Bautista's run all Mets manage behind Wheeler

NEW YORK -- The Mets' acquisition of José Bautista on Tuesday, and their promise of playing time to him, was an open acknowledgement of a withering lineup. Since the start of May, only one big league club has scored fewer runs per game than the Mets. Since Opening Day, no team has posted a lower OPS against left-handed pitching. Perhaps Bautista, even at age 37, could fix that.
He could not, however, singlehandedly solve the Mets' issues his first night on the job. Bautista settled for the Mets' first hit Tuesday and their only run in a 5-1 loss to the Marlins, which snapped New York's four-game winning streak.
"It can only improve at this point," Callaway said of the Mets' offense against left-handed pitchers. "I don't think it's any secret that we haven't performed very well against left-handed starters."
• Bautista's day starts in Fla., ends in Mets' lineup

After Bautista doubled and crossed home against lefty Caleb Smith in the second inning, the Mets did not put another runner in scoring position until the eighth. By that time they were losing by four runs, in large part because of Derek Dietrich's two-run homer off AJ Ramos.
• Bautista was a Met in '04 ... and didn't realize it
Zack Wheeler allowed three runs in six innings, but two were unearned because of a José Reyes throwing error -- one of two Reyes miscues in the game. From that point forward, Wheeler was dominant, retiring 13 of 15 with nine strikeouts. But his offense could not take him off the hook for a loss.

"I always take pride in just sort of shutting down the inning when they get runners on," said Wheeler, who holds a 1.38 ERA against the Marlins and a 6.97 mark against everyone else. "I've had a little trouble this year with that, but that's something I pride myself in, just bearing down. You've got to step up and try to help the team."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
After Wheeler allowed hits to each of the first three batters in the second inning, Reyes misplayed a sacrifice bunt to load the bases, fielding it off the grass and glancing at second base before throwing wildly to first. Wheeler retired the next batter but could not set down J.T. Realmuto, whose soft ground ball back up the middle -- the first of Realmuto's three hits -- plated a pair.
"At this point in my career, I don't get frustrated at all," said Reyes, who is batting .145 with a .403 OPS. "That's the only thing I can control. I can't get frustrated now. I've been in this game for a long time. Why am I going to get frustrated?"

SOUND SMART
Mets pitchers struck out nine or more batters for the seventh straight game, matching the second-longest streak in franchise history. The club record is eight straight games, set in 2016. Each of the Mets' three longest streaks have come in the past four seasons.
HE SAID IT
"One of my wildest [days] in baseball. I was sitting at home on my couch at 2 o'clock, and at 6:30 I was walking in the clubhouse." -- Bautista, who arrived at Citi Field less than an hour before first pitch

UP NEXT
Jacob deGrom lost his scoreless-innings streak in his last outing, but that was a small consolation for one of the National League's best pitchers. deGrom will put his 4-0 record and 1.75 ERA on the line when he squares off against right-hander Dan Straily in a 7:10 p.m. ET game Wednesday against the Marlins at Citi Field.