QUEENS — In what has become an all-too-familiar result in recent weeks amidst the doldrums of Queens, Trevor Gott and Drew Smith combined to blow a one-run lead in the final two innings as the Arizona Diamondbacks came back to defeat the New York Mets 4-3 on Monday night at Citi Field.
Up 3-2 following an eventful fourth inning, Gott was called upon in the eighth where he allowed a lead-off solo home run to Tommy Pham — the punctuation of a big night for the former Met who was traded away at the Aug. 1 deadline to Arizona. He went 3-for-5 with a double to go with that home run.
With the game tied in the ninth, Smith continued his poor run of form by yielding what proved to be a game-winning double to Kettel Marte, scoring pinch-hitter Akil Thomas from first after left fielder Jeff McNeil made a mess of fielding the ball down the line.
For Smith, it was the fifth run that he allowed in his last 1.2 innings of work. He was torched for four on Saturday against the Minnesota Twins and has a 7.44 ERA over his last 13 appearances.
“A lot of guys are having trouble getting clean innings,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said. “It’s been a challenge.”
The Mets (65-78) nearly bounced back to tie it in the ninth. Ronny Mauricio reached first on a lead-off walk, moved to second on a Brett Baty sacrifice bunt, and then proceeded to steal third to put the equalizing run 90 feet away with just one out. But pinch-hitter Daniel Vogelbach struck out and following an Omar Narvaez walk, Brandon Nimmo flew out to center field to end it.
The Diamondbacks took an initial 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning on Mets starter Jose Quintana behind an Evan Longoria RBI single and an Emmanuel Rivera sacrifice fly. But the Mets punched back with three runs of their own in eh bottom of the frame. Jeff McNeil lined his eighth home run of the season to halve the deficit and Mauricio gave the Mets the lead with a two-run double.
Quintana went five innings, allowing those two runs on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts. He’s been strong in his first 10 starts as a Met after recovering from rib surgery, posting a 3.05 ERA.
“He was good again,” Showalter said. “Very competitive… I’m proud of him. He’s a competitive guy… that’s a tough lineup for a left-handed pitcher.
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