How an otherwise confidence-building performance unraveled for the Mets in a loss

NEW YORK — Inside a fourth straight loss and another unfathomable blow-up, there's a glimmer. It's hard to see. It's clouded by Reed Garrett's disastrous eighth inning.

Garrett gave up five earned runs, including a go-ahead grand slam to Patrick Bailey in the frame, as the Mets' misery extended one more game in a 8-7 loss in front of 26,658 fans on Friday night at Citi Field.

It began with a slow ground ball by Mike Yastrzemski that collided with third base to remain fair and continued with a bloop single by Marco Luciano that fell between Starling Marte and Jeff McNeil in shallow right field.

An RBI double by Thairo Estrada got the Giants back within three runs and Garrett loaded the bases with a walk to Matt Chapman. Then, Bailey belted a 2-0 fastball over the right-center field wall to boost the Giants ahead for the remainder of the game.

"The balls that are getting put in play, I thought I executed some pitches at the beginning of the inning, and I let it kind of snowball out of control," Garrett said. "I didn't do my job and let the team down. I'm not really happy about that."

It continued an abysmal stretch for the Mets, who blew a three-run lead over the Guardians on Wednesday and a four-run lead against the Marlins on May 19 as part of their 2-6 road trip. The Mets dropped to 21-29 with the loss.

"They're gonna continue to fight," Carlos Mendoza said. "I just told them that. There's some individual conversations, relying on the coaching staff to make sure we stay positive, even though it's hard right now. We'll continue to show up, continue to work and continue to compete. We'll get through it."

Another grand collapse shrouded what could have been a confidence-infusing result for the Mets. Here's what could bring some positivity for the Mets despite another agonizing result:

Christian Scott gets dialed back in

Christian Scott will have to wait for his first major-league win despite hurling his third quality start in his fourth outing of his career.

Scott made one clear mistake, hanging a slider to Jorge Soler, which the Giants designated hitter belted for a solo home run to left-center field. A triple off the bat of Marco Luciano, who slipped out of the reach of Marte along the right-field line, giving the Giants a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth inning.

But then Scott retired the next 12 batters in order, including striking out the side in the top of the fifth inning on all fastballs.

"I think towards the end of the outing, especially after the third inning, (I) really established strike one," Scott said. "I got behind a little bit in the first three innings. In order to get outs this level, you're gonna have to get ahead and stay ahead."

Scott finished with two earned runs allowed on two hits and one walk with four strikeouts across six innings. He got his fastball back in the zone after struggling with his best pitch when he allowed four earned runs on seven hits in his previous outing against the Marlins.

Friday's quality start helped Scott lower his ERA to 3.97.

"He was really good. The fastball had life," Mendoza said. "The way he was getting swing and misses. I thought he was having a hard time glove-side early, but he made some adjustments. As the game went on, I thought he got better."

Edwin Diaz getting right

The sound of the trumpets did not begin until Edwin Diaz had already reached the mound. The Citi Field crowd did not catch on about who was coming on in the seventh inning.

As the Mets looked to get their closer back in form after he had given up seven earned runs and blown three leads in his last three outings, Mendoza deployed him in an unfamiliar time. The Mets held a 5-2 advantage.

Diaz, who had not appeared since giving up four earned runs in a 10-9 loss on May 18, inspired some confidence that he's working back to his pre-injury form, tossing a scoreless inning with two strikeouts and one hit allowed.

"If I can throw my fastball down and in to lefties and slider on the same path, I will have good results," said Diaz, who put in some work in the Cleveland bullpen before Friday's return. "That's what I did today. I threw my fastball really good and my slider was really good today."

In the first at-bat, Diaz fanned Matt Chapman on a 91 mph slider. Then, after giving up a bloop single to Bailey, the Mets closer induced a deep fly ball from Jorge Soler before striking out Heliot Ramos on a high 99 mph fastball.

Mendoza called it a "good step in the right direction" and would consider putting him back in the closer role.

"I like what I saw today, especially the conviction," Mendoza said. "That's what it comes down to, the confidence of Edwin. And when he's right, he's pretty nasty"

The offense showing power

For the third straight game, the Mets sent three balls over the fence but had nothing to show for it.

J.D. Martinez and Mark Vientos rose the crowd to their feet with back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the fifth inning off Giants starter Kyle Harrison, and Pete Alonso added his 12th home run of the season off reliever Nick Avila in the top of the seventh to give the Mets a 6-2 lead.

This one was not on the offense.

In the bottom of the ninth inning down two runs against Giants closer Camilo Doval, Francisco Lindor ripped an RBI single to get the Mets within 7-6. Alonso reached on an error and Brandon Nimmo, who stayed in the game despite being hit in the side of the helmet, was walked intentionally to load the bases.

With two outs, Vientos sent a chopper down the third-base line that was bare-handed by Matt Chapman and thrown to first base to record the final out in dramatic fashion.

"We're going through a rough time right now as a team but there are still things to celebrate inside of here," Nimmo said. "I really felt like the guys fought really, really well tonight. We almost came back and won that game and took it away from them."

The Mets' offense is showing signs. Alonso is on a nine-game hitting streak with three home runs, four RBI and five runs during that stretch. Vientos is 8-for-25 (.320) with two home runs, four doubles, four RBI and six runs since his return. Lindor has four multi-hit performances in his last five games.

But on Friday, it was the bullpen that caved.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Mets: How a strong performance unraveled in loss to Giants