There might be games left on the schedule, but you’ll forgive Mets fans for believing the season over. A day after the team announced that Zack Wheeler would be shut down until 2019 due to workload, fan favorite Wilmer Flores was shut down for the year — diagnosed with early onset arthritis. The games already didn’t matter, but now each calendar day seems to bring new heartbreak.

The heartbreak at Nationals Park was less monumental, but a more-or-less solid Jason Vargas start (5.2 innings, three runs [two earned] and eight strikeouts) was nevertheless squandered by the bullpen who couldn’t protect a two-run lead, surrendering a pair in the eighth inning.

Vargas’ counterpart for the Nationals, Cy Young contender Max Scherzer struck out 13, bringing him to 290 strikeouts on the year, eclipsing his previous season high of 284 strikeouts in 2016. Scherzer went seven innings, surrendering three runs.

Outside their wobble in the eighth, the bullpen managed to hold the tie into extra innings.

Amed Rosario led off the 12th with a single off Nationals reliever Jefry Rodriguez and was sacrificed to second by Jeff McNeil. Two walks — an intentional one to Michael Conforto and an inadvertent one to Jay Bruce — loaded the bases for former National Jose Lobaton, who drove in Rosario with a sacrifice fly. Paul Sewald came in the bottom of the 12th for his second save.

Mickey Callaway was ejected by home plate umpire D.J. Reyburn in the top of the 10th. In the bottom of the 12th, Reyburn ejected Bryce Harper after a called third strike, for balance.

Conforto continued his good hitting against Scherzer, one of the best pitchers to ever play the game, with a two-run home run in the third to begin the scoring (and three walks). Bruce followed with a solo home run — but that was as mortal as Scherzer ever got. Anthony Rendon continued to be a Met killer, driving in three runs.

The road trip continues tonight as Jacob deGrom (8-9, 1.78) faces Joe Ross (0-0, 3.60) at Nationals Park; first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

For most of the evening, Wheeler found himself locked in a tight pitcher’s duel with Giants’ lefty Andrew Suarez as both hurlers left the opposing offense befuddled basically all night. Both men tossed seven innings, and of the 14 combined frames the starters pitched, eight were 1-2-3 innings.

The Mets’ first real threat came in the seventh when Jeff McNeil was hit by a pitch to start the inning and Austin Jackson followed with a single. After a Wilmer Flores fly out scooted McNeil to third, up stepped Jay Bruce with a golden opportunity to break the ice in this one and push the game’s first run across. Instead, the veteran bounced into an inning-ending 3-6-3 double play to send the momentum back to the home dugout. And San Francisco would take advantage.

Brandon Belt pulled the first pitch of the home seventh down the right field line for a lead-off double, and he advanced to third base on a groundout. Young Chris Shaw, playing in his first Major League game, then got just enough of a fly ball to center to put the Giants up 1-0.

The Mets briefly threatened in the eighth when Brandon Nimmo doubled with one out against San Francisco’s Tony Watson, but the veteran southpaw was able to get Jose Reyes and Michael Conforto out to end the threat. And in the bottom of that inning, the Giants were able to easily put the game out of reach.

Young catcher Aramis Garcia crushed his first big league bomb to lead off the inning and, before the frame was over, Robert Gsellman, Daniel Zamora, Drew Smith and Jacob Rhame would combine to allow six Giants to score and put the Mets down 7-0. New York went down 1-2-3 in the ninth against Ty Blach to end a disappointing series opener for New York.

Up next, the Mets will send Steven Matz to the bump against fellow left hander Derek Holland later this afternoon.

 Photo credit: Stan Szeto – USA Today Sports

Vargas held the free-falling Washington Nationals scoreless over six impressive frames on Friday night, allowing only three hits and punching out a season high eight hitters as the Mets took the series opener from their D.C. rivals, 3-0.

After Vargas had retired the Nats’ in order in the top of the first, the Mets offense got off to a fast start against Gio Gonzalez in the bottom half of the frame. Amed Rosario led off with a single and then stole second base, and two batters later the speedy shortstop scored on a Wilmer Flores single. In the second, Vargas got himself into immediate trouble when Ryan Zimmerman and Juan Soto singled to start the inning, but the southpaw wiggled out of the jam by retiring the next three Washington hitters.

New York threatened in the home 2nd but couldn’t push a run across, and after an uneventful third inning, the game went to the fourth with the Mets still up 1-0. It was here where Vargas delivered arguably his most impressive frame of 2018, striking out Bryce Harper, Zimmerman and Soto consecutively. The Mets got a two-out rally started in the bottom of the inning when Jose Bautista was hit by a pitch and Kevin Plawecki doubled, but Vargas himself struck out to end the frame.

