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Pete Alonso watched the ball go over the fence and the Giants runners round the bases.
He put his hands on his knees and doubled over as if exhausted, and maybe he was.
The Mets must be tired, and they surely are tired of this.
Alonso made a key eighth-inning error, David Robertson followed by surrendering a go-ahead, three-run home run and the Mets absorbed one more gut-punch in a season of them — a 5-4 loss to the Giants that was witnessed at Citi Field by 30,116, who enjoyed a great Friday night, until it all went wrong.
The Mets (36-46) are a season-worst 10 games under .500. They finished with a 7-19 record in a disastrous June and were without one series victory in the month.
With a loss Saturday or Sunday, they would open July with a series defeat, too.
The latest blow was particularly potent.
The Mets were rolling, up 4-2 in the eighth inning, and had their best pitcher on the mound.
Manager Buck Showalter turned to Robertson because the 2-3-4 hitters in the Giants’ order were due up.
With one out, Joc Pederson grounded to Alonso, who booted the ball. Alonso recovered and rushed a throw to Robertson, who was covering first base.
But Robertson couldn’t stab the errant toss from Alonso, so Pederson reached.
Robertson then walked former Met J.D. Davis before rookie catcher Patrick Bailey crushed a home run to center field in a moment that would have been stunning if the Mets had not perfected this kind of loss: They make a mistake and immediately get pounded for it.
The Mets went quietly in the eighth and ninth innings and ruined what had been a promising night. Showalter’s crew has passed the mathematical midpoint of the season — having played 82 of 162 games — and the second half has begun similarly to the first.
They wasted five solid, two-run innings from Carlos Carrasco.
They wasted a nice catch from Brandon Nimmo, who jumped against the wall in right-center field to take away extra bases from LaMonte Wade Jr.
They wasted the beginnings of encouraging signs from Jeff McNeil’s bat and further encouraging signs from Tommy Pham’s bat.
The struggling McNeil — who entered in a 2-for-27 skid — slapped a pair of RBI doubles down the left-field line to drive in two of the Mets’ four runs.
The first of those, in the first inning, drove in Francisco Lindor and gave the Mets a 1-0 lead.
The second, in the fifth inning, scored Nimmo for a 3-1 lead at the time, helped by a dose of good fortune. The ball bounced fair down the line, then was touched by a young fan.
Nimmo, who had been on first base, was granted home after a lengthy discussion from the umpiring crew, who decided the speedy Nimmo would have scored if the ball had not been interfered with.
The Giants challenged and lost, and the Mets received the kind of break they — and McNeil — have been seeking for a long time.
Alas, it was not the break they needed.
McNeil, the reigning NL batting champion, entered play with his average down to .255, his drop-off significant for a club that has not hit enough.
Alonso, despite his 24 home runs, also has not hit enough lately.
The slugging first baseman went 10-for-66 (.152) in June, and his frustration boiled over Friday.
In the sixth inning, Alonso stepped up with two outs and McNeil on second.
Alonso could not come through, fouling out, and walked to the dugout.
When the ball was caught, he snapped his bat over his knee — on his second try.
His first did not break the bat in half.
Pham has not been the problem.
The sizzling outfielder provided an insurance run in the sixth inning, when he crushed a titanic homer off Taylor Rogers, 411 feet to left, for his ninth dinger of the season.
The round of cheers that followed, however, was the last from the home crowd.
The Mets brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth when Luis Guillorme walked.
But pinch-runner Starling Marte was thrown out trying to steal second.
In what might be a lost season, the Mets’ troubles are only getting worse.
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