Before Saturday’s game, manager Terry Collins talked about having to get struggling young starter Zack Wheeler to become the ace the Mets think he can be. In the Mets’ 3-2 loss to the toothless Diamondbacks, Wheeler gave them a glimpse of that ace potential, but it still wasn’t enough.
It was one gaffe in the field and consistently poor hitting at the plate — lowlighted by Lucas Duda — that betrayed the Mets and Wheeler before 24,551 at Citi Field.
Duda was a walking rally killer, going 0-for-4 and stranding seven men on base, four in scoring position. The free-falling Mets (21-26) lost against the worst team in the National League and have dropped 15 of 21 to tie a season-worst at five games below .500.
“Yeah, that was tough. I think I left eight guys on base. Sometimes it goes like that,” Duda said. “Zack pitched a heck of a game. I feel like I let him down today, but hopefully we’ll get them [Sunday].
“I can only speak for myself, but I’ve got to drive those runs in. I’ll take the blame for this one.’’
Wheeler (1-5) gave up just one hard hit all afternoon, but was victimized by a Wilmer Flores error that contributed an extra run in the Diamondbacks’ three-run second inning. He also was hurt by the fact the Mets could muster just two runs in a failed comeback bid.
“That’s a huge step forward for him, an enormous step,” Collins said. “He was angry with the way things started. He beared down and pitched very, very well. I was very pleased with the way he stopped the bleeding and gave us a chance to get back in the game.’’
After coughing up 10 runs — eight earned — in just 10 ¹/₃ innings combined over his past two starts, Wheeler found something during his bullpen session with pitching coach Dan Warthen and bullpen coach Ricky Bones. He threw a career-high tying 118 pitches, allowing three runs — two earned — walking one and striking out seven in 6 ²/₃ innings.
“Whenever I lift up my leg and start to go to home plate, there’s a little hitch there that I like,” Wheeler said. “Sometimes hitches are bad, but it makes me stay back over the rubber a little bit more. It worked out or me.
“It’s something that we found that works.’’
But the Mets need to find something that works on offense. They’re 2-7 in their last nine, and their Citi Field woes continue. They haven’t scored more than five runs in a nine-inning home game since April 5, and are averaging just 3.1 runs in Flushing.
Saturday they could have used a third run, and Duda kept failing in the clutch.
He chased a high fastball from Josh Collmenter (3-2) to strand the bases loaded in the first. The Mets are 6-for-42 this season with the bags juiced, hitless with no RBIs in their past seven.
“[It was] definitely a ball,” Duda said. “Poor pitch selection, poor at-bat really. Like I said, I’ll take the blame for this one.
“It was just one of those days. I had a terrible day at the plate.’’
Wheeler surrendered RBI singles to Martin Prado and Cody Ross in the second. Then he allowed another run-scoring single to Prado in the third, undone by Flores’ first error of the year. He committed seven errors at Triple-A before being called up, and his error put Paul Goldschmidt on base, allowing him to come around with an unearned run for a 3-0 lead.
“I was too quick and I just made a bad throw,’’ Flores said.
Curtis Granderson’s ground-rule double scored Daniel Murphy in the third inning, but Chris Young fanned to strand men on second and third. David Wright launched a fifth-inning solo shot down the left-field line to draw the Mets within a run.
They put two on in the seventh and eighth, but got no closer. They went down in order in the ninth against Addison Reed, who earned his 13th save.