In the fifth and sixth innings, Vargas retired six of seven hitters to end his outing, but New York was unable to extend their lead against Gonzalez despite getting runners in almost every frame all night.

The Mets turned the game over to Seth Lugo in the seventh, and Amazins’ dynamic bullpen weapon retired all six hitters he faced over two frames, striking out three. In the bottom of the eighth, with Gonzalez out of the game, New York was finally able to push across some insurance runs to put the game out of reach. Cult hero Jeff McNeil led off with a walk and reached second on a stolen base. The next two New York hitters were retired by righty Koda Glover, but Nationals manager Davey Martinez then summoned southpaw Tim Collins into the ballgame to face fresh-from-the-DL Jay Bruce. The left-handed slugger promptly deposited a fly ball over the right center field fence to extend the Mets’ lead to 3-0, which felt like an insurmountable sum with the lifelessness of the Washington offense.

Robert Gsellman came on to record the final three outs of the game to close out his eighth save of the season, and the home team was officially back in the New York groove.

Tonight Zack Wheeler will take the ball for New York opposing Washington righty Tanner Roark.

Photo credit: Andy Marlin – USA Today Sports

Looking at this game, what’s the hook? Why should you, the viewer, care about a bad team playing a mediocre team with two nondescript starters on the mound? These are the sort of questions I spend 15 minutes staring at a blank document debating at this point in the season.

Anyway, Steven Matz got the start against Chris Stratton. Matz is still on a pitch count after his stint on the disabled list and the Mets burned most of their bullpen Monday in their 13-inning loss, so that has the potential to be a disaster. At least it can’t get any worse then a dropped pop up that drives in the game-deciding run.

Game Recap

Matz’s evening did not get off to a stellar start. Andrew McCutchen walked to lead off the game and Evan Longoria launched a ball into the left field seats two batters later to give the Giants a quick 2-0 lead. Matz rebounded very nicely, however, setting down the next 12 Giants before allowing a one-out double to Gorkys Hernandez in the top of the fifth. Hernandez didn’t get any further, inducing a ground out and striking out Chris Stratton. It was an excellent, albeit short start, as Matz struck out five and allowed only two hits and one walk.

As has become tradition at this point, the Mets simply refused to score for their starter. Jeff McNeil and Wilmer Flores had singles in the bottom of the first, but a double play off the bat of Michael Conforto ended that threat. The Mets didn’t manage another hit until the fourth, on another McNeil single, and he was thrown out trying to steal second. Corey Oswalt, pitching in relief of Matz, didn’t get any help either, as the Mets again went down in order in the bottom of the sixth.

McNeil came through again in the seventh with another single, and this time the rest of the lineup got their act together. A double, sacrifice fly and an RBI single later, and the game was tied at two. In the eighth, McNeil struck again with an RBI double to give the Mets a 3-2 lead. After an intentional walk to Flores, Conforto lined an opposite field, three-run home run to put the game out of reach. Oswalt, who was brilliant in three innings of relief after being booted from the starting rotation, was rewarded, and Matz was off the hook.

Seth Lugo entered for the ninth and worked around singles from Evan Longoria and Austin Slater (the latter of which clanked off of Jose Bautista’s glove and should’ve been an error) to close out a 6-3 win. Fittingly, the final out was a ground ball to McNeil, who was very easily the start of the game. The win improves the Mets to 55-70 on the season, and Noah Syndergaard will take the mound tonight.

Thoughts from the Game

McNeil is incredible and should 100% be the starting second baseman for the Mets next season. He’s now batting .318/.381/.455 on the season with two home runs in 99 PA, consistently making good contact and rarely swinging and missing. I’m not the first to make this comp, but he resembles an early-career Daniel Murphy in many ways, except McNeil is an actually competent second baseman. Every time he loses a start to Jose Reyes down the stretch is an insult to the team.

We got another extended rant from GKR about the shift in this one, after Zack Wheeler complained about a shift leading to a run-scoring bloop single in last night’s game. This time around, Ron kept talking about how “feel for the game” should change the shift at certain times, while also admitting to understanding and supporting the idea of playing the percentages. It’s an impressive bit of cognitive dissonance in order to get in a “back in my day” bit.

Other Mets News

Not much happening in Met land right now. David Wright finally broke through with two hits yesterday and had another hit today as he continues to rehab in St. Lucie. Jay Bruce has three hits of his own, and is probably pretty close to a return.

Photo credit: Noah K. Murray – USA Today Sports

Last night’s game started out innocently enough. Zack Wheeler looked as bad as he has in a while, struggling to make it through the first two innings while working through tons of traffic on the bases and needing over 50 pitches just to get through the first six outs. He struggled to put guys away and didn’t have much command of his secondaries; ultimately looking a lot like the Zack Wheeler of last season. But because the Orioles are bad, he was able to make it through those two innings with only one run given up.

Wheeler settled down in the third, though, and was able to get through five innings having only allowed the one run. Luckily for him, the Mets were able to build him a 5-1 lead by that point. The team had scored two in the first inning on a Wilmer Flores sac fly and a Todd Frazier single, two more in the fourth on an RBI single by Jose Bautista and a double by Brandon Nimmo, and Frazier added a solo shot in the fifth.

But they were just getting started. The Mets came to bat in the top of the sixth inning. Here’s how that inning went:

Out
Hit by pitch
Double
Triple
Walk
Out
Walk
Double
Walk
Grand Slam
Out.

Nine runs later, the Mets led 14-1. They wound up scoring 16 runs on the night, when Flores cranked a two-run homer in the ninth.

The Orioles are quite bad.

The grand slam was, of course, hit by Kevin Plawecki. He was also the player hit by the pitch earlier in the frame, meaning he was the only Met who actually reached base twice that inning. Now, the entire offensive showing here is far too extensive to give any more of a blow-by-blow, so perhaps we should just highlight these offensive standouts for the night:

Brandon Nimmo: 5-for-5, 3 runs scored, 2 doubles, 3 RBI - He was a home run short of the cycle. After the game, he said he was honored to even have the chance to complete the cycle, because of course he did.

Wilmer Flores: 2-for-5, 1 run scored, HR, 3 RBI,  – Wilmer continues to be a steady offensive contributer with consistent playing time. Who the heck would have thunk it?

Todd Frazier: 3-for-6, 2 runs scored, double, HR, 4 RBI – Yeah that’s a nice line and all, but why exactly was he DHing?

Jose Reyes: 2-for-5, 2 runs scored, triple, double – Hey cool sure whatever.

The Orioles are really not a good team.

OTHER NEWS OF THE DAY

David Wright went 0-for-3 with a walk and played seven innings at third base, while Jay Bruce went 2-for-4 in their rehab assignments with Port St. Lucie.

WHAT’S NEXT

The Mets go to the City of Brotherly Love to do battle with the Phillies in what will be a five-game series this weekend, beginning with a straight doubleheader today. Corey Oswalt will get the ball in game one at 4:05, while Steven Matz will toe the rubber in Game 2. The Phillies have not announced their starters for the doubleheader as of yet.

Photo credit: Evan Habeeb – USA Today Sports

On Friday night, the 28-year-old turned in his latest masterpiece, holding the Marlins to just two runs across seven innings, while allowing only four hits and racking up eight punch outs. While his rotation mate Jacob deGrom’s inability to earn consistent victories (through no fault of his own) has generated quite a bit of press, Wheeler won his fifth straight start on Friday, and he’s showing no signs of slowing down.

The game started out uneventful, with both sides going quietly in the first two frames, but New York used some two-out magic in the third to open the scoring. Jeff McNeil singled to start the rally, and then scampered to 3rd on an opposite field single from Wilmer Flores. Aided by some slick body contorting from Flores to avoid the inning ending with a runner being hit by a batted ball, Michael Conforto then snuck a ground ball up the middle to score McNeil and give the Mets a 1-0 lead.

Wheeler, meanwhile, was cruising, zipping through the first four innings without allowing a hit. Just when your mind started drifting a few innings ahead of itself and fantasizing about a special kind of night, Martin Prado brought you back to earth with a leadoff single in the fifth, but Wheeler easily navigated his way through the mini threat.

In the sixth, the Mets were able to bust the game open, and knock Miami starter Jose Urena out of the game in the process. Conforto led off the inning with a walk, and two batters later reached third on a hit from Todd Frazier. Somewhat surprisingly productive pick-up Austin Jackson then plated Conforto with a run scoring single up the middle, a hit that sent Urena to the showers. On came Drew Rucinski out of the Marlins’ bullpen, and he was unable to put out the fire. His first pitch hit Kevin Plawecki to load the bases, and, two batters later, Amed Rosario drove in two with his third hit of the night, completing a three-run frame that put the Mets up 4-0.

Wheeler kept dominating into the seventh, where he struck out the first two batters, but then a brief blip put a damper on his night. Rafael Ortega singled to center, an at-bat that pushed Wheeler over the 100-pitch mark, and Miguel Rojas followed with a long two-run homer to break up the shutout attempt and end Wheeler’s 23-inning scoreless streak. The blast cut the New York lead in half, and while Wheeler did strike out J.T. Riddle to end the inning, he looked visibly irritated as he walked off the mound.

While the Marlins temporarily had climbed back into the game, that development was exceptionally short lived.

In the next half inning, the Mets were able to get those two runs right back when Todd Frazier and Jackson both singled and then scored on a Plawecki hit against Miami righty Javy Guerra.

Seth Lugo pitched a 1-2-3 eighth for New York before Jerry Blevins and Drew Smith combined to finish off the 6-2 victory in the ninth.

Tonight the Mets will look to win for the fourth time in five contests, when they send righty Corey Oswalt to the mound against Dan Straily.

Photo credit: Jason Linlove – USA Today Sports

By no means am I optimistic about the future (I support the Mets), but yesterday showed the brilliance of Noah Syndergaard (until he lost control in the seventh inning) and none other than the knobless bat sensation, Mr. Jeff McNeil.

McNeil has been a revelation for the Mets since his promotion on July 24. The second baseman, who flashes a sweet swing that extends through the strike zone, was discussed quite extensively in our midseason prospect report.

The Mets got to the grossly overpaid and aging Homer Bailey with a flurry of hits in the first inning. Bailey just did not and does not have it. The three singles by Amed Rosario, McNeil and Wilmer Flores were a sign of what was to come.

Thanks to a Kevin Plawecki home run and another Flores single, the Mets were up 5-0 in the fourth and Bailey was run from the game.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, before Thor’s loss of command, McNeil – who ended the game 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored, rocketed a ball off of Keury Mella into the upper deck of Citi Field for an incorrectly estimated 400 feet.

Newly acquired Bobby Wahl presented the home crowd with a scare as he proceeded to walk Joey Votto with the bases load with a 6-0 lead, strike out Scooter Gennett and then allow a two-run single to the insanely underrated Eugenio Suarez. Thankfully for Mickey Callaway and co., Wahl was able to strike out former Yankee Mason Williams to end the inning.

Robert Gsellman and Jerry Blevins were able to shut the door, finishing out a game that, perhaps foolishly, gave the Mets’ fans and, well, the Mets, hope.

Hopefully, Jeff McNeil gets to produce games like this for the rest of the year and on Opening Day 2019.

Photo credit: Andy Marlin – USA Today Sports

On a humid and miserable night that ended with rain dampening whatever was left of the spirits of whatever was left of the Flushing faithful, the Mets limply lurched to another loss, while Atlanta played for a share of first place.

It wasn’t until the third when the Mets remembered they were the Mets, and Atlanta scored three runs to obliterate a a 1-1 tie.

Brandon Nimmo hit his 14th home run in the first inning (his third lead off home run of the year), and a pinch-hitting Luis Guillorme driving in Jose Reyes in the fifth accounted for all the Mets runs.

The closest the Mets came to changing the momentum came in the sixth, after Michael Conforto walked with one out; Wilmer Flores knocked a single into center that Ronald Acuña Jr. overran. Atlanta won their appeal of the tag play at second, and instead of the tying runs on base with one out, Todd Frazier popped out on the very next pitch.

Ozzie Albies and Johan Camargo drove in one and two runs, respectively, cementing their status as Mets killers. Usual suspect Freddie Freeman drove a run in as well.

Jason Vargas went five innings, surrendered four runs (all earned) and struck out seven. The Wilpons are paying $8 million a year for this.

Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz went six innings, holding the Mets to two runs and striking out five. Atlanta is paying him $2.2 million a year, for what it’s worth. A.J. Minter collected his seventh save on the year.

These two teams face each other again tonight, with Anibal Sanchez (5-3, 3.00) taking on human embodiment of pathos Jacob deGrom (5-6, 1.82). First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.

Photo credit: Adam Hunger – USA Today Sports

This series, however, was only two games, so only two of those types of games could fit into this series. And since the Mets are not good enough to even hold a lead over Washington, let alone beat them in an inspiring manner, that means these two games could only reflect the first two types of games mentioned there: the blowout and the frustrating loss. Tuesday night was the blowout, and yesterday, Gio Gonzalez didn’t pitch, but the Mets were still frustratingly shut-down by *checks notes* Tommy Milone.

Yes, that Tommy Milone.

The Mets mustered just one run on three hits in seven innings against literally Tommy Milone. He somehow struck out nine, which was the most batters he had struck out in a game since May 1, 2013. His game score of 76 was also his best since July 19, 2016.

