THE Mets lost to Byung-Hyun Kim, normally human surrender at this time of year. They lost to the Marlins, an absent-minded, last-place team. And they lost again at Shea Stadium, their eighth straight home setback.
That guaranteed the Mets lost what they have cherished most this season – first place. So a team that essentially had a World Series-or-bust mindset in February can now be eliminated from any postseason possibilities as early as today, the next-to-last-day of the regular season. In 16 days the Mets have gone from coasting with a seven-game lead to the brink of infamy.
“Do you take a step back and go, wow?” GM Omar Minaya asked. “Yes.”
From one step back, the Mets would easily see the culprits. The enemy wears blue and orange, and their home address is more apt than ever. Because the Mets are in the midst of Flushing away a division title, a playoff berth and their reputations.
“Personally I’m embarrassed,” said a choked-up David Wright soon after a 7-4 loss to the Marlins dropped the Mets one game behind (drum roll, please) alone-in-first Philadelphia. “It’s embarrassing. It’s pretty pathetic. We have this division in our grasp with seven home games and we can’t find a way to win any of them. It is a bad feeling. The fans deserve better. Ownership deserves better. The front office deserves better. Willie [Randolph] and his coaches deserve better. This on the players.”
Wright is correct on that. The Mets’ greatest foe right now is themselves. The organization that gave us “Ya’ Gotta Believe” just doesn’t. Not in itself. Not now. Not with these kind of performances at this time of year.
Over the past three nights, the Mets have lost to three different teams – the Nationals, Cardinals and Marlins – who combined are 44 games under .500. Meanwhile, the Phillies have won on corresponding days by beating Atlanta’s ace duo of Tim Hudson and John Smoltz plus the Washington team that has so tormented the Mets.
The Phillies’ 6-0 victory over the Nationals was posted on the scoreboard just after former Met farmhand Matt Lindstrom struck out Moises Alou as the potential tying run in the seventh inning. It was 10:07 p.m. But it felt like midnight for the Mets.
That is because the Phillies are playing like hungry contenders, the Mets like petrified frauds. They have no magic, and now their magic number to be eliminated in the NL East is two. They also are now two back in the wild card. They wake up this morning on the wrong side of the playoffs looking in, and that is what they deserve.
“We have made our bed,” Randolph said. “And now we have to live with it.”
They badly needed Oliver Perez to match his performance from last weekend when he overwhelmed the Marlins in Florida. Instead, Perez lost control of his stuff and the Mets lost control of their destiny. Perez walked two, each directly before a two-run hit. He tied a major league record by hitting three batters in an inning, which led to two runs in the third.
Of course, on this evening, the Mets’ rancid bullpen rallied to produce 51/3 innings of one-run ball. But this is who the Mets are now. Whatever phase they need to break down to lose, breaks down. Last night, it was Perez and a mostly inopportune offense.
The Mets never went down 1-2-3, but also did not do enough damage. Kim arrived with a reputation as an all-time choke artist and also with the majors’ worst ERA (.8.42) in September (minimum 25 innings). The Mets did score four times in five innings off Kim. But in their final 14 at-bats with men on base against Kim and four relievers, they had one hit.
Carlos Beltran – who hit a titanic homer earlier in the game, a two-run shot in the third inning that had drawn the Mets within 4-3 and made the team and the fans believe maybe, just maybe there was still fight in this group – popped out with a runner on to end the game. There was a smattering of boos, but mostly resignation.
It felt as if the fans had given up, just like their team.