Frankie Montas sinks Mets in brutal loss to Giants with latest clunker that could jeopardize rotation spot

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The Mets opened Sunday in first place in the NL East.
You'd never know it.
Not from the way they got another subpar outing from a starting pitcher, a no-show from the lineup or the boobirds that were out in full force during a 12-4 loss to the Giants at Citi Field.
The Mets weren't in first by the end of the day, falling a half-game behind the Phillies after their 2-0 win over Tigers on Sunday night.
It's all part of what's been a wildly inconsistent past few weeks for the Mets, who dropped three straight games around the All-Star break, rebounded with seven consecutive wins, only to then lose four straight.
And after a solid win on Saturday, they still lost a series to the Giants — who raised the white flag by selling at the trade deadline and entered the series losers of six in a row — with Sunday's lopsided defeat.
Frankie Montas helped throw this one away in his second consecutive clunker — and fourth poor showing in his past six starts.
The right-hander gave up a season-high seven runs — all earned.
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A day after Kodai Senga lasted just four innings, Montas failed to record an out in the fifth, as the Mets continue failing to get length out of their rotation.
He struggled with his location — especially on an 0-1 four-seamer to Rafael Devers with two on and one out in the third.
Devers belted it into the seats for a three-run shot on the pitch Carlos Mendoza said was in 'the nitro zone.'
The manager also didn't guarantee Montas would make his next start.
'We just got done with the game,' Mendoza said of Montas' spot in the rotation. 'He's got to be better. He knows that.'
Asked before the game if prospects Brandon Sproat and Nolan McLean could be options to help the rotation, Mendoza said, 'I like what we have here and I like having names like that at the Triple-A level. We believe in the guys we have here. We know they're capable. They've shown it before and they will.'
So far, Montas hasn't.
'I missed a couple spots,' Montas said. '[Including] the one to Devers. He put a good swing on it.'
Montas also failed to get swings-and-misses, especially after the second inning.
The Giants had already tied the game when Montas walked Heliot Ramos before Devers took him deep to give the Giants a 4-1 lead.
It got worse in the fourth, with Montas giving up back-to-back singles with one out to put runners on the corners and then Pete Alonso was indecisive on a grounder to first before being late with his throw home.
Casey Schmitt scored on the play.
With two out, Ramos beat out a grounder to deep short to drive in another run for a 6-1 lead.
Devers piled on with an RBI single.
The offense, which put up a dozen runs — and got 10 RBIs from the top four hitters in the lineup — on Saturday, produced just a pair of runs against lefty Carson Whisenhunt in his second major league start.
Francisco Lindor homered with one out in the bottom of the first, but the Mets didn't get another hit until Jeff McNeil opened the bottom of the fifth with a single.
Alonso whiffed with two on to end the eighth before Ryne Stanek imploded and allowed five runs in the ninth before catcher Luis Torrens had to get the final out.
Perhaps the only positive that came out of the loss was that the Mets were able to preserve their new-look bullpen, thanks to Austin Warren — just recalled from Triple-A Syracuse on Sunday — throwing four shutout innings in relief of Montas.
Mark Vientos put it succinctly: 'I think we'll put this series behind us.'