Mets' rally comes up short after Ryne Stanek's latest blown save in loss to Diamondbacks

Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News on Apr 30, 2025

Published in Baseball

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NEW YORK — Everything was going so well for the Mets.

Brandon Waddell, in his first MLB appearance in nearly four years, had delivered an unlikely gem, hurling 4 1/3 scoreless innings in relief against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

When Waddell exited with the bases empty and one out in seventh inning, the 30-year-old journeyman was in line for his long-awaited first MLB win.

But a feel-good finish was not in the cards.

Ryne Stanek blew his third consecutive save opportunity and the Mets’ late rally came up short in a 4-3 loss on Wednesday night at Citi Field.

The Mets (21-10) held a 1-0 lead when Stanek entered in relief of Waddell. He quickly recorded the second out of the seventh, but Lourdes Gurriel Jr. singled and Jorge Barrosa doubled to put a pair of runners in scoring position.

Pinch-hitter Geraldo Perdomo then sliced a 99-mph fastball from Stanek into left field on a 1-2 offering — just in front of a diving Jeff McNeil — to put Arizona up, 2-1.

Stanek also blew saves in his previous two appearances on Friday and Sunday in Washington. The right-hander took the loss on Wednesday, as he did in both games against the Nationals, to fall to 0-3. He allowed six runs (five earned) over 1 1/3 innings in those three games.

The Mets had a chance to answer in the bottom of the seventh after Tyrone Taylor led off with an infield single against left-handed reliever Jalen Beeks and stole second base.

But Francisco Lindor popped out for the first out; Juan Soto flew out for the second; and after reliever Kevin Ginkel walked Pete Alonso, he struck Mark Vientos out to escape the jam.

The Mets had another prime scoring opportunity in the ninth. Trailing 4-1, Taylor led off with a home run against reliever Justin Martinez to cut the deficit to two.

Lindor and Soto drew back-to-back walks, prompting Arizona to bring in side-winding right-hander Ryan Thompson, who plunked Alonso to load the bases with no outs.

Mark Vientos struck out, and Jesse Winker grounded out to first base, pushing across another run. After an intentional walk to McNeil, Francisco Alvarez grounded out to third to end the game.

The Mets finished 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position and left 13 on base. Soto finished 0 for 4 and is now 0 for 7 with two walks in the series.

The Mets’ late-inning shortcomings squandered a valiant effort by Waddell, who was called up from Triple-A Syracuse on Wednesday to provide length as the Mets deployed a bullpen game.

Waddell entered Wednesday with an 0-1 record and a 5.68 ERA over 11 career appearances with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles and St. Louis Cardinals. His last MLB appearance came on July 9, 2021, with St. Louis.

The left-hander pitched in Korea, Taiwan and Korea again from 2022-24 before signing a minor-league contract with the Mets in the offseason.

But he looked the part of a big leaguer on Wednesday.

After entering in the third inning in relief of opener Huascar Brazobán, who pitched two scoreless frames, Waddell held the Diamondbacks — MLB’s fifth-ranked offense — to three hits while striking out four.

Waddell outpitched Arizona ace Corbin Burnes, who limited the Mets to one run — a third-inning solo home run by Vientos — over six innings.

The Diamondbacks (16-14) tacked on their final two runs in the top of the ninth with back-to-back sacrifice flies by Barrosa and Perdomo against Chris Devenski, who was called up before Wednesday’s game as an injury replacement for Danny Young (elbow strain).

Wednesday was a far cry from the Mets’ previous three games, during which they averaged 11.3 runs per game and scored at least seven runs in each of them.

The loss evened the three-game series, which the Mets opened with an 8-3 win on Tuesday night.

Thursday afternoon’s finale pits Mets ace Kodai Senga (3-1, 1.26 ERA) against Arizona co-ace Zac Gallen (1-4, 5.57 ERA).

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