The worst loss of the season

Going into this series against first place Washington, I really wanted the Mets to win 2 of 3. The Nationals are missing four everyday players and the Mets were able to avoid the dominant Max Scherzer. After splitting the first two games, it came down to the rubber match this afternoon. After this game, they'd either be a game out of first place or three games out of first.

The Mets were leading 3-0 early and 3-1 after five innings. Noah Syndergaard didn't have his best stuff, but he worked his way through five innings. Hansel Robles escaped two outs and nobody on in the sixth. Jenrry Mejia came in and shut Washington down in the seventh. And then came the eighth. The freaking eighth. Bobby Parnell had been a good pitcher this season since coming back from Tommy John surgery. One run allowed in 13 innings. And he starts off striking out the Mets killer, Wilson Ramos. Then Ian Desmond walked. When Matt den Dekker singled, I knew it was trouble. This stiff is their 8th place hitter, a former Met, and the Mets couldn't get him out once today. Then pinch-hitter Tyler Moore lines out. two down. Up comes Michael Taylor, a bench player who has done almost nothing in his career. Single. Two runs score. Tie game. With two down, this is where the genius manager Terry Collins needs to bring in his lights out closer into the game. This is the biggest game of the year and Jeurys Familia needs to be pitching to Danny Espinosa. But Collins doesn't have him up yet. And Espinosa gets a double to left field. Right there, the game was over.

Meanwhile, the Mets offense went into the tank. No baserunners after the fifth inning. And the last three hitters all struck out. This is unquestionably the worst loss of the 2015 season. In fact, it may be the worst loss the Mets have had since 2009. They are hanging on barely to the division race and wild card race only because of their starting pitching and closer. They play brutal defense, they have no team speed, and they have the absolute worst offense in baseball. Second fewest runs scored, fewest hits, and lowest batting average.

And now they get to face the West division-leading L.A. Dodgers with Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw, probably the two best pitchers in the game. The Mets have been notorious for getting off to decent starts in recent years before collapsing in the second half. That's exactly where this is going. Because a loss like that will kill seasons. And with this front office's unwillingness to call up Michael Conforto or to trade for a legitimate hitter, this season will just slowly, quietly, painfully fade into the abyss. But why should any of us as Mets fans be surprised?