When a team has lost 14 of its last 17 games, the margin of error is gone. Every decision is put under the microscope and dissected. Even more so, when you are a big-market team like the New York Mets.

On Wednesday, Carlos Mendoza decided to pull Clay Holmes after 5⅓ innings, and that set off a wave of boos. But it seems those boos made sense. Holmes wasn’t dominant, but he was getting the job done right. Sure, the weather was hot, and he had thrown 90 pitches, giving up just one run. One!

So, with four starters out and a doubleheader looming, wouldn’t one let their guy ride a little longer?

Holmes himself was quite surprised but tried to remain as professional as possible afterwards. “It’s a hot day, definitely felt like I was getting a little tired, but I didn’t feel like I was at the very end. Mendy, the pitching coaches, guys that make the decisions make the decisions.” That’s the polite way of saying that—I could have kept going.

But Mendoza didn’t have any regrets, and he stands by his decision.

When asked if he considered keeping Holmes in, he said, “No, not once. When you’ve got a guy that’s at 90 pitches in five and a third, you’re asking for what, 100? 10 more pitches? That wasn’t going to be the case. We’ve got some other guys that can cover 18 innings.” And that’s where it all stumbled.

Garrett came in, gave up a double, then a single, and then walked a guy. And boom, next a grand slam. A tight 2-1 lead turned into a 7-2 disaster. It was not just a loss; it was a collapse.

This is a stretch where everything is already wrong with the Mets, where they even lost to the Pirates.

The lifeless bats and the missing arms are already there. But this one felt avoidable.

Now, if there is someone the Milwaukee Brewers have to take a bow for on Wednesday’s win over the Mets, it’s none other than Joey Ortiz.

Joey Ortiz’s grand slam sinks the New York Mets

Ortiz stepped in the sixth inning and delivered a grand slam that cracked the game open. That one swing changed the course of the outcome. And just like that, the winnable game for the New York Mets slipped away with the boom of Ortiz’s bat.

And there were others, too. Sal Frelick started the game by smacking his first career leadoff home run.

Isaac Collins, the rookie, went 4 for 3 with a walk and a homer. Freddy Peralta, who carved up the Mets lineup, allowed just two hits across six innings for his fourth straight win.

Meanwhile, the Mets, a team with a whopping $325 million payroll, couldn’t get a peep after the fourth inning. It has become obvious that you can buy talents, but not wins. It makes us remember the quote from Moneyball—the only game that matters is the last one of the season, the one that wins you the World Series. Because, at least for now, the Mets look nowhere near the rings. And Lindor knows it!

The $300 million shortstop is known as the unofficial team captain. After the loss to the Pirates, he admitted, “I just have to get better; my mechanics are not right… The coaches have done an excellent job preparing us; it’s our responsibility.” That’s accountability, but talk only goes so far. He went hitless in that Pirates series!

The Mets are spiraling, the boos are getting louder, and the losses are stacking up. They need to find the measures soon to get over this slump.