It was Game 66 two years ago when the Mets beat the Marlins to begin a seven-game winning streak that helped them get back to .500 before the end of June.
Tuesday night was Game 66 for this year’s Mets, and they once again proved that 2024 is becoming a distant memory.
Freddy Peralta, his velocity down, was knocked around for the fourth time in his past five starts, and the return of Francisco Alvarez didn’t help a slumbering offense, as the Mets fell 7-0 to St. Louis to open a six-game homestand at Citi Field.
They haven’t been within six games of .500 since May 21, and with Peralta showing no signs of turning into the frontline starter the Mets hoped he’d be when they acquired him from Milwaukee in the offseason, it’s hard to see where there’s reason for optimism in Queens.
At this point, the Mets have kicked away too many opportunities to expect to get back into the wild-card race.
“You never want to start that way,” Peralta said of the homestand. “I always come in positive, and coming from a win in the last game in San Diego, after a day off, we were expecting to start on the right foot. It went to the other side.”
That pretty much sums up a season in which the Mets now find themselves 5 ½ games back in the NL wild-card race, with seven teams to pass.
After the latest clunker, Carlos Mendoza said the team had to move on, something they’ve tried to do all season.
“We’ve done that,’’ the manager said. “We’ve got to turn the page quickly.”
Back in ’24, as much as their turnaround was tied to gimmicks like Grimace throwing out a first pitch (which was Game 66, incidentally) or José Iglesias’ OMG, it was really because of improved play, especially from Francisco Lindor.
The shortstop hasn’t played since April, and the Mets are running out of time for him to spark them once again.
Against the Cardinals, who have now won five straight and sit atop the wild-card standings, the Mets hardly looked like a team that had won seven of its previous 10 games.
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On offense, they squandered scoring chances in the second and fourth, while St. Louis took control of the game with a four-run third.
A.J. Ewing tried to spark the offense with a double just over first base with one out in the second, but Marcus Semien and Brett Baty struck out to end the inning.
St. Louis went ahead an inning later, as Peralta — who allowed a season-high six runs in six innings — walked Nolan Gorman and Nathan Church doubled to left. JJ Wetherholt followed with a two-run single to center.
Peralta then drilled Iván Herrera for the second time of the night.
After a strikeout by Alec Burleson, Jordan Walker doubled to left to drive in Wetherholt, and the Cardinals added another run when Herrera beat Marcus Semien’s delayed throw home from second to make it 4-0.
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The Mets had an opportunity to get back in the game in the fourth against Dustin May.
Juan Soto snapped an 0-for-16 skid with a one-out single, but Jared Young grounded into what was initially ruled an inning-ending double play.
A Mets challenge showed that Young beat the throw to first to extend the inning, and Ewing’s flare single to left put runners on first and second for Semien, who blasted a shot to center.
Church spun around twice on the play before making a desperate basket catch on the warning track to get May out of trouble.
Peralta then gave up a two-run homer to Burleson in the fifth, as his ERA rose to 4.05, the highest it’s been since April 18.
“I kept attacking, and they were really aggressive,’’ Peralta said.
Meanwhile, maybe Grimace is available for a return trip to Citi Field.
