Mets? Playoffs? Fudgetaboutit After Loss to Dodgers

DODGERS 3 - METS 2 

It was a night that we have so many times in so many different ways. The New York Mets clung to a 2-1 lead virtually the entire game – until – in the late stages, the bullpen -- blew it again.

Rinse and repeat.

If the Mets, who are now four games behind the surging Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers for the National League’s final Wild Card slot, don’t make the playoffs, the Shakespearian tragedy that is the bullpen will be the reason why.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking that with 13 games to go that the Mets can somehow rally off enough victories to get in. It’s not happening. Not with a bullpen built by General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen, and poorly executed by Manager Mickey Callaway. 

Sunday’s 3-2 loss to the LA Dodgers was just another stark reminder that the Mets are not even close to being a legitimate playoff contender.

After getting two early runs on a two-run triple by Brandon Nimmo on a ball that appeared to go foul, but was called fair in the second inning, the Mets offense disappeared the rest of the night.

The Mets didn’t get a hit again until the seventh inning when Robinson Cano singled to left center with one out. Cano would be the last person to reach second base on the night when the next hitter JD Davis was hit in the back. Of course the Mets didn’t score as Nimmo and Amed Rosario both struck out.

Still the Mets held a 2-1 lead through seven innings, thanks in major part to a stellar effort by Zach Wheeler. Wheeler held the Dodgers to a run on six hits, while recording nine strikeouts. He walked none.

It was the fourth straight solid outing for Wheeler, and perhaps his best to date; and that is including the eight innings of shutout ball that he tossed against Miami on August 6.

So here the Mets were leading 2-1 in the eighth inning and the bullpen was at it again. This time it was Justin Wilson, the former Chicago Cub whom Van Wagenen brought in in the offseason.

After missing a large part of the year with injuries, Wilson has been fairly solid all season, until tonight.

After walking Jed Gyroko, Wilson balked, allowing Gyroko to move to second, and later threw a wild pitch allowing the runner to advance to third.

Finally Chris Taylor, a NLCS hero from two years ago for the Dodgers made the Mets pay, lining a double to right-center to tie it at two.

After walking Cody Bellinger intentionally, Wilson came back to strikeout Corey Seager, before Callaway removed him for Seth Lugo.

Lugo retired the side on a fly ball by Will Smith, but couldn’t keep the game tied in the ninth.

A double off the top of the wall in left by Kike Hernandez set the table for Gyroko who singled to center to drive in Hernandez to make it 3-2.

The Mets and their playoff chances were dead and buried.

Once again the Mets have teased their fans into thinking the playoffs were a legitimate possibility. The truth is this team is too flawed, and too poorly managed to be a playoff team. The Dodgers reminded them of that fact.