Juan Soto, Mets seem to have no answer for latest swoon as wild-card lead shrinks

The New York Mets lost a fifth straight game on Wednesday night when they suffered an 11-3 defeat at a Philadelphia Phillies side that's running away with the National League East division title. 

Mets outfielder Juan Soto essentially admitted he and his teammates are scrambling to find a way to save the club's playoff hopes. 

Juan Soto insists Mets aren't quitting

"We're trying to figure out what is going on, but we're definitely working," Soto said, per Andrew Tredinnick of NorthJersey.com. "Those guys out there, they're working really hard from top to bottom. They come in every day. They come in early, do their stuff. We're doing anything we can to try to get out of it."

Such comments will do little to eliminate the concerns of fans who have watched the Mets become arguably the biggest MLB letdown of the summer. According to StatMuse, the Mets have gone 31-46 in their last 77 games since they ended June 12 at 45-24. Will Sammon of The Athletic noted that the Mets have now had five four-game losing streaks since the start of June.

"It's a tough stretch right now," Soto added. "We just gotta find a way to play better baseball. Attack early, try to come out, and give some room to the starter so they can work a little bit more freely."

Credit Soto for remaining optimistic, but it seems he and others have no answer for why the Mets have largely been a bad team over the past three months. During a recent chat with Abbey Mastracco of the New York Daily News, first baseman Pete Alonso acknowledged he was "puzzled" regarding why the Mets are 0-60 this season when trailing after the eighth inning of a game. According to Mastracco, the 2025 Mets fell to 26-43 when the opponent scores first on Tuesday night. 

Mets manager urges his players to fight 

"We're good, but we gotta play better," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said after his team's latest loss. "We gotta fight. We're in the middle of it. There's no time to feel sorry. You gotta fight. What's in the past is in the past, and we gotta continue to take it one game at a time."

The Mets hold a two-game lead over the San Francisco Giants and Cincinnati Reds for the final wild-card postseason berth. If the Mets don't soon show some fight, they could find themselves outside of the playoff spots in the standings by the time Monday morning arrives.