Frustration mounting as Buck earns 1st Mets ejection

CINCINNATI -- Frustration continues to mount for the Mets as they dropped their 12th game in the last 15 contests with a 7-6 loss to the Reds on Tuesday at Great American Ball Park.

Things hit a boiling point in the bottom of the fifth inning when manager Buck Showalter argued about an apparent interference call and ultimately earned his first ejection in two seasons with the Mets.

With New York down three runs and a runner on first, Kevin Newman was jammed and hit a soft one-hopper up the middle, which shortstop Francisco Lindor tried to field. But while sliding into second, Wil Myers appeared to slap Lindor’s glove and hit the ball, allowing both runners to reach safely.

But because judgment calls such as interference and live baseballs hitting runners are not subject to replay review, the Mets had no recourse beyond Showalter animatedly pleading his case. The manager’s pleas fell on deaf ears, though, as he walked off the field, ejected for the 34th time in 22 seasons, signaling that all four umpires missed the call.

“I just saw it differently,” Showalter said. “It’s pretty obvious what it was, but it’s hard to imagine four guys not being able to see what happened. There’s about three ways you can get that play right. We had opportunities for that to not matter. We just didn’t pitch very well early on.”

The Reds built a three-run lead on starter David Peterson, whom the Mets called up earlier in the day to fill in for an injured Max Scherzer. The bullpen faltered as well, as Stephen Nogosek could not stop the bleeding and gave up a two-run triple to TJ Friedl after the ejection and a sacrifice fly to Jonathan India two batters later.

Still, it felt like an avoidable problem for the Mets, who might have allowed two fewer runs in that inning had Myers been ruled out at second.

“It’s an unfortunate situation, because the game is going so fast and there’s so many different rules and so many different plays that the umpires can’t do it themselves,” Lindor said. “They need replay. The replay is there for a reason. I would like for plays like that to be reviewable, anything in front of them can be reviewed. We have a system for a reason. I can’t blame the umpires for getting that call wrong, even though they got it wrong, because the game is going very fast. Get help from the cameras, slow the game down and see if there’s a way of making the right call.”

If there’s any silver lining for the Mets, it’s that Showalter’s ejection may have helped ignite the offense. The Mets hit four home runs for the first time this season, including two from MLB Pipeline top prospect Francisco Álvarez, who became the fifth-youngest catcher since 1900 to have a multihomer game.

Lindor and first baseman Pete Alonso also went deep, and the bullpen threw three scoreless innings at the end to give the Mets a chance to pull off the comeback. And they nearly did, loading the bases in the eighth until pinch-hitter Luis Guillorme struck out. But there were pieces there for the Mets to build on once they move past this controversial call.

“Did we lose the game because of it? I’m not sure,” Lindor said. “I can’t really say we lost the game on that specific play. There’s a back-hand ball [in the second inning] that I didn’t get to, and the run scores. There are different plays that happen throughout the game that could’ve cost us the game. But for me, as a defensive player, it is very difficult to watch. But as a professional athlete, we have to be able to turn the page and not focus on the umpires. We have to stay in the moment and get the next guy out.”