Forget about meaningful games in September.
If the Mets don’t get the Nationals out of Queens, they may never win another game.
In desperate need of victories, the Mets dropped their 10th straight game to Washington at Citi Field on Wednesday night, this one by the count of 3-2.
They made it interesting against Rafael Soriano in the ninth, as Travis d’Arnaud led off with a homer and Matt den Dekker was thrown out at home, preventing the tying run from scoring.
“They gave us every opportunity to get back in the game,” manager Terry Collins said. “This is a tough one. They gave us a chance to beat them.”
Den Dekker tried to score from third on Eric Campbell’s grounder to short with the infield in. He ran on contact and Ian Desmond’s throw to the plate beat him, but the Mets challenged that catcher Wilson Ramos didn’t give den Dekker a lane to get to the plate.
After a delay of 1:33, the call stood.
Collins and his players still seem unsure of what the rule is and exactly what a runner is allowed to do on the play.
“The way I hit him, there wasn’t really a lane to slide,” den Dekker said. “And not being able to run a guy over, your instincts are that you want to jar the ball loose and make a play happen.”
“I don’t really know the full interpretation of the rule,” said Curtis Granderson, who was on deck and hit a comebacker to Soriano to end the game. “Players are not 100 percent sure, but I know the umpires are. There’s still a little bit of a gray area there. Hopefully they clear it up soon.”
What remains clear is the Mets can’t find a way to beat the Nats at home.
And with whatever hope remains with the rest of their season, Collins knows they can’t afford to keep losing.
“We have to start winning some games against the Nationals if we’re going to have any opportunity to talk about how important September is,” Collins said before the game.
Especially when Washington makes three errors, as it did on Wednesday.
Lucas Duda scored from first on d’Arnaud’s routine fly to left with two outs in the fourth, when Nationals left fielder Kevin Fransden dropped the ball.
Washington scored twice in the seventh, but the , helped in part by a Juan Lagares throwing error from center. The Mets had a chance to rally in the bottom of the inning. They loaded the bases with one out to knock Jordan Zimmermann (8-5) out of the game, but Wilmer Flores grounded into a force out and pinch-hitter Kirk Nieuwenhuis struck out against Drew Storen.
Asdrubal Cabrera homered off Jeurys Familia in the eighth to make it 3-1.
But the Mets were done in more by their failure to produce in the clutch than the pair of runs — only one earned — starter Bartolo Colon surrendered and the Cabrera home run.
They were hitless in six at-bats with runners in scoring position on Wednesday after going 0-for-8 in those situations in Tuesday’s loss.
Colon, who fell to 11-10, wasn’t upset with the way he pitched, but he was frustrated with the Mets’ inability to stop their streak against the Nationals.
“They’re a good team and I pitched good,” Colon said through an interpreter. “I’m only mad we can’t stop [Washington] from beating us at home.”