When the Mets’ clubhouse door swung open Thursday night, Francisco Lindor was huddled with a handful of players, deep in conversation. A few others sat slumped in their chairs. A few minutes earlier, manager Carlos Mendoza spoke to the media in more subdued tones, a noticeable switch from the positive energy he usually tries to convey.
Of all the defeats, and there have been way too many for the Mets in the past two months, Thursday’s 4-3 loss to Atlanta felt different, and not just because the crowd of 41,782 filled Citi Field with loud boos.
A night earlier, Mendoza & Co. floundered through a rain-delayed slop-fest that was all kinds of ugly, blowing a 6-0 lead en route to getting pantsed, 11-6.
And yet the manner in which the Mets dropped Thursday’s series finale somehow stung more. It made us think, for really the first time, that falling short of the playoffs might actually be on the table for this team.
Why now? Because the Mets checked the boxes they needed to check — solid start from Kodai Senga, aggressive on the basepaths, timely hitting — only to set up their deadline-engineered super-pen and still come up short.
Tyler Rogers gave up a run on Ozzie Albies’ two-out RBI single in the sixth and Ryan Helsley was ripped for a pair of go-ahead runs in the eighth on back-to-back doubles by Michael Harris II and Albies.
“For everybody else to do the job and you not to do yours, it sucks,” said Helsley, who suffered his second blown save for the Mets. “You never want to be that guy and the reason the team loses. But all the other guys did a great job — the offense did a good job — just wasn’t able to pull through.”
On paper, it looks like a closely fought one-run loss. In reality, this was the kind of demoralizing defeat that stirs doubt in the minds of a team on the playoff bubble. That’s where the Mets currently reside, only a half-game ahead of the hard-charging Reds for the NL’s last wild-card spot.
“It’s tough,” said Lindor, who hit his 22nd homer, singled twice and stole a base. “But no matter what happens, we stay together, we fight for each other, we play for each other. It’s definitely a test we’re going through. It’s big adversity. Everyone here has a sense of urgency of trying to win, and want to win, and doing everything right. So it’s tough to deal with the ups and downs at the end of the night.”
Big picture, it’s mostly been downs for the Mets, who have lost 13 of their last 15 games and are 14 games under .500 (19-33) since June 13. Those are not promising trends for a team that has designs on playing in October. The Phillies lost to the Nationals, so the Mets also blew a chance to gain ground in the NL East as their deficit remained at five games.
“Obviously, we’re not playing well,” Mendoza said. “But there’s too much talent. We’re going through a very tough time right now. But there’s a lot of good players there and we just got to get through this. We can’t be looking at the standings. We know where we’re at. We haven’t played well, but we’re still right in the thick of things.”
That’s a very small consolation for a $333 million roster that had a 5 1⁄2-game lead in the division on June 12, when the Mets boasted MLB’s best-performing rotation. Since then, their starters had pitched the fewest innings (227) in the majors, averaging 4.45 per start in that 51-game span entering Thursday, with a 5.35 ERA that was the fourth-worst overall.
Which is why Senga’s performance Thursday night appeared so critical to any potential turnaround. The Mets finally got the serviceable outing from a starter they so desperately needed when he became the first to complete five innings in the last six tries and even looked like his best self (5 2⁄3 innings, two earned runs, walk, seven strikeouts). His fastball had pop, the ghost fork was ghosting, and yet it was all wasted.
The Mets had the W in their hand Thursday night, just as Mendoza would’ve drawn it up. They twice took leads, first on a third-inning homer by Lindor and again with a two-run rally in the sixth, fueled by a pair of stolen bases — 36 straight without getting caught, a franchise record — Brandon Nimmo’s sacrifice fly and Pete Alonso’s RBI single. The bullpen was all lined up, from Rogers to Helsley to Edwin Diaz. And that path to victory wound up being sabotaged by the very relievers the Mets imported at the deadline to finish the job. That’s an ominous sign.
“We understand that this situation sucks,” Lindor said. “But it’s part of the journey.”
For months, the assumption was that the 2025 Mets’ journey would extend deep into October, perhaps with a World Series trophy at the end. But that itinerary is looking sketchy right now, with Thursday’s loss — to hated Atlanta, of all teams — putting another sizable dent in those plans.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball’s Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
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