PHOENIX — If the Mets believe they can compete for a title in 2017, something may need to change. After Monday’s 7-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, their fifth straight defeat, the Mets’ glaring flaws were exposed yet again.
Zack Wheeler, arguably their best starting pitcher right now, turned in a stout performance, but he failed to record an out in the seventh inning, which was needed. This meant that the already strained Mets bullpen had to do more heavy lifting with a thin margin for error.
The result: the second straight game squandered in the eighth inning.