What a difference five days can make.
By Saturday afternoon, the Mets were on a seven-game winning streak, beginning a soft 14-game stretch against the Nationals and Marlins with a 7-1 record.
However, by the end of Thursday evening, the Mets dropped their fourth contest in the last six games, losing a series in Miami, and finishing this weak stretch with a 9-5 record, which frankly isn't good enough.
The Mets lost 3-2 tonight to the Marlins. They held a 2-0 lead until the sixth inning, and you could see this one slipping away, as they failed with runners in scoring position time-and-again, going 0-for-7. Overall, they went 1-for-22 with runners in scoring position in this series. They've now lost 7-of-10 at LoanDepot Park this season to a Marlins team that is 59-81.
After the Marlins tied the game in the bottom of the seventh on a Brad Hand throwing error, Pete Alonso led off the top of the eighth with a triple. Alas, as they have done all season, the Mets couldn't drive him in with less than two outs.
That's when Jazz Chisholm proceeded to crush an upper deck homer in the bottom half off Jeurys Familia to give the Marlins a 3-2 lead that they wouldn't relinquish.
The Mets wasted a strong start from Marcus Stroman, who went 6.1 innings, allowing one run and striking out seven.
Javier Báez smashed his 29th home run of the season and also had a double on the night, but the rest of the Mets' lineup went a combined 2-for-27 against Marlins pitching.
Now, the Mets find themselves 70-71 and 4.5 games back in the NL East, barring the Braves-Nationals outcome.
They finished their road trip against the Nationals and Marlins with a 4-4 record. And their already slim playoff hopes just got slimmer.
The Mets will limp into the Subway Series against the sputtering Yankees this weekend. But with 21 games left, their odds of cracking the postseason are bleak at this point.
In what was a disappointing road trip, the Mets deficiencies were on full display, which is why we have seen their chances of playing in October slip away in the past month.
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