Juan Soto takes hard stance on Mets' playoff hopes

For a team that has postseason aspirations, this was certainly a game, as well as a series, that New York should've won. After dropping two out of three to the Nationals, the Mets are now a season-high seven games behind the Philadelphia Phillies for first place in the NL East and just half a game in front of the Cincinnati Reds for the third and final wild card spot.

And since winning seven straight games and sweeping the San Francisco Giants from July 25 to 27, the Mets have gone 5-16, resulting in their dreaded freefall in the standings.

"It ain't late but it ain't early either," Soto said on the Mets' sense of urgency. "We don't have to be focused on what is going to happen in the future or what happened in the past; we got to focus on what we can do today."

Thursday's game was yet another example of how this season for the Amazins' has quickly gone downhill for them. For a third straight start, Sean Manaea failed to go deep into his outing, lasting 4.2 innings and blowing an early 3-0 lead. The Mets' bullpen, which was thought to be the team's biggest strength after the trade deadline moves they made, once again struggled and the offense went silent against a Nationals bullpen that is the worst in all of baseball.

With the month of September on the horizon, the Mets are about to embark on the toughest part of their schedule as they will be going up against six teams during that month, all with winning records, fighting for a playoff spot.

Soto may still have faith in the Mets' chances to play October baseball once the regular season comes to an end. However, they must prove it on the baseball field over these last several weeks of the regular season, especially against teams like the Nationals that they're expected to beat.