Mets pay for sitting Edwin Diaz for second consecutive night

This was ninth-inning déjà vu in the worst way possible for the Mets.

For a second consecutive day, they trailed the Diamondbacks by a run.

Carlos Mendoza kept Edwin Díaz — his All-Star closer who’d fully warmed up Wednesday and Thursday — in the bullpen, instead opting for a second inning of Chris Devenski and a second inning of Reed Garrett, respectively.

And both of those calls backfired.

In the latest, Garrett surrendered a ninth-inning homer that allowed the Diamondbacks to tack on an insurance run during the Mets’ 4-2 loss at Citi Field.

A chance to start their final round of at-bats with the tying run at the plate evaporated.

And though Mendoza insisted that Díaz, who has thrown just once (Saturday) since exiting an April 23 outing against the Phillies with a left hip cramp, is healthy, it’s clear that the Mets manager has operated with extreme caution when it comes to the most important piece of a bullpen.

Díaz is tied for fourth in the majors (119 ¹/₃) in innings thrown this season.

“He’s fine,” Mendoza said of Díaz. “He got up [Wednesday] if it was tied. [Thursday], if it was tied or better he was gonna come into the game.”

The Mets are in a stretch of their schedule that includes 13 games in a row and 26 in 27 days, but it was at least strange that Díaz, who has collected a 4.50 ERA with seven saves across his 12 appearances this season, didn’t appear in either of the high-leverage spots the past two games despite warming up.

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After Mendoza stuck with Devenski, pitching in his first game with the Mets and on the way back to Triple-A Syracuse before Thursday’s game even began, the right-hander allowed a leadoff walk, a double and consecutive sacrifice flies.

In a July or August game, using Díaz in that spot would’ve been a “no-brainer,” Mendoza said before Wednesday’s game. But the Mets are “playing the long game here” and tried to take a chance that didn’t work.

One day later, after Tim Tawa led off the ninth with a homer that served as the first earned run Garrett had allowed all season, Mendoza’s decision with Díaz flopped again.

The Mets went 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position and have gone 0-for-12 in those situations the past two games.

Their only scoring Thursday arrived via Juan Soto’s pair of solo homers.

Mendoza said before the game that the Mets will call up a sixth starter for the Cardinals series.

In corresponding moves that allowed RHP Ty Adcock (¹/₃ of an inning, one hit, one walk) and LHP Génesis Cabrera (one-third of an inning, one run, one hit, one walk) to get selected to the major league roster, Frankie Montas and A.J. Minter were transferred to the 60-day injured list.

RHP Jose Ureña elected free agency instead of accepting an outright assignment to Triple-A.