Mets try to avoid 12th straight loss while Twins feel their pain

The Minnesota Twins have dropped four straight games and just lost Tuesday night's scheduled starting pitcher to the injured list. But the Twins will have some company in their misery Tuesday night.

Minnesota visits the downtrodden New York Mets in the opener of a three-game interleague series between a pair of struggling teams.

Nolan McLean (1-1, 2.28 ERA) is slated to start for the Mets against fellow right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson (0-3, 6.10 ERA), who is moving up after Tuesday's scheduled starter, Mick Abel, was placed on the 15-day injured list Monday due to right elbow inflammation.

Both teams were off Monday after falling in 10 innings Sunday afternoon. The Mets closed out a winless road trip by falling to the Chicago Cubs 2-1. The Twins lost 7-4 to the visiting Cincinnati Reds, who completed the three-game sweep.

The loss was the 11th straight for the Mets -- the longest losing streak for the club since an 11-game streak from Aug. 28-Sept. 8, 2004. New York, which entered Monday tied with the Kansas City Royals for the worst record in the majors at 7-15, has been outscored 62-19 during the current skid and didn't lead at the end of an inning for 66 straight frames until MJ Melendez's fifth-inning homer Sunday.

The Mets are batting .200 over the last 11 contests, while their starting pitchers are averaging less than five innings per game. David Peterson, an All-Star last season, was relegated to bulk relief duty behind Tobias Myers on Sunday, while Kodai Senga is in danger of losing his rotation spot after giving up 14 runs (13 earned) over just 5 2/3 innings in his last two starts.

"Eleven losses is a lot, whether it's April or at any point in the season," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. "Nobody is going to feel sorry for us. We've got to find a way."

Abel's injury compounded the recent struggles for the Twins, who looked like one of the season's early surprise teams by winning eight of nine prior to their losing streak.

Abel, who was acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for Jhoan Duran during the Twins' trade deadline teardown last July, threw 13 scoreless innings over his last two starts. He struck out 10 without issuing a walk over seven innings while earning the win in Minnesota's most recent victory, a 6-0 rout of the Boston Red Sox on April 14.

The Twins held a trio of two-run leads in Saturday's 5-4 loss before squandering a 3-1 ninth-inning lead Sunday, when they committed two errors on the play in which the Reds took the lead in the 10th.

Third baseman Tristan Gray allowed Eugenio Suarez's grounder to clip off his glove before Austin Martin bobbled the ball trying to make a barehanded pickup in left field, which helped Elly De La Cruz score from second.

The Twins finished with three errors Sunday and four in the series.

"We had an opportunity to win every game in this series, and we didn't capitalize," Twins manager Derek Shelton said. "We didn't make plays that we needed to make, and it ended up costing us games all three days."

Woods Richardson took the loss last Wednesday after allowing seven runs (six earned) over five innings as the Twins fell to the Boston Red Sox 9-5.

Woods Richardson, who was selected by the Mets in the second round of the 2018 draft before being dealt to the Toronto Blue Jays in 2019, lost his only start against his former organization on July 29, 2024, when he allowed six runs in 3 1/3 innings as New York rolled to a 15-2 win.

McLean didn't factor into the decision in his most recent start April 14, when he gave up one run over seven innings in the Mets' 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. McLean has never opposed the Twins.

--Field Level Media