Mets' Carlos Mendoza explains having Brett Baty attempt to bunt in 10th inning of loss to Tigers
With the first game of Thursday’s doubleheader tied at 3-3 in the bottom of the 10th inning, the Mets had Brett Baty coming to the plate to lead off the inning, and pinch-runner Zack Short at second base as the potential tying run.
Earlier in the game, Baty did a nice job of staying with a cutter from lefty Joey Wentz, slicing it into left field for an RBI single.
Despite that earlier success, though, the Mets decided to have Baty square to bunt to start the top of the tenth. He bunted two pitches foul and then went down swinging on a questionable check-swing call. The Mets didn’t score in the inning, and the Tigers went on to score three runs in the top of the 11 for a 6-3 win.
After the game, manager Carlos Mendoza explained the decision to have Baty bunt in that spot.
“We discussed that before the inning started. When they didn’t score, what we’re looking for is for one there,” the skipper said. “So, yeah, we didn’t get the bunt down and we didn’t score.
“It doesn’t necessarily have to be automatic,” he added about the decision to bunt. “It’s just where we’re at in the game in that situation. We’re looking for one to win the game, and we couldn’t get him over.”
The Mets had just six hits as a team in the first game of the doubleheader, and they’ve certainly had their struggles with scoring runs through their first five games, scoring just 11 runs while hitting .183 as a team, the lowest batting average in the National League.
Still, Mendoza saw some encouraging signs on Thursday, particularly early in the game.
“I thought we had better bats, especially early in the game. The two-out double by [Francisco] Alvarez, we created some traffic, we had two guys on and [Francisco] Lindor hit a ball on the nose right at the second baseman,” he said. “I thought, overall, better at-bats throughout the game.”
With the loss, the Mets dropped to 0-5 for the first time since the 2005 season, but they’ll have a chance to secure their first win in the Thursday’s second game.
“We’ve just got to turn the page,” Mendoza said. “We’ve got another one here in 20 minutes, so back at it.”
