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Royals defeat Mets, 3-2, ahead of All-Star break

KANSAS CITY — The Mets fell into a similar pattern over the weekend against the Kansas City Royals, failing to produce offense in the early or middle innings, falling behind before coming back late.

The comeback kids scored twice on closer Carlos Estevez in the ninth inning Sunday at Kauffman Stadium, tying the game going into the bottom half of the frame. But this time, the Royals had the last say, walking off for a 3-2 win in the series finale.

In the bottom of the ninth, left-hander Sean Manaea, making his season debut, gave up a one-out single to Tyler Tolbert, who then swiped second base. Nick Loftin drove a 1-2 slider from Manaea to left field and the throw home didn’t come with enough time to get Tolbert at the plate.

Manaea took the loss (0-1), allowing one run on five hits and striking out seven in 3 1/3 innings. An oblique strain and a loose body in his elbow had him sidelined since spring training, but now that he got this outing under his belt, the Mets can go into the second half with the starting rotation they envisioned during the offseason.

“Obviously losing, that sucks,” Manaea said. “But for me personally, it feels good to be healthy and back on the mound.”

The Mets (55-42) end their six-game trip 3-3, winning the series against the Royals (47-51), but dropping the series in Baltimore, second in the NL East and second in the NL Wild Card standings. Aside from two big games, the offense sputtered on the trip, something that has been increasingly common as the Mets have played deeper into the season.

“We’ve been through so stretches where it’s hard for us, but then we have stretches where the offense is clicking,” said manager Carlos Mendoza. “It’s kind of like part of the season. We’ve got good hitters, you’ve got to give these guys credit too as a good pitching staff there. But overall, we’ve got a good offense, and we’ve just got to understand that at times, we’re going to have a hard time scoring and we have to continue to make adjustments and continue to work hard.”

Right-hander Clay Holmes allowed two earned runs over five innings starting the game, but he had no run support to work with. Left-hander Noah Cameron was fantastic for Kansas City, scattering seven hits and walked two over 6 2/3 shutout innings, striking out eight. The Mets couldn’t pick up his slider and were fooled on his changeup.

Mark Vientos hit a one-out triple in the first inning and the Mets had runners on the corners with two outs after he intentionally walked Pete Alonso, but Cameron got Brandon Nimmo to pop out to end the inning.

“Especially the lefties, they had a hard time picking him up,” Mendoza said. “We chased a little bit, kept making pitches and he was pretty effective.”

That was the only offense for the Amazins’ until the ninth when they scored twice. Jeff McNeil hit a triple off Estevez to score Ronny Mauricio from second, and Jared Young’s sacrifice fly scored McNeil, tying the game at 2-2.

Holmes will finish the first half 8-4 with a 3.31 ERA as a starter. The Yankees closer who converted to a starting pitcher with the Mets this season, Holmes has been healthy enough to make 19 starts so far this year and at times, has been the best starter on the staff. But when he was signed in the offseason, Holmes and the Mets were both honest about saying that if he struggled as a starter, they could change course and use him out of the bullpen.

“I really have to lean into just the ground balls and just how I’m able to control contact, really not beat myself limiting the walks,” Holmes said. “The strikeouts will come and go. I can’t chase them too much, but as long as I’m getting ground balls and really not beating myself, I kind of like where I’m at and where things are going.”

The ground-balls are key for Holmes moving forward. It’s how he can work efficiently and go deeper into games with the limited pitches he’s allowed. He’s pitched 103 1/3 innings this season, a career-high mark that far surpasses his workload in any previous season. The Mets have protected him as well, keeping his starts to around 80-90 pitches most of the time. That has created its own set of problems.

If Holmes isn’t pitch-efficient, the workload gets placed on the bullpen. He’s thrown seven innings only once this season, and with the myriad of injuries to the pitching staff in June, the Mets have had to depend on the bullpen more than usual. It could be tougher to protect Holmes and the bullpen during a second-half playoff push, but the Mets are up for the challenge.

“It’s fun,” Mendoza said. “It’s part of where we’re at, roster-wise. With some of the guys coming into the season, we knew at this point we would be making a push the last 2-2 1/2 and a half months here that we’ve got coming up. We feel like we’re equipped for it.”