Mets place infielder Jorge Polanco on 10-day injured list before their 10th straight loss

CHICAGO (AP) — The New York Mets have a long list of problems these days, and it seems like a carousel of issues.

“Just having a hard time playing a complete game right now,” manager Carlos Mendoza said.

New York placed infielder Jorge Polanco on the 10-day injured list on Saturday before dropping its 10th consecutive game. Brooks Raley surrendered Carson Kelly's tiebreaking three-run homer in the sixth inning of a 4-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs.

The season is young, and the 7-14 Mets have plenty of established players. They had an opening day payroll of $352.2 million, tops in the majors.

But only four teams have reached the postseason after going through a double-digit losing streak, including the Cleveland Guardians last year and the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2017.

“It's frustrating to lose baseball games anytime you lose, so when you lose this many in a row, it definitely compounds,” Mets second baseman Marcus Semien said. “But this is a big boy league. There's no time to dwell on tonight. Tomorrow is a new day.”

It’s the longest losing streak for New York since it dropped 11 in a row in 2004. It has been outscored 60-18 during the slide.

Juan Soto has been out since April 3 because of a strained right calf, and New York's lineup has struggled. The Mets have scored two or fewer runs in 11 of their 21 games, the highest such number for an NL team.

“I understand that the game does not owe you a thing. The game does not owe you any wins,” Semien said, “so we have to go out and get it.”

Mendoza, who got a vote of confidence from president of baseball operations David Stearns on Friday, acknowledged that the losing streak could be taking a mental toll on his team.

“I mean you can make a case,” Mendoza said. “Especially when you're going through a stretch like this, it's hard, it's hard. But nobody's going to feel sorry for us. You got to keep going. We haven't been playing good baseball. That's the bottom line.”

Polanco has a right wrist contusion. The IL move was made retroactive to Wednesday, a day after he went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts in a 2-1 loss at the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The 32-year-old Polanco is batting .179 (10 for 56) with a homer and two RBIs in his first season with New York.

“When doctors first took a look at him, it looked like he got hit by a pitch when he didn't,” Mendoza said. "In talking to him, it was just a couple of swings that he took that night. ... He didn't think much of it, but just got worse the following day.

“So you just got to let it calm down a little bit and then we'll go from there. But we don't have a timetable for how long this is going to last.”

Polanco, who signed a $40 million, two-year contract with the Mets in December, also has been dealing with an ankle issue.

“He was trending in the right direction,” Mendoza said of the ankle injury. “It's definitely going to help, obviously now with him being shut down. But the biggest thing now is that we've got to take care of that wrist.”

The Mets also recalled catcher Hayden Senger from Triple-A Syracuse before their loss to the Cubs. The 29-year-old Senger is batting .257 with five homers and 11 RBIs in 12 games with Syracuse.

Senger's arrival gives Mendoza more flexibility with how he uses his top two catchers, Francisco Alvarez and Luis Torrens.

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New York Mets' Marcus Semien (10) returns to the dugout after striking out during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs, Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

New York Mets' Marcus Semien returns to the dugout after being flying out to left field in the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs, Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

New York Mets' Mark Vientos (27) returns to the dugout after being forced out during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs, Saturday, April 18, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

New York Mets' Jorge Polanco reacts after hitting a home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, Saturday, April 11, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

SEVILLE, Spain (AP) — Real Sociedad beat Atletico Madrid on penalties to win the Copa del Rey title on Saturday, giving American coach Pellegrino Matarazzo his first title since he moved to Spain this season.

After the game finished 2-2 following extra time, Sociedad goalkeeper Unai Marrero saved shots by Alexander Sorloth and Julián Álvarez and Pablo Marín converted the last kick to clinch the shootout 4-3.

“I knew that if we got to penalties, I believed in myself, my teammates believed in me, our fans believed in me,” the 24-year-old Marrero said before the winners received the trophy and medals from Spanish King Felipe VI.

“I still can’t believe it," Marrero said. “The boy who dreamed about this since he was young has fulfilled his dream.”

Sociedad needed 14 seconds and just three players to touch the ball directly after kickoff to take the lead through Ander Barrenetxea.

Ademola Lookman equalized for Diego Simeone’s side with a goal in the 19th minute, but a penalty by goalkeeper Juan Musso allowed Mikel Oyarzabal to restore Sociedad’s advantage in first-half injury time.

Álvarez stroked a shot into the right corner to make it 2-2 in the 83rd.

The New Jersey-born Matarazzo took over Sociedad in December when it was two points above the relegation zone in the Spanish league. Four months later, the Basque Country club has won the cup and is in the upper half of the La Liga table.

Atletico will now turn its focus to the Champions League semifinal against Arsenal staring later this month.

“We fought back from the 1-0 and 2-1 and had chances to win it. We can only congratulate our rival, which was more clinical at key moments,” said Simeone, who after a point-blank miss by Alex Baena in the final minutes went down on his hands and knees with his head briefly pressed to the turf.

Opta Statistics said Barrenetxea’s goal was the fastest ever in a Spanish cup final.

The opening goal against Atletico’s vaunted defense was about as simple as they come: ball to goalkeeper, long ball down the right flank, where Gonçalo Guedes was free to send in a cross for Ander Barrenetxea to head it home.

The sequence exposed a series of less-than-ideal defending. Neither Nahuel Molina nor Giuliano Simeone intercepted reachable balls; Matteo Ruggeri let the shorter Barrenetxea outjump him for the header; and goalkeeper Juan Musso perhaps could have made a more sprightly effort to stop the shot from bouncing past.

Lookman again proved the most-impactful winter signing by a Spanish side – his goal was his seventh for Atletico – when the former Atalanta forward received a pass from Antoine Griezmann just inside the area and sent a left-footed shot inside the post.

Oyarzabal went to the spot after Musso slammed into Guedes while disputing a high ball in the box. Oyarzabal lived up to his reputation as a penalty expert, slotting his try home. The Spain striker also scored a penalty for the only goal in the 2020 cup final against Athletic Bilbao.

Sociedad was in control and only minutes away from the title when Atletico finally mounted a good team move to unsettle Sociedad’s defense for the first time and set up Álvarez in the second half.

Musso made up for his earlier mistakes by making back-to-back saves in extra time. And Álvarez went close to netting a winner when he hit the woodwork in the 100th.

Otherwise, Atletico created several chances it couldn’t finish off to get the title-clinching goal.

Then it was Marrero’s turn to shine as he guessed right on the first two penalties by Atletico’s strikers before Marín fired his shot into the top corner.

"I tried to clear my mind and keep calm," Marín said about his decisive penalty.

Griezmann will now need to help steer Atletico past Arsenal in the European semifinals to have another shot at finishing his final season in Spain with a title before the club’s all-time leading scorer joins Orlando City in the MLS next season.

“We want to win the Champions League,” Atletico’s veteran midfielder Koke Resurrección said. “But tonight is a hard night. We will have time to think about the Champions League.”

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Real Sociedad's Pablo Marin, right, celebrates with teammates as they won the Copa del Rey final soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad in Seville, Spain, Saturday, April. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)

Real Sociedad's goalkeeper Unai Marrero makes a save during during the penalty shoot out at the Copa del Rey final soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad in Seville, Spain, Saturday, April. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Breton)