Sproat shines in debut, but Mets know they've got to turn up heat

CINCINNATI -- Given a chance to bury the Reds in the National League Wild Card race on Sunday, the Mets instead allowed them to keep their slim postseason hopes alive.

That’s not the end of the world; even after their 3-2 loss at Great American Ball Park, the Mets maintained a four-game lead over the Reds, D-backs and Giants, their closest competitors in the NL. With 19 to play, it’s a sizable advantage. Entering the day, the Mets held a 95.2 percent chance of holding onto a playoff spot, according to FanGraphs projections. A single loss, even to one of the teams chasing them, won’t affect those odds much.

Still, the Mets know they’ll need to play better if they want to replicate last year’s deep run through October.

“I believe we’re in a good spot, but we’ve got to continue to win games,” shortstop Francisco Lindor said. “If we want to accomplish what we started the year with in mind, we’ve got to start winning games.”

The good news for the Mets is that their young starting pitchers are offering hope not just for a better future, but a better present.

Sproat (mostly) shines
None of the first 19 batters to face Brandon Sproat in his Major League debut on Sunday recorded hits. Then the next three Reds in a row all did, dampening an otherwise encouraging outing for the rookie.

That’s not to say Sproat was flawless before those hits; he walked four batters over the first five innings, allowing one run on a sacrifice fly. But that was the only damage against Sproat until Noelvi Marte dumped a clean single into right field to break up his early no-hit bid with one out in the sixth. The next batter, Elly De La Cruz, ripped an RBI double to the gap, and Austin Hays followed with a hard-hit run-scoring single.

Sproat did manage to strike out the next two batters to end his afternoon, finishing with seven punchouts in six innings.

“He actually had some pretty good stuff,” Reds manager Terry Francona said.

“I thought it was really good,” added Sproat. “I didn’t have my best stuff out there but went out and competed for the team.”

The organization’s fifth-ranked prospect, Sproat became the third high-profile Mets pitching prospect to debut over the past month, joining third-ranked Nolan McLean and fourth-ranked Jonah Tong. Mets officials expect all three to continue making starts throughout September and potentially into October.

Through seven combined outings, that trio is 5-2 with a 2.49 ERA. McLean, who’s undefeated through four starts, has contributed the lion’s share of the success. If Sproat and Tong can continue to prove they belong as well, the Mets’ short-term future could brighten along with their longer-term pitching prospects.

“There’s a ton of talent up here, a ton of talent in the Minors,” Sproat said. “Seeing what Nolan’s done so far, it’s incredible. Seeing Jonah’s debut, that’s incredible as well. … I think the Mets have a great farm system, and they do things right. So I think there’s a bright future for us.”

Not-so-comeback kids
Although the Mets have featured Major League Baseball’s top offense over the past five weeks or so, correcting so many of the flaws that ailed them early this season, they’ve been unable to fix one particular problem: They are 0-59 when trailing after eight innings.

That’s an unfathomable statistic for an offense this potent. On Sunday, Juan Soto hit a one-out solo homer in the ninth to halve Cincinnati’s two-run lead, and the Mets put their next two runners on base as well. But Starling Marte hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end things, and for the 59th time this season, that was that.

Asked afterward about the Mets’ inability to string together ninth-inning comebacks, Lindor could not come up with an answer.

“It’s hard to explain,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “With the type of offense that we’ve got, you would think that we should be able to get to some of their bullpen. But I’m pretty sure we’ll get someone here. We’re too good. We’re creating traffic. We just haven’t been able to get that big one late in games.”