Francisco Alvarez exits with back spasms, Mets lose ground in Wild Card

MILWAUKEE — Toward the end of his night of misfortune, Francisco Alvarez walked gingerly off the field with a trainer’s hand wrapped around his waist. Alvarez had already endured a lamentable evening at American Family Field, allowing five stolen bases and getting called out on strikes in an at-bat that led to his manager’s ejection. A bout of back spasms topped off his misery in the Mets’ 8-4 loss to the Brewers.

This was hardly how the Mets envisioned their night going. Rather than gain ground in the National League Wild Card race, they lost both a game and their starting catcher to injury, while playing a second consecutive sloppy contest. The Mets made multiple defensive mistakes, walked five batters, allowed six steals, gave up a run in a sequence that included a passed ball and a wild pitch, and endured Sean Manaea’s worst start in three and a half months — a six-run clunker that included a Rhys Hoskins grand slam.

The result allowed the Braves to move back into a tie with the Mets, ensuring neither team can be eliminated from postseason contention before Monday. Both clubs moved into a virtual tie with the Diamondbacks, who also lost. There are only enough postseason berths for two of the three to advance.

“It sucks,” Manaea said. “We’re fighting for our lives over here. To do that doesn’t feel good.”

The good news for the Mets is that Alvarez’s injury doesn’t appear overly serious. Following the game (and a clubhouse massage), Alvarez said he was feeling significantly better. The Mets could hold him out of Saturday’s lineup as a precaution, but the catcher doesn’t expect to miss much time.

“I was feeling bad, I was feeling scared, but right now I really feel very good,” Alvarez said.

The bad news for the Mets is they’ve played two of their sloppiest games in recent memory in the heat of a playoff race. Tuesday in Atlanta, the Mets committed multiple defensive blunders in a loss to the Braves, before a band of thunderstorms and the approach of Hurricane Helene wiped out the final two games of that series.

Friday in Milwaukee, they didn’t appear much improved.

In the bottom of the first, Francisco Lindor — in the starting lineup for the first time since Sept. 15 — could not glove a rising Brice Turang liner that landed for a single. Lindor bemoaned not catching that ball, saying he should have had it, but it was hardly the worst infraction for his team. Later in the inning, Manaea walked two batters and permitted a pair of Turang stolen bases before Hoskins, a long-time Mets villain, capped the rally with his third grand slam of the season.

In the second inning, Lindor committed a throwing error that led to another run. In the fourth, Alvarez slammed his helmet down after home-plate umpire Ramon De Jesus called him out on a borderline third strike, which resulted in manager Carlos Mendoza’s ejection. More walks and stolen bases followed, rendering a late rally from the Mets mostly moot.

“They outplayed us today,” Lindor said. “I make the error, they ended up scoring. They ran the bases better than we did. They hit better than we did. They hit with people in scoring position. Overall, I know that the Brewers played better than us today.”

Because the Diamondbacks lost to the Padres, the loss did not put a significant dent in the Mets’ playoff chances. But it did reduce their margin for error.

Rather than rely on help from other teams, the Mets have been clear about wanting to take care of their own business against a Brewers team already locked into the NL’s No. 3 seed. But the Brewers still want to win, in part because it can help them ensure the Mets and Braves go through the logistical nightmare of a doubleheader Monday in Atlanta.

The more chaos that exists in the NL Wild Card race, the more the Brewers benefit.

“We know what’s at stake this weekend for those guys,” Hoskins said.