The Mets are not making the playoffs for the fifth straight season. They haven’t been mathematically eliminated, but after a buoyant and hopeful three-game series against the Yankees at Citi Field last weekend, in which they won two of the games, the Mets have gone into a tailspin.
Their 6-3 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night on the road at Fenway Park dropped them to 73-78. They were seven games behind the first-place Atlanta Braves and four behind the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East division race. As for the chase for one of the two NL wildcard berths, the Mets were positioned behind five teams and were 8.5 games out of the second spot.
They finished up a two-game set with the Red Sox last night (Wednesday) and have 10 games left before the end of the regular season, beginning with a three-game series against the Brewers in Milwaukee, followed by four games versus the Miami Marlins next Tuesday through Thursday, and concluding with three in Atlanta facing the Braves on the weekend. The math and the Mets’ recent play isn’t favorable.
After an uplifting series against the Yankees, the Mets lost six of the next seven games before playing the Red Sox last night. During that span, they averaged just three runs per outing while giving up a little over six runs per contest. The Mets didn’t help the playoff cause of the Yankees, who are in a battle with the Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays for one of the two American League wildcard spots. The Yankees were 1.5 games behind the Red Sox and one half game below Toronto when yesterday’s Major League Baseball schedule began.
Mets starter Marcus Stroman took Tuesday’s loss. The Long Island native’s 9-13 record belies his solid season. The 30-year-old right hander has a 3.00 ERA and 1.14 WHIP. When he took the mound against the Red Sox, it was Stroman’s first start in seven days. He said the layoff had a demonstrable effect on the results.
“I know my body very well and I’m someone for the most part this year, I’ve been very good with my mechanics,” he said. “When my mechanics are off, it throws everything off. You aren’t able to locate as well and I knew it. I felt it kind of in the game, so that is why I kind of take it with a grain of salt.”