Well, the Mets fell off that treadmill they had been riding to mediocrity since the beginning of May, and they landed with a thud in Saturday night’s dud of a 4-3 defeat to the Braves at Citi Field that leaves alarm bells ringing for the defending NL champions.
Because seven weeks of so-so baseball, in which the team had gone 21-23, turned into a ghastly display that provided all the explanations necessary as to why the Mets had fallen 6 ½ games behind the Nationals and off the NL East division lead, pending the result of Washington’s game in San Diego later Saturday.
It is the furthest the Mets have been out of first place since the end of the 2014 season. Following a slothful display like this one, it is a wonder they are even that close.
Whoa, boy.
Honestly. David Wright … Lucas Duda … Travis d’Arnaud … there is no excuse for this one, in which the Mets held a 3-0 lead through four innings with Steven Matz dealing from the mound. There is no excuse for the way the winning run scored in eighth: Curtis Granderson got caught napping in right field and soft-tossed following a double-clutch that allowed Ender Inciarte to tag up from second to third, from where he raced home to score with two out on a wild pitch that dribbled no more than 12 feet behind the plate.
There is no excuse for Wilmer Flores to be cut down at home as the first out of the bottom of the ninth, waved in from first base by third-base coach Tim Teufel on James Loney’s drive to the left-center field gap, only to be cut down by Erick Aybar’s perfect relay throw.
“You can’t lose these games,” manager Terry Collins said after his team indeed did lose for the second straight night against the NL’s worst team and for the fifth time in the last seven overall. “You have to win these when times are tough.”
It was tough from the get-go for the Mets — probably tougher than they imagined. The injuries have taken their toll. The boom-or-bust offense, which yielded solo home runs from Yoenis Cespedes (his second in 75 at-bats dating to May 23) and Flores, has produced the third fewest runs in the NL. And though the “Wave the Waiting Period for Cooperstown Rotation” has been very good, it hardly has been transcendent.
There has been something missing. Energy, maybe. The Spirit of ’15, too. The Mets are plodding through the first half, winners of just 21 of 45 games since the end of April. They seem to lack inspiration.
Where do the Mets get that inspiration? Apparently from playing the Nationals. For when Collins was asked before the game whether the six-game gap between the clubs created any sense of urgency even at this relatively early date, the manager responded this way:
“Of course there is, but do we talk about it? No. You’ve got to play,” is what he said. “We’ve got Washington seven times in the next two weeks. We’ll be ready for it.”
A year ago, the Mets used a pair of three-game summer sweeps over the Nationals as the springboard to the division title. Now, Collins’ sights are set on the three-game set between the clubs in Washington from June 27-29 that will precede four in Queens early next month that lead directly into the All-Star break.
“I’ve always thought about our team [that] when we need to pick it up, we do,” Collins said. “When we play the Nationals, or good teams, for some reason there’s more energy. We’ve got to be ready.
“To be honest, that’s the fun part of playing in this league: playing against the best. That’s why last year was so special because of what we accomplished and how we did it with as rough a first half as we had.”
But there is the matter of games against the Braves and the Brewers and the Pirates … and all those teams against whom the Mets apparently have to manufacture their own energy and inspiration. There are games like this one, for which the Mets have no explanation.
It is still way too early to obsess over the standings, but the fact is that the Mets left the field on Saturday 6 ½ games behind the Nationals — and looking as if that’s exactly where they belong.