Francisco Lindor speaks honestly about Mets' woes amid fears of missing the playoffs

Shortly after the New York Mets suffered a