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One can point to the bottom of the third, when the Mets had two on and one out with the top of the lineup coming up before Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto came up empty.
Or certainly the bottom of the seventh, when they had runners on first and second with one out again, only to have Soto and Pete Alonso fall short.
In the ninth, Jeff McNeil just missed a pinch hit double to open the inning, but drew a walk before Lindor grounded into a double play.
Soto then grounded out to end a 6-5 loss to the Cubs.
On this night, the Mets got a pair of homers from Brett Baty, including one in the eighth that got them back to within a run after Max Kranick allowed two runs in the top of the inning.
It was a tough night for several Mets, as Tylor Megill was knocked around again.
The right-hander had a 1.09 ERA through his first four starts, but he has allowed eight runs in 9 ²/₃ innings over his past two outings — and didn’t make it out of the fifth on Saturday.
Megill struggled from the start, as the first three batters he faced reached base.
Former Mets prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong led off with a single, swiped second and moved to third on a Francisco Alvarez throwing error. He scored on Seiya Suzuki’s RBI single up the middle for the game’s first run.
A two-out walk to Justin Turner loaded the bases before Megill got Nico Horner to pop out, but Baty couldn’t handle Dansby Swanson’s hard liner to third, and the infield hit made it 2-0 in the 29-pitch inning.
Megill entered the game having not allowed an earned run in his first three starts at home this year over 14 ²/₃ innings.
After an easy second, Megill allowed a leadoff double in the third to Suzuki, who scored on Michael Busch’s single to put the Mets in a 3-0 hole.
The Mets threatened for the first time against Horton in the bottom of the inning, as Alvarez was drilled by a pitch and Tyrone Taylor reached on a catcher’s interference.
But Lindor flied out, and Soto grounded to second.
Things got worse for Megill and the Mets in the fourth when Swanson led off with a homer to left-center.
Alonso got the Mets’ first hit leading off the bottom of the fourth off Horton. Mark Vientos added another hard single with one out.
With Luisangel Acuña at the plate, both runners advanced on a wild pitch, but Acuña struck out.
Baty, though, drilled a slider from Horton for a three-run homer. It was the second straight game with a homer for Baty.
Lindor was at second with two outs in the fifth when Alonso drilled a liner right at third baseman Jon Berti to end the inning.
Baty nearly came through again in the sixth. With Brandon Nimmo at second and two out, Baty ripped one to left, caught by Suzuki.
The Mets squandered yet another chance in the seventh, this time with their most dangerous hitters at the plate.
Taylor singled and Lindor walked with one out against right-hander Daniel Palencia, only for Soto to go down on a foul tip strikeout on a 3-2 slider and Alonso to ground into a force-out to keep it a one-run game.
But Kranick loaded the bases in the eighth and then allowed a two-run single to Miguel Amaya. It was the fourth straight outing in which Kranick has been scored upon.
