
Sabres surge in 3rd for 1st playoff win in 15 years
Buffalo Sabres achieve first playoff victory in 15 years, defeating the Bruins 4-3!
The Mets suffered their 11th consecutive loss after a late-game collapse against the Cubs. Manager Carlos Mendoza emphasized the need for the team to improve their performance and find a way to turn things around.
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It looked like the Mets were going to end their nightmare for a moment on Sunday afternoon in Chicago. But then things took another turn for the worse as Devin Williams blew the save and the Cubs walked it off in the bottom of the tenth inning, handing New York its 11th straight loss.
After the crushing defeat, manager Carlos Mendoza discussed the "tough stretch" the team is going through.
"Yeah it's tough, it's tough, especially when you're going through it," Mendoza said. "You feel like you got to the ninth inning feeling good, but I mean when you're playing in one-run games you have to be perfect and it's hard to play like that. It's a tough stretch right now."
The Mets had opportunities to tack on to their 1-0 lead, but finished the game 1-for-9 with RISP and left six on base. Mendoza noted how New York wasn't "impacting the baseball as a team" and "didn't hit many balls hard" on Sunday, something that's become regular during their losing streak.
When asked if it's getting "late" to turn things around, Mendoza said the team needs to "find a way" soon.
"11 losses, that's a lot, whether it's in April or at any point in the season," Mendoza said. "Nobody's going to feel sorry for us. We've got to find a way. Off day tomorrow and back at it Tuesday."
Francisco Lindor had one of the scoring opportunities in the sixth inning after Luis Torrens hit a leadoff double, but the shortstop struck out to end the inning. He said it isn't "a good feeling" to have this long of a losing streak and took accountability for the lack of production, adding that they all need to do a better job of executing in the clutch moments.
"This feeling sucks. It's not a good feeling," Lindor said. "You said it, we're professionals, and we got to find a way out of it. We got to do whatever it takes to end up on top after 27 outs and sometimes 30 outs. It's not a good feeling. But, no one here is hanging their heads, everybody has their heads held high and they're fighting for each other.
"Today, they played a good game, but I came up in situations to drive runners in and didn't do that. It came down to last two outs, I think when I get guys in scoring position, I don't drive them in, I don't help the team that way, it can come back. But what it comes down to is me executing, and all of us executing. Like you said, we are professionals and this is what we get paid to do so I got to be better."
Lindor reiterated that they need to execute on the field, knowing only they can fix the problems on the field.
"We got to bring it," Lindor said. "We got to continue to bring it day in and day out. No one's going to feel sorry for us. We can't feel sorry for ourselves. We've got to bring it."
The Mets lost after Devin Williams blew a save, leading to a walk-off victory for the Cubs in the bottom of the tenth inning.
Carlos Mendoza described the team's performance as a 'tough stretch,' noting they are struggling to impact the baseball and finish games effectively.
The Mets finished the game 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left six runners on base, highlighting their offensive struggles.
Mendoza acknowledged the urgency, stating the team needs to 'find a way' to improve soon as the situation is becoming critical.

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Having been in New York for six seasons now, Lindor understands the outside noise is going to continue until the team strings together some wins. He said they have to keep fighting and not let it distract them.
"Fight for each other, stick for each other," Lindor said. "What Mendy has said from day one, protect the house. It's going to get loud. It's going to get very loud. And ultimately, everyone here knows it and we've just got to stick together and stay within ourselves and fight, fight."
The All-Star agreed that having an 11-game losing streak is shocking, but said they have to forget in order to improve moving forward.
"Yeah, 100 percent. We have a tremendous team. David Stearns put a good team together, but this shows that nobody really cares," Lindor said. "We've got to go out there and get it done and this past week-and-a-half, we haven't gotten it done. It's a bad feeling, but we got to turn the page. I've always said this, whether we win or lose, look at it for a little bit and then turn the page and focus on what we have in front of us."
David Peterson, who tossed 3.2 scoreless innings on Sunday, and Williams both agreed with Lindor that the losing streak is on the players, not the coaches or front office.
"It's on everyone. We're in this together," Peterson said. "Everyone has a part in this and we've got to stick together. Everyone's got to take responsibility and accountability. We all need to look in the mirror and see what we can do better to help this team move in the right direction. That's the job. Like I said, come back ready to go on Tuesday, fight like hell, and play our brand of baseball."
"It's tough to explain," Williams added. "This is one of the most talented locker rooms in the league. We just can't seem to string it together right now."
Lindor was also asked how getting star Juan Soto back from the injured list soon could help the Mets out of their slump, but again, said it's not on one player to be the savior as they all need to execute at the plate and defensively.
"I mean, like I said earlier, Soto is irreplaceable and having him back is going to help us a lot," Lindor said. "Hopefully he is back [soon]. Top three hitters in the league probably, top two? So yeah he's going to help us a ton. He's going to lengthen our lineup.
"Even when he comes, we've still got to get it done. It would be unfair to just throw everything on him. As a team we got to come together and execute, that's what it's going to come down to."
New York will have Monday off to regroup and find a way to win on Tuesday when they start a three-game series back home against the Minnesota Twins.