​The Mets dropped the opener of this weekend series at Citi Field, 6-2, to the Red Sox. The game stayed tight for much of the night, but despite the Mets piling up ten hits, they were unable to string them together into a sustained rally and never managed to seize the lead.
The Red Sox took an early bite out of the Mets defensively in the bottom of the first when Juan Soto misplayed a ball in left field to open the frame, allowing Anthony Seigler to reach second. A bunt from Ceddanne Rafaela moved Seigler to third, and a walk to Wilyer Abreu loaded the bases with one out. Nolan McLean bounced back by fanning Romy González, but Masataka Yoshida followed with a line-drive double down the left-field line that proved awkward for Soto to reach. The ball skimmed off the bottom of the tarp in foul territory and slowed to a halt, forcing Soto to chase it down. By the time he retrieved it, both runners had crossed the plate, giving Boston an early 2-0 cushion before McLean fielded Caleb Durbin’s groundout to end the inning.
Sonny Gray settled in after being given the two-run cushion, delivering a clean first inning, while McLean settled into a solid rhythm, finishing six innings with two unearned runs allowed on seven strikeouts and two walks. The Mets squandered multiple chances to swing momentum in their favor. They almost exploited a similar miscue to Boston’s in the bottom of the second, when Wilyer Abreu misread a Jared Young fly ball to right, letting it drop for a double with two outs. Francisco Álvarez, however, grounded out to end the frame.
In the third, Mark Vientos sparked a Mets rally with a single and a stolen base to put himself in scoring position. Zack Short followed with a walk, and A.J. Ewing hit a grounder to the right side that the Red Sox could only manage to get the out at first, keeping Ewing from being doubled up and loading the bases with one out. Juan Soto then delivered a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Vientos and bringing New York within one run. The throw from the cutoff man, Caleb Durbin, to second base was mishandled, allowing Ewing to advance to third on the errant throw. Francisco Lindor lifted a deep fly to left, but it was not deep enough to bring in the run, and the inning ended with the Mets still down by a single run.
Two crucial replay decisions dominated the top of the fourth. With two outs, Nolan McLean struck Connor Wong, but the throw to second to attempt a tag was declared a stolen-base attempt and overturned on replay, ruling Wong out. On the following at-bat, Tsung-Che Cheng singled and Carson Benge followed with a sharp plate-ward throw that nabbed Wong at the plate after his initial call of safe. A challenge by the Mets overturned the initial ruling, and Wong was ruled out, keeping the Red Sox’ lead at one. Benge then opened the bottom half with a single, stole second, and helped set the stage for further action, continuing his strong work in the inning.
As the game wore on, the Mets collected ten hits but could not plate enough runs to seize control. The Red Sox expanded their lead with a series of timely hits and added insurance runs, finishing the night at 6-2. The Mets will look to rebound in the remaining games of the series, hoping to translate a productive offensive night into a win.