BOSTON — It’s definitely not April anymore.
Last month, the Mets could do almost no wrong and when they did, they were able to overcome their own mistakes with hustle plays and resilient comebacks. Now, they’re facing the adversity they always knew would come.
Kodai Senga gave up three earned runs for the first time since 2023 and the Mets failed to capitalize with runners in scoring position in a 3-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Monday night at Fenway Park.
The Mets (29-18) have gone 5-5 over their last 10 games and their NL East lead is suddenly in danger.
Following a weekend of rumors about Soto’s supposed unhappiness with the Mets, the right fielder was once again in the spotlight. In the top of the seventh with the Mets down 3-1, he teed off on left-hander Justin Wilson (2-0) to lead off the sixth, sending a pitch nearly 350 feet to the Green Monster.
But as Soto watched what he thought was a no-doubt home run, the doubt came.
The ball started to fade and it banked off the wall for what should have been a double. Soto had to sprint to get to first, settling for a long single. He made up for it by swiping second base. Soto was also criticized for not running hard out of the box Sunday in the Bronx in a loss to the Yankees. It wasn’t a good look for a player who is already the subject of intense scrutiny.
People around the Mets think the narrative that Soto is miserable is ridiculous. The right fielder doesn’t take his own plane to games, as Karl Ravech said on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball broadcast. Soto has traveled with the team to every road series this season, including to Boston. There is no indication that he dislikes his teammates in Queens, and he is well-respected in the clubhouse.
The rumors are something Soto and the Mets will have to live with this season.
Soto went 1-for-3. Tyrone Taylor and Francisco Alvarez each went 2-for-3 with a double.
Senga (4-3) faced heavy traffic but managed to keep the damage somewhat minimal. He got out of a fourth-inning, bases-loaded jam but he would have been out earlier had it not been for a bad flip by first baseman Pete Alonso. An error Sunday night by Alonso proved costly, and he blamed himself for a loss to the Yankees.
Coming into the series, Senga was putting up Cy Young Award-caliber numbers with a 1.02 ERA. The Red Sox ambushed him, swinging early in counts and swinging at his forkball. Rattled from the start, he took ball 1 before even throwing a pitch because of a forgotten PitchCom. Senga then gave up a leadoff double to Jarren Duran, walked Rafael Devers and threw a wild pitch to advance the runners to second and third.
Boston (24-25) went up 2-0 in the first and 3-0 in the second.
Senga recovered, going on to pitch six innings, retiring the final seven hitters he faced.
The Mets cut it to 2-1 in the third with the bottom of the order combining for a run. They had two on against right-hander Hunter Dobbins, but he got Soto to ground into a double play to end the inning.
It was the ninth time this season Soto grounded into a double play; he did that only 10 times last season.
The Mets had chances in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, but the Red Sox made the right bullpen moves and escaped unscathed.
https://www.nydailynews.com/2025/05/19/mets-red-sox-mlb-gamer-kodai-senga-juan-soto-jarren-duran/