12-game losing – Juan Soto returned from a calf injury as the Mets snapped a 12-game skid with a 3–2 win over the Twins, highlighted by a late RBI single from Mark Vientos.
NEW YORK — At Citi Field on Wednesday night, the mood shifted in a way Mets fans have been craving for more than a week: tension gave way to relief.
The Mets ended their 12-game losing streak with a 3–2 victory over the Minnesota Twins. their longest slide since 2002 and their roughest April in decades. and Juan Soto’s return from a calf injury made the turnaround feel almost unavoidable.. Soto wasn’t the entire story. though—and the win still came with the kind of late. messy drama Mets have grown used to.
Across the stands, fans had been holding handmade posters urging Soto to save the season.. But inside the dugout, the approach was more measured.. The Mets walked a thin line between leaning on a star and reminding themselves that one player cannot carry a team out of a slump.. The result reflected that balance: Soto provided impact, but others had to finish the job.
Soto returned to the lineup and produced a 1-for-3 day that included a walk.. Early. he helped set the tone—his fly ball to center field advanced Bo Bichette to third. and then Lindor’s single brought him home.. Still, the eighth inning reminded everyone how quickly momentum can swing in baseball.. It started with Soto being caught stealing, a moment that underscored the Mets’ inconsistency even in a win.
The deciding sequence leaned on the Mets’ late-game execution.. After Francisco Lindor left the game with a calf injury of his own, Mark Vientos stepped forward.. With Lindor out just before the fifth inning and Brett Baty replacing him. Vientos delivered an RBI single in the eighth inning that ultimately provided the final margin.. The rally wasn’t flashy—it was functional. the kind of run production teams need when their offense has spent much of April struggling to turn chances into points.
From the mound, the Mets also got exactly what a team in a slump needs: stability at the right time.. Clay Holmes worked through seven strong innings, giving up two runs, relying on his sinker to keep Minnesota off balance.. With Devin Williams unavailable after pitching frequently in recent days. Luke Weaver handled the final four outs. closing the door when the game tightened.
But the deeper story isn’t just that the streak ended.. Mets baseball lately has carried a painful pattern: they often show enough to hang around. then fail to push through when the game tilts toward them.. Even after stopping the slide. the Mets’ offense still looked limited—this was another reminder that their scoring has been too rare for a team expecting to compete in the long run.. During the 15 games Soto missed, the Mets scored just 40 runs, the lowest total in Major League Baseball in that stretch.
Context matters here because the numbers aren’t random bad luck.. When a lineup loses a hitter who changes both the tempo and the math of games. it tends to reveal deeper cracks elsewhere—plate discipline. situational hitting. and the ability to avoid dry spells.. For the Mets. Soto’s absence didn’t just lower production; it reshaped what pitchers faced across the rest of the order.. The pressure shifted, and the results followed.
Now the immediate challenge becomes health and management.. Lindor is scheduled for an MRI on Thursday. and Soto’s calf recovery isn’t treated like a simple “back in the lineup” checkbox.. Mendoza signaled that the team will be careful with how much running Soto does and how that affects his availability—especially in the field.. Soto is slated to play left field on Thursday, but the broader plan includes full days off as needed.. In other words. the Mets aren’t chasing a headline return; they’re trying to avoid turning a short-term spark into a longer-term setback.
For fans, that balance between hope and reality is the emotional core of this moment.. A win snaps a streak, but it doesn’t erase everything that came before it.. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza captured the tone: concentrate on playing baseball. stay positive. and don’t let the losing stretch decide the mindset you bring to the ballpark.. The club owner previously set playoff expectations as the baseline goal. and Wednesday night offered one proof of concept—when the Mets can string together pitching control and late hitting. they can still win close games.
Even the Mets’ own internal messaging points to the path forward.. Writing Soto’s name into the lineup “gives you a different look. ” Mendoza said. but he also made clear it would take “all of us” to climb out.. The implication is straightforward: Soto may be the headline accelerator. yet the team’s longer-term turnaround will depend on consistent contributions from multiple positions. reducing mistakes. and staying healthy through the grind.
The streak ending feels like a release valve. The real test now is what happens next—whether the Mets turn a single late rally into a trend, and whether injuries remain manageable as April moves on and the season demands more than relief.