The New York Mets’ slump deepened on Saturday afternoon at Citi Field, as they squandered a 2-0 lead in the late innings and lost 3-2 to the Texas Rangers, stretching their losing streak to eight games.

After the game, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza was asked how difficult it is for the team to stay positive as the losses continue to mount, and he gave a straightforward response.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s not easy right now, especially when you’re not able to finish the job in a game you felt like you had it and then before you know it, you’re behind,” Mendoza said.

“Yeah, continue to come back the next day and bring the same attitude here, and it’s not about how good are we preparing and all that, that’s all great, it’s just about the results now,” he continued. “When you’re going through stretches like this, everybody has to do their part, right, and we’ve got to find a way to get the job done here. Feels like fundamentally, obviously, we’re not playing good baseball right now. We gave them extra bases, and they made us pay. But as far as the attitude, there are a lot of guys there frustrated, but we’ve got to keep going.”

“It’s not easy right now, especially when you’re not able to finish the job in a game you felt like you had it and then before you know it, you’re behind.”

Carlos Mendoza was asked about how hard it is for the Mets to keep a positive outlook as the losses pile up: pic.twitter.com/knTs0j3QWZ

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For much of the afternoon, the Mets appeared poised to snap their skid. Rookie right-hander Brandon Sproat delivered his second straight strong outing, working six shutout innings on just 70 pitches. He allowed six hits, struck out three, and walked none, mixing his two-seamer, sweeper, and changeup effectively to keep Texas off balance. Across his first two major league starts, Sproat owns a 2.25 ERA.

The Mets scratched across their first run in the fifth inning, when Francisco Lindor dropped down a bunt single and later scored on an errant throw after Pete Alonso’s bloop hit. In the seventh, Juan Soto blasted his 40th homer of the season into the second deck in right field, pushing the lead to 2-0. Soto’s milestone made him just the third player in MLB history, along with Barry Bonds and Jeff Bagwell, to record a season with 40 or more home runs, 30 or more stolen bases, and 100 or more walks. He also became the first Met ever with a 40/30 season.

But miscues and bullpen breakdowns doomed New York. Brett Baty committed his second major baserunning mistake of the week, getting picked off second base in the sixth inning, killing a rally. Then in the eighth, Francisco Alvarez was called for catcher’s interference to open the door for Texas. Wyatt Langford doubled, Joc Pederson hit a sacrifice fly, and Rowdy Tellez tied the game with a double off Edwin Diaz.

Diaz returned for the ninth, but the Rangers capitalized again. A leadoff liner off Lindor’s glove put the go-ahead run on base, and with two outs, Langford delivered a single to center that scored Dustin Harris for a 3-2 Texas lead.

The Mets threatened in the bottom of the ninth, putting runners on the corners with two outs, but Shawn Armstrong struck out Brandon Nimmo to end the game. The loss wasted Sproat’s gem and showed the team’s season-long inability to close out winnable games.

Meanwhile, the Rangers pushed their winning streak to six games and moved within 1 ½ games of the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners in the AL West. For the Mets, however, Saturday was another game to forget in a frustrating campaign.