It seems that June in the Big Apple has opened up a very undesirable quest. And the prize is not victory, but a deep, crippling slump. Both New York baseball teams, the Yankees and the Mets, have been struggling with a series of losses. The Yankees lost six in a row, and now the Mets have lost seven in a row after getting crushed 10–2 by the Phillies. But the Queens manager is fighting to make everything work.

The tension was apparent from the first pitch. Rookie starter Blade Tidwell gave the Mets a good start by pitching three shutout frames. However, the bullpen fell apart, with Reed Garrett allowing four runs without recording an out in the eighth and Justin Garza giving up two more. Clutch hitting was missing, including from Soto, too. Results? Another loss, falling to 45–31, one game behind the Phillies at 46–30. The Mets are struggling in both offence and pitching, and Carlos Mendoza knows!

In the post-game, Carlos Mendoza didn’t mince a word when asked about what’s missing. He said, “I think it’s a little bit of everything. Starting pitching not going deep in games. Offensively, we have a hard time scoring. Right now every area we’re fighting through it.”  When your manager says that the whole team is “going through it”—pitching, hitting, and the bullpen—you are in crisis mode. And it’s not new; it’s been evident in past games.

The Mets should have been able to count on stability with Blade Tidwell, Paul Blackburn, Griffin Canning, and Tylor Megill all pitching at the same time. Once the heart of this squad, starting pitchers now fade away by the fourth or fifth inning. After Megill gave up 6 runs in 3 2/3 innings, Canning lost control. It’s not the one-time thing, the Atlanta series collapse, where Garrett and Garza gave up a lot of runs. No one is finishing games or hitting, which makes leads late in the game feel like mirages.

What could be worse than an offense that shuts down? The Mets have left 43 runners on base, which is the worst stretch of critical play they’ve had so far. When there are players on base, they’re 5-for-44 over a streak. That’s not just a slump; it’s a free fall. And when your bats stop making noise, even Wade LeBlanc may look like Wheeler.

And in the Friday game, the pattern was witnessed. In the sixth inning, Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil blasted back-to-back solo home runs to level the game at 2–2 for a short time. But after that? Nothing! Juan Soto was 0-for-2 and couldn’t get any runs or offense. The Mets didn’t offer $765M for this. Amid all the negatives, the only good thing that has happened for him in this skid is that he reached 1000 career hits.

Mets rise & fall: Soto’s 1,000 hits vs. losing streak

June’s story in the Queens is not what they might have thought. But Juan Soto wrote another fantastic chapter in his career on Thursday night when he got his 1,000th career hit in the first inning. He became the most recent superstar to reach this milestone before turning 27, joining Hall of Famers like Mel Ott and Mickey Mantle.

What else is amazing? Soto has already walked 830 times, which means he has been on base in 1,847 career plate appearances. That’s a walk or hit per 2.393 plate appearances, which puts him in the top 10 all-time. Most batters only reach this level throughout their careers. The Mets, on the other hand, had a bad night. Spencer Strider pitched brilliantly in Atlanta, going six shutout innings and striking out eight batters. Matt Olson’s three-run double in the sixth inning blew a close game open, and the Braves won the series 3-0 with a 7-1 win.

A Ronny Mauricio RBI single tied the game early, but the Mets couldn’t score again. New York’s losing streak grew. Soto might have added another feather in his cap. But the Mets are in a full-on slump, fighting both momentum and a tough division competition.

The Mets need consistency and a collective effort from every area. If the improvements don’t happen anytime soon, the other sweep is just two games away.