For eight innings, the Mets were frustrated with bats that would not awaken.
For the final inning, the frustration was turned to an umpire ruling.
Pete Alonso was thrown out at the plate in a chaotic finish to a 1-0 loss to the Cubs on Wednesday at Citi Field, where 22,485 were furious as umpires ruled the Mets had lost on a double play.
The Mets had mounted nothing, frustrated particularly by Shota Imanaga, for eight innings before getting to Cubs closer Hector Neris in the ninth.
Neris plunked Alonso before J.D. Martinez drove the first pitch he saw to the wall in right-center, former Mets prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong unable to hold on for what became a double.
McNeil lifted a one-out fly to medium-depth left field, and Ian Happ caught it and threw to third baseman Nick Madrigal, who relayed a throw home.
Umpires ruled Alonso was thrown out and no blocking the plate had occurred, which prompted manager Carlos Mendoza to run onto the field and argue as angry fans headed for the exits.
The Mets (15-15) have been carried by an excellent bullpen and a solid rotation (Jose Butto performed well again), but their offense has been a consistent disappointment through the first month of the season.
The Mets have scored more than four runs in one of their past nine games. In that span, they have averaged 2.9 runs per contest.
The Mets have come up to bat in 26 innings against Cubs pitching and have scored in just three of those frames. DJ Stewart’s three-run homer Tuesday has provided plenty of cover for a group that otherwise has gone silent and on Wednesday couldn’t catch a break.
Wasted was excellent work from Butto, who is only in the rotation because of injuries to Kodai Senga and Tylor Megill but is making a strong case to remain.
The 26-year-old righty went six innings in which he allowed one run on four hits and two walks while striking out six. Butto has pitched well in four of his five starts and trimmed his ERA to 2.57, which is not a mark that typically gets sent back to Triple-A.
The only run Butto allowed came in the fifth inning, when Matt Mervis doubled and was moved to third on a wild pitch. Crow-Armstrong was badly fooled by a changeup from Butto and helicoptered his bat above the Mets’ dugout, the bat getting wedged into the netting and remained suspended there.
Crow-Armstrong found another bat and used it for a sacrifice fly to plate the game’s only run.