​NEW YORK — Francisco Lindor lingered on the infield dirt, his legs stretched out as he stared down at his glove. Devin Williams looked up at the sky, then delivered a fastball low and away with the bases loaded, allowing a run to score. Those manful but doomed moments framed the Mets’ growing sense of desperation as their promising performance before the All-Star break unraveled into another discouraging defeat. The Mets carried a two-run cushion into the ninth behind a dominant outing from Zach Thornton, only to see it slip away on a Lindor error and a blown save by Williams. They could not salvage the situation, falling 3-2 to the Red Sox in 10 innings Sunday afternoon before a crowd of 37,638 at Citi Field.
“It’s frustrating for everybody in the clubhouse, not just from the manager’s seat. Those guys want to win. This was a tough first half in many respects, and we have to take a level of ownership of ourselves, and every single person in that team has a responsibility to flip the script going into the second half,” the team conveyed.
In early July, the Mets found themselves in familiar patterns that plagued them throughout the first half—sloppy defense, erratic pitching, and a lack of consistent offense. Sunday’s defeat stood out as only the second time in 2026 that they entered the ninth inning with a lead in 34 games, underscoring how rare those leads have become. They exit the All-Star break with a 40-57 record, their worst mark since 2003, when they finished 66-96 after a season of struggles.
“It wasn’t good,” Lindor admitted. “Just not to the standard that we have here and definitely not what we expected. It comes down to execution.”
Lindor had supplied the Mets’ offense for most of the afternoon, delivering two runs on a first-inning RBI double and a sixth-inning solo homer to stake New York to a 2-0 advantage. The narrative shifted dramatically in the ninth when Williams, who had been dominant for much of the game, surrendered a bloop single to Cedanne Rafaela before recording the first out. Lindor then mishandled a sharp grounder by Romy Gonzalez for his fourth error of the season, preventing what could have been a routine double play.
“Just didn’t complete the play,” Mets manager Andy Green said. “I know who he is already, and he’ll take ownership over that. He has high expectations for himself, and I think we have confidence the ball goes back his way; that play is made going forward.”
Williams failed to retire the next two Red Sox batters, walking Tsu-Che Cheung on seven pitches and Andruw Monasterio on six, allowing the tying run to score and extending the game into extras. The Mets could not rally afterward, and Boston pushed across the decisive run in the 10th to complete the 3-2 comeback victory after Lindor’s costly error and Williams’ blown save. The stoppage left the Mets with a sense of unfulfilled potential as they headed into the break, a moment that underscored the need for a renewed focus and sharper execution to start the second half.