After a rough game in which starter David Peterson could only record one out, the New York Mets lost, 6-3, to the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday and were handed their first three-game sweep of the season.
Just when they need wins the most, the Mets go out and lose three straight against a team that has no playoff hopes.
That’s baseball: it happens sometimes, even to the best teams.
The Mets are trying to hold off the Atlanta Braves and the St. Louis Cardinals in the standings: the former play in the same division, but the latter leads the NL Central and could secure a first-round playoff bye if they finish with a better record than both NL East foes.
A Three-Way Race For The First-Round Bye
At the moment, the Mets are up half a game over the Braves and 4.5 games over the Cards.
Anything can happen: the Los Angeles Dodgers are likely ticketed for one of the byes.
The other one will likely result of the three-way race between Mets, Braves, and Cards.
The Mets, losers of six of their last 10 games, need to start winning again or they risk having to play in the playoffs’ Wild Card series.
“Buck Showalter: ‘It’s there for us. It’s all there for us. We control it. That would be frustrating if we didn’t. It’s the old thing that we’ve been talking about all year. It’s called, ‘Play better,'” Mets insider Anthony DiComo tweeted after a chat with the skipper.
Buck Showalter: "It's there for us. It's all there for us. We control it. That would be frustrating if we didn't. It's the old thing that we've been talking about all year. It's called, 'Play better.'"
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) September 15, 2022
The Mets will now play a series with another poor team, the Pittsburgh Pirates.
They need to secure the win to stop the bleeding and position themselves well for the stretch run.
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