Mets drop fourth straight, fall to .500 and 3 1/2 games behind Atlanta

SAN FRANCISCO — The 2021 Mets have never been further from the playoffs than they are now.

They lost to the Giants, 7-5, on Monday night to open a critical seven-game West Coast road trip, a week that can’t end their season but threatens to be awfully influential.

A fourth consecutive loss meant the third-place Mets’ division deficit is their largest of the year: 3 1⁄2 games behind Atlanta, which won again Monday. It also dropped the Mets to .500 — at 59-59 — for the first time since May 6.

After the games of July 28, the Mets (54-46) had a five-game lead over Atlanta (50-52). Since then, the Mets have gone 5-13 and Atlanta has gone 13-4.

"We don’t really think about .500. We don’t really think about our record," said J.D. Davis, who went 3-for-4. "We’re more into just winning ballgames. That’s just the biggest thing. Trying to get back into this, trying to get a snowball effect on the winning side. But none of us are really going in there thinking about our record."

The Mets rallied against Tyler Rogers — with Jonathan Villar’s two-run homer and Brandon Drury’s single — to bring the would-be tying run to the plate in the eighth. But Brandon Nimmo struck out and Michael Conforto grounded out to end the threat.

The Mets went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left nine runners on base, but manager Luis Rojas said he liked their approach in such situations. "We need to carry over our offense like this to the next games if we want to win those games," he said.

The runs that wound up deciding the game came in the bottom of the seventh against righthander Trevor May, who gave up back-to-back rocketed home runs by pinch hitter Brandon Belt and Kris Bryant (his second of the night). The Giants added another run when Brandon Crawford tripled to drive in Evan Longoria (walk). Crawford went 4-for-4.

May had been excellent since the All-Star break — posting a 1.59 ERA in a dozen games — but has allowed three runs in each of his past two outings. After Crawford’s triple, Rojas visited the mound with pitching coach Jeremy Hefner and an athletic trainer. Rojas said May’s foot was cramping.

"Just didn’t execute," Rojas said. "The stuff was there, up to 97 [mph] with his fastball. He’s got his slider, got his changeup in the mix . . . A team that’s leading the majors in homers, you can get hurt if you leave pitches out there over the middle."

Rich Hill gave up two runs and six hits in 3 2⁄3 innings, striking out two and walking none. He cruised before allowing five consecutive hits in the fourth inning, motivating Rojas to pull him in favor of Miguel Castro.

Buster Posey doubled and scored on a single by Darin Ruf, whom Mets fans might remember as an OK Phillies player for much of the last decade (who revitalized his career in South Korea and returned stateside with San Francisco last season). Former Met Wilmer Flores, Hill’s final batter, also had an RBI single.

"Unfortunately, I didn’t do my job," said Hill, who has a 4.99 ERA in five games with the Mets. "That’s the part that sucks."

Giants righthander Kevin Gausman — among the best pitchers in the National League this year — was unusually hittable. The Mets reached him for three runs and five hits in five innings, putting at least one runner on base in each frame. He struck out seven and walked two.

Despite all the action on the basepaths, the Mets didn’t score until the fifth on Pete Alonso’s tying two-run triple to right-center — the team’s first three-bagger in 69 games. Dominic Smith’s sacrifice fly briefly put the Mets ahead.

"Overall, I liked how our offense was," Rojas said, "even though we failed to deliver a big hit again with runners in scoring position."