Mets break 12-game losing streak, worst since 2002, with win over Twins

The New York Mets’ season-derailing losing streak is over after 12 games, with a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Twins.

The skid had been New York’s worst since the 2002 season, and pushed their record into the bottom of the MLB standings. They are now 8-16, with a weight off their back but still plenty of work to do if they want to make the playoffs.

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If they do, they will be the first team in MLB history to make the postseason after losing 12 games in a row in the same season.

The Mets had some reason for hope Wednesday would be the day. It was the day they got franchise superstar Juan Soto back — even if he raised some eyebrows while discussing his communication with his teammates during the streak. He ended up going 1-for-3 with a walk.

Instead, the game’s drama primarily came from first baseman Mark Vientos, one of many bats who have struggled in the first few weeks of the season. It appeared in the sixth inning that he would be the goat of the game, squandering a scoring chance with an ill-advised attempt at scoring from first on a double by Marcus Semien.

Replay showed he blew clear through a stop sign from Mets third base coach Tim Leiper.

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However, Vientos got his redemption in the eighth inning, via bloop single to score the winning run.

On the pitching side, starting pitcher Clay Holmes was solid across 7 innings of work, with 5 hits allowed, 2 runs (both earned), 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. Brooks Raley and Luke Weaver took over from their and kept the Twins off the board.

The team did not use closer Devin Williams, whose ninth-inning meltdown on Tuesday extended the streak.

It wasn’t all good for the Mets, though. They did get Soto back, but also watched star shortstop Francisco Lindor leave the game with left calf tightness in the fifth inning. He appeared to hurt something while rounding the bases in the previous frame.

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The Mets now face a difficult but not impossible task. Their losing streak exposed some major issues, but they are a team with plenty of talent — hundreds of millions of dollars worth — and still have more than five months to erase an 8.5 game deficit in the NL East, where the Atlanta Braves currently lead.

A simple playoff appearance, the bare minimum for a team with this balance sheet, is still attainable according to the world of quantitative analysis. Baseball Prospectus currently pegs them as having playoff odds of 43.7%, while Fangraphs has them at 40.6%. In Vegas, BetMGM gives them +375 odds to win the division as of Wednesday evening.