Carlos Carrasco throws well, Pete Alonso homers but Mets fall to Cubs
Mets starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco stands on the mound after the Cubs scored during the fifth inning of an MLB game at Citi Field on Tuesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Right now, for the Mets, it’s about saving what you can.
So, though they dropped Tuesday’s game to the Cubs, 3-2 — their seventh loss in eight games — there were some meager signs of encouragement. Carlos Carrasco, who’ll be a free agent next season and likely won’t figure into the 2024 plans, at least put together a solid outing — something that could potentially make the next two months less miserable.
Phil Bickford and Trevor Gott, both under team control next season, were strong in relief (Drew Smith, who let up Mike Tauchman’s go-ahead solo homer in the eighth, was not).
And Pete Alonso homered, his 34th of the season, to provide all the Mets’ scoring.
At 51-62, they have a real shot at being in the picture for the draft lottery — a chance given to every team that misses the playoffs, but odds improve the worse your record gets. Since the team exceeded the $290 million competitive balance tax threshold, they’ll be penalized by having their 2024 draft pick drop 10 spots…unless they’re a top six lottery team.
But perhaps the most encouraging development came before a pitch was even thrown.
Starling Marte, who hit the 10-day injured list with a right groin strain Monday, received positive news Tuesday after consulting with the Philadelphia-based doctor who performed his double-groin surgery in the offseason, manager Buck Showalter said.
Marte had an injection in his groin Tuesday and is cleared to resume light activity, the team reported. There’ll be a further update in a few days, though Showalter said he didn’t know if it’s an issue he’ll need to continue to manage this year and beyond.
The outfielder was just three days removed from being reinstated from the IL because of migraines that cost him chunks of July and early August when he landed there again.
“We’re hoping this takes away some of the discomfort he’s had and he’s able to not be thinking about it,” Showalter said. “He’s been a pretty good player for a long time. It’s something we really missed this year compared to last year and I’m hoping he can come back and remind us of what he’s capable of doing.”
For a team looking to 2024 (maybe) and 2025 (definitely), that’s pivotal.
There’s some hope that a healthier Marte can eventually reclaim a glimmer of his 2022 All Star season — important since he’s signed through 2025. He’s hitting .248/.301/.324 this year — career lows in everything but on-base percentage — and saw his sprint speed drop to the 46th percentile in baseball this year after being in the 83rd percentile in 2021.
“I think you’ll see him play again this year,” Showalter said, later adding that he even hoped that Marte would be reinstated as soon as his 10 days were up. “It’ll be good to see him finish up strong knowing what the issue’s been . . . I think it’ll be good.”
The Mets were able to stake an early two-run lead off Cubs starter Jameson Taillon but managed a whole lot of nothing else in support of Carrasco, who had his strongest outing in a month.
Jeff McNeil singled off Taillon with one out in the first and, one batter later, Alonso teed off for a 419-foot shot to center for the 2-0 lead.
Carrasco, meanwhile, cruised for the first three-plus innings — until Cody Bellinger got a hold of an 88.2-mph changeup at the knees, rocketing it 398-feet to right center to cut the Mets lead to 2-1. The Cubs tied it in the fifth, when Christopher Morel walked, and Yan Gomes doubled him home.
That was it for Carrasco, who allowed the two runs on three hits with two walks and five strikeouts over five. It was his best outing since July 6, when he threw eight innings of scoreless ball against the Diamondbacks.
The Cubs finally broke the stalemate in the eighth against Smith, who served up a belt-high fastball that Tauchman blasted 392 feet to left to give them the 3-2 lead.
“Looking back on it, I would have loved it to be three inches higher,” said Smith, who scuffled in the first half of the season but appeared to be on the verge of a bounce back. “I’m back to pitching well again — except today, obviously, so I’m trying to ride that to the end of the year.”
The Mets threatened in the eighth and ninth, but McNeil grounded out to second with runners on the corners and two outs in the eighth, and Daniel Vogelback hit into a game-ending double play.
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