And that one run the Mets scored against him was, of course, a solo home run hit by new Staff Ace Jose Reyes. It was his first of two homers on the day, raising his OPS all the way up to .549. His .191 batting average is now the closest it’s been to the Mendoza line all season, and I wish I was kidding. I’m not. This is the highest that both his OPS and average have been all season.

On the mound, Noah Syndergaard returned from hand, foot and mouth disease and struggled out of the gate, giving up a run in the bottom of the first, and then two more in the third on an Anthony Rendon homer. But Syndergaard settled down from there, retiring the next 12 hitters he faced and getting through the seventh without allowing any more runs to cross. The strikeout stuff wasn’t there — he only fanned four — but the velocity was back, which is a great sign that everything is back to normal and Syndergaard is free of the gross kiddie germs.

Not much else happened in this game worth discussing. Seth Lugo is still the only good reliever left on the team. Juan Soto aided Wilmer Flores into a home run. Austin Jackson looks like a waste.

It’s not gonna get any prettier, folks.

OTHER NEWS OF THE DAY

Steven Matz is experiencing the proverbial “forearm tightness.” Whooaa boy.

Tim Peterson was optioned for Noah Syndergaard’s spot on the roster.

WHAT’S NEXT

If you still care, the Mets return home and welcome in the Braves tonight for a four-game set at 7:10 p.m. ET. Jason Vargas goes against Mike Foltynewicz. Hey, both guys have been All-Stars in the last two years.

Photo credit: Brad Mills – USA Today Sports

Zack and Jake are still here. That’s good! Bautista and Mesoraco are still here. That’s bad. Both will pass through waivers. That’s good! The Nationals didn’t blow it up. That’s bad. This game (Steven Matz vs Tanner Roark to start a two game set in D.C.) comes with free frogurt. That’s good! The frogurt is cursed. That’s bad. Jose Reyes isn’t starting. That’s good. Jose Reyes contains potassium benzoate.

If you’re ready to leave now, get in line with the rest of the Mets fans who wish this season was just over already.

Game Recap

There’s a great scene in “Moneyball,” where Billy Beane is driving to see Oakland’s minor league team while the major league team plays for the 20-game win streak. His daughter calls and tells him to come back and watch the game, at which point he turns on the radio and hears the broadcaster simply say, “If you’re just joining us, you’ve missed a lot. I think my recap will be simple: the A’s scored six in the first, one in the second and four in the third.” Beane proceeds to make a U-turn, return to the stadium and watch the A’s finish their historic streak in truly stupendous fashion on Scott Hatterberg’s walkoff home run.

So on that note, you’ve missed a lot. I think I’ll keep the recap simple: the Nationals scored seven in the first, three in the second, three in the third, three in the fourth, three in the fifth, six in the eighth and beat the Mets into the ground by a final score of 25-4. Steven Matz was awful, and the cavalcade of relievers the Mets sent out were just as bad for the most part. Wilmer Flores left the game in the first with dizziness and dehydration, and he was probably the lucky one.

There were a couple of bright moments. Jeff McNeil hit his first career home run off the facing of the second deck in right. A Michael Conforto double and a home run from Austin Jackson led to a three-run rally that really pissed off Nationals reliever Shawn Kelley, which was amusing.We also got to see Jose Reyes pitch and get destroyed, which was somewhat cathartic. Other than that, this was a game you were better off missing.

Thoughts from the Game

The only major thought from this game is man, do the Mets have a lot of work to do in their bullpen. Most of the relievers they traded for at the deadline last year are bad, and for some reason, several intriguing arms are still lingering in the minors or sit unused in the bullpen. Tyler Bashlor, Drew Smith, Eric Hanhold, Stephen Villines, Adonis Uceta and the newly acquired Bobby Wahl should all see significant major league action the rest of the season to evaluate their viability for 2019. I’m sure the Mets will just opt to track down Chris Beck again though, because that’s just how they roll.

Other Mets News

The Mets let the trade deadline pass without making any moves. In a vacuum, that’s not entirely surprising; the roster is a mix of guys who they really shouldn’t move (Jacob deGrom and Zack Wheeler) and rental pieces that don’t have much value (Jose Bautista and Devin Mesoraco). The latter group will almost certainly pass through waivers, meaning the Mets still have another month to snag a couple more marginal pieces.

More concerning than the lack of moves was the press conference that followed. John Rico came out and said the Mets haven’t decided whether they’ll go for it or rebuild for 2019. Commentary on which direction makes more sense aside, this is the latest in what feels like a tsunami of examples of the incompetence and dysfunction within the front office. It’s baffling that a major league team would enter a trade deadline with what amounts to no long term plan, but it’s just par for the course for this organization.