It was fun while it lasted. (As seen on Fox Sports NJ).
After 155 days in first place, the Mets are now looking up in the standings after suffering an hideous 6-3 loss to the Miami Marlins on Friday night. Coupled with Atlanta’s 6-4 win over the Seattle Mariners, and the Mets are now in second place, a half game out.
Can the Mets change things? Sure they can, but the feeling that this would be a season destined for postseason success, now feels like an opportunity quickly slipping away.
The Mets never led. Miami jumped out to a 2-0 lead and never looked back. The closest the Mets came to storming back came in the sixth inning when Pete Alonso crushed a two-run homer to bring the Mets to within a run, 4-3. In the seventh inning the Mets had the bases loaded with one out, but Francisco Lindor grounded into an inning end, and game killing, double-play.
The look of dejection in the dugout was real. Coupled and made worse when Joely Rodriguez served up a two-run homer to Charles Leblanc that put the game out of reach. And just like that, for the first time since April 11, the Mets were out of first place.
It's a tragic place the Mets find themselves in. A place they never thought they would be. For a large chunk of those 155 days in first place the Mets were the toast of the baseball world.
They carried themselves with incredible confidence. Edwin Diaz's "Narco" theme song became an international sensation. They had two of the best pitchers in baseball, and still won games when neither was able to pitch due to injury.
Instead, here are the Mets. They are 3-4 against the underbelly of what was supposed to be an easy schedule. While the Braves are the midst of a west coast trip, seeing the Mets lose to the likes of the Nationals, Pirates and Marlins is an opportunity missed.
What's more the injuries keep coming. Starling Marte is battling a broken finger, and Max Scherzer is out another week (at least) as he battles soreness on his side once again.
In addition the Mets inability to address needs in the bullpen and adding only spot starters to the lineup like Daniel Voglebach (who was fun to watch in August) and Darrin Ruff (who has struglged to catch on, is a harsh reminder that the front office didn't do enough to address the Mets needs at the Trade Deadline.
Now the Mets have to hope that the Braves start losing. And more importantly, they need to start playing better baseball.
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