midst of consistent struggles, Adrian Houser has been willing to mold his role.

After four innings out of the bullpen across two appearances, Houser made his first start since May 2 on Tuesday night and saw mixed results. In the meantime, Houser had extra time to work on his mechanics, focusing on keeping the target and not flying open.

"It felt good traveling down the mound," Houser said. "I felt like the ball was coming out really good. Everything felt good, I just didn't get the results we wanted."

There was some encouraging results. Houser averaged 94.1 mph with his sinker after entering with that pitch averaging 91.8 mph. His four-seam fastball topped out at 96.3 mph. He also received four whiffs on his changeup and three on his sinker.

But the results remained mixed.

Houser opened with two perfect innings before hitting Bo Naylor with one out in the third inning. The Guardians opened the scoring on a high chopper that sailed over the head of Pete Alonso at first. Then, Tyler Freeman ripped an RBI double and scored on a line-drive by Jose Ramirez that caught Starling Marte flat-footed and sailed over his head.

Ramirez added two more RBI in the fifth inning, belting a high sinker in a 3-2 count over the right-field wall to put the Guardians ahead 5-2. One more run was charged to Houser after he allowed a leadoff walk to Will Brennan in the sixth before being pulled. David Fry knocked a pinch-hit home run off Jake Diekman in the next at-bat.

"I think really the pitch to Ramirez for a two-run homer, it was a pitch above the zone that Ramirez got to," Mendoza said. "I thought the stuff was a lot better, definitely."

Houser finished with six earned runs allowed on six hits and one walk while striking out four. His ERA drifted up to 7.88 as his record dropped to 0-4.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Mets can't ignore Mark Vientos as offensive surge continues