The Mets pulled a disappearing act Wednesday night at Citi Field.
Every time the Mets get a chance to change their losing story, they disappear.
No one disappeared quicker than starter Zack Wheeler, who was gone after two innings, fast and not so furious.
And when the night was over, the Mets’ three-game winning streak was a memory and the Athletics’ 8-5 shellacking of the Mets was another night to forget.
Wheeler was coming off the best start of his career, a 1-0 shutout over the Marlins, but on this night it was Matt Harvey, who worked up a bigger sweat in his rehab workout before the game than Wheeler did during his six outs, six hits, six runs of work, a career worst.
The Mets were down 2-0 after one inning, and six-zip after two, looking nothing like the team that had won five of its last six games.
No one expected the Mets to score in double figures for the third straight game.
They did get garbage-time home runs from Lucas Duda, a three-run, pinch-hit shot in the seventh, and a two-run blast by Chris Young, his third in two nights, in the eighth, but they couldn’t come all the way back from an 8-0 deficit.
“This is the big leagues, people don’t feel sorry for you, they kick you when you’re down,’’ Terry Collins said before the game. “So when we were down, we were kicking ourselves a lot of time. We knew we were better than we were playing. We continue to maintain that we are better than we played in the month of May.’’
They were 11-18 in May and are 10-13 in June.
The Mets were looking to put together their first four-game winning streak since last July. There have been 129 four-game winning streaks in MLB since then, none by the Mets.
But it was Wheeler’s performance that was the most troubling as he dropped to 3-8 with a 4.45 ERA.
Afterward, Wheeler talked about the A’s having his signs.
He’s young, he should learn not to make those kind of excuses.
Wheeler is not the next Harvey, and really shouldn’t be held up to the Harvey comparison. There is still some growing up to do here. He said “Everything’’ wasn’t working.
Brandon Moss unloaded on an 89-mph change-up in the first for a two-run home run deep into the Pepsi Porch. From that point on, the A’s owned Wheeler, who did not trust his fastball on this quick night of work.
The Mets were beaten by left-hander Brad Mills, acquired from the Brewers on June 17 for $1. Really, $1. Billy Beane strikes again.
After the game, the Mets sent Wilmer Flores back to Triple-A Las Vegas, meaning they will have six outfielders and no true backup shortstop in Pittsburgh. Interesting.
Duda did not start for the second straight night because Collins didn’t want to break up the offense that had put up a 10-spot.
On this night, Collins talked about his team finally having some fun with the towel waving and “car wash’’ runs in the dugouts.
“We need to start having some fun around here,’’ Collins said, telling the media, “people in this room sometimes can make this game a little difficult, so we needed to lighten it up. These guys started with the towel thing and we’re having some fun with it. Everybody does stuff that irritates the other team once in a while, but because it is throughout the league, it’s pretty much ignored.’’
There was a different waving of white towels Wednesday night at Citi Field after two innings.
Collins said he was hoping that Wheeler’s big win over the Marlins would send the young right-hander on his way to regular success.
It didn’t happen.
The A’s crushed the Yankees in two of three games two weekends ago in Oakland, and there is a reason the A’s have the best record in the majors at 48-30.
The Mets?
The offense has shown more life lately, but they are 36-42 and Wednesday night was another night to kick themselves, especially after Wheeler’s terrible two innings.