Boos rain down at Citi Field as Mets nearly get no-hit while Guardians complete sweep

Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News on Aug 6, 2025

Published in Baseball

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NEW YORK — The Mets have hit rock bottom.

Relying on David Peterson to throw seven innings every 5-6 days while the rest of the rotation only goes five innings clearly isn’t an effective plan. But then again, nearly getting no-hit is also a pretty ineffective plan.

Right-hander Gavin Williams no-hit the Mets through 8 1/3 innings on Wednesday afternoon at Citi Field as the Cleveland Guardians completed a three-game sweep with a 4-1 win. Juan Soto finally ended the no-hit bid in the bottom of the ninth with a solo homer to straightaway center. It marked the end of 13 consecutive innings for the Mets without a hit, tied for the longest such streak in franchise history.

Amazin’.

“Obviously, he was really good today, using all of his pitches,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “But we also know that we’re better than that.”

The at-bats were noncompetitive, and the fans who showed up for an early afternoon contest booed the Mets off the field. Who could blame them? The team that had the best record in baseball for nearly a year has one of the worst records in baseball since June.

“It’s frustrating,” Soto said. “It’s frustrating for the offense, it’s frustrating for even the starters. We’ve just got to figure out the way.”

There isn’t a clear answer as to how to hit their way out of this. The Mets possess elite hitters who go up to the plate with a plan of action. The problem they see right now is an inability to make adjustments to how the lineup is being pitched.

“It’s hard to kind of just pinpoint one thing, but if you look at the game today or the past few days, we go in with a game plan and we haven’t been able to make adjustments as they make an adjustment to us as a whole, as a team,” Mendoza said. “Yes, individually, you’ve got to make some adjustments, but as a team, you’ve got to be able to recognize how they are attacking us, and we haven’t been able to do that today.”

Williams attacked them with a curveball below the zone. He went especially heavy on the curveball and mid-to-late 90s fastball against left-handed hitters, getting them to chase. He used the sinker and sweeper against right-handed hitters to induce weak contact.

The Mets understood this, yet weren’t able to react.

“I feel like not only today, but the past few weeks or so, we haven’t been able to do that,” Mendoza said. “Good-hitting teams are able to make those adjustments, and they’re able to [say], ‘All right, that’s how they’re attacking us. We’ve got to do this, we’ve got to flip the script here.’ And that’s where I think is the next step for us to be able to recognize that.”

This might be a trend at the moment, but it doesn’t account for the issues the club has had all season with run production, hitting with runners in scoring position and hitting left-handed pitching.

The Mets tend to look at their hitting and pitching plans in a very individualistic way. There isn’t one blanket approach or philosophy; instead, every hitter goes up to the plate with an approach and a plan tailored to their own strengths and weaknesses, and to the scouting report on the opposing pitcher.

How much are the hitters to blame and how much of it is coaching? It’s tough to tell. The hitters go up to the plate with a plan, then make adjustments as they see fit. The Mets (63-52) have to figure out whether the players aren’t understanding the plan, aren’t trusting it, or if it’s something else entirely.

“In general, it’s trusting their abilities, trusting their work, their preparation, going out there and competing and trusting your plan,” Mendoza said. “We’re not seeing conviction. So for me, we’ve just got to go out there with conviction, stick to your plan, stick to your approach. Yes, you’re going to make some adjustments, but have the conviction when you’re making those adjustments as well.”

Peterson went six innings, allowing four earned runs on five hits, walking two and striking out seven. The lefty gave up two home runs in the first three innings, a solo shot to David Fry in the second inning and a two-run home to Angel Martinez in the third. The Guardians pushed across another run in the sixth.

Peterson (7-5) did what he could. So too did relievers Reed Garrett and Justin Hagenman, who combined for three scoreless innings to give the Mets a chance to get back in the game.

“For me, missing on a couple pitches early, they’ve got good hitters over there and they were able to capitalize,” Peterson said. “That’s on me. Putting us in a hole early didn’t help. [Williams] was on his stuff as good as he could be for 8 2/3.”

Credit the Guardians (59-55) and Williams (7-4) for nearly accomplishing one of baseball’s more difficult feats. He threw 126 pitches, walked four and struck out six. The Citi Field faithful gave him a well-deserved, respectful ovation when he was removed, saving the boos for the team they showed up to cheer.