Well, just when you think things can’t get worse, you’re reminded this is the Mets.  Perhaps the biggest punchline of this season, maybe the past decade, was how the Mets BATTED OUT OF ORDER IN THE FIRST INNING!

Can someone send this down to the third base dugout? https://t.co/htjvJss5k1

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) May 9, 2018

Basically, the Mets skipped Asdrubal Cabrera, and Wilmer Flores took his spot striking out.  Cabrera, who was supposed to bat second, came up third and doubled.  That’s when Reds manager Jim Riggleman pointed out to the umpires the Mets were batting out of order.

Cabrera’s double was erased from the record books, and Jay Bruce, whose turn it was actually to bat, was ruled out.

Aside from making Mickey Callaway and bench coach Gary Disarcina looking completely incompetent, it really hurt the Mets because this game would prove to be a pitcher’s duel between Zack Wheeler and Sal Romano.

For his part, Wheeler was brilliant, and it was one of the better starts in his Mets career.  Over six innings, he limited to the Reds to just one run on four hits and three walks while he struck out seven.  He would only really face trouble in the first and the sixth.  He got out of the jam easily in the first, but he would not be able to escape the sixth.

The sixth inning Reds rally started with a leadoff walk to Jesse Winker.  He’d come around to score after a Jose Peraza bunt single.  You could get on Wilmer Flores all you like, but he had no shot on this, and really no one does whenever Peraza lays one down as he is the Major League leader in bunt hits with six.

Joey Votto would follow with an RBI single, and the Mets and Wheeler were teetering.  While it was not pretty, Wheeler deserves credit for buckling down and getting the last three outs of that inning without allowing another run.

Unfortunately, that rally tied the score 1-1 because the Mets just blew opportunity after opportunity after opportunity.

After the aforementioned blunder in the first inning, Michael Conforto hit a one out double that Adrian Gonzalez could not score.  They stood idly by as Wheeler struck out, and Amed Rosario grounded out to the catcher.

In the third, the Mets did actually score.  Brandon Nimmo hit a leadoff triple, and with the team hitting in the correct batting order, Cabrera drove him home with an RBI groundout.

In the fifth, the Mets had runners at first and second with one out only to see Cabrera and Flores come up short. From there, the Mets would little to nothing at the plate, which coupled with some strong work out of the bullpen from Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo, both of whom have had recent multiple inning relief appearances, bore down and pitched a scoreless seventh through ninth.

At this point, it is important to note the Mets had called up Corey Oswalt to help out with an overworked bullpen.  They did this despite his being on three days rest yesterday.  As a result, the Mets called up a guy they would be hesitant to use making calling him up in the first place a complete waste of transaction.

As a result, in the tenth inning, Callaway went with AJ Ramos for his second straight game and third time in four days.  Callaway went with Ramos instead of going with Jeurys Familia, who was presumably being saved for a save situation.  This is a far departure from Callaway’s overtures early in the season when he said he was going to use his best reliever in the highest leverage situations.

Well, that save situation Callaway was waiting for never materialized as Adam Duvall hit a walk off homer off Ramos.

As a result, the Mets dropped to 18-17 after losing a series to the worst team in the National League.  This is a far cry from the who went 12-2 and were world beaters.  Now, they are just getting beaten up by the world.

Game Notes: Luis Guillorme was called-up from Tripe-A, and Tomas Nido was sent down.  Guillorme would not appear in the game.  Devin Mesoraco started his first game for the Mets, and he was 0-4 with two strikeouts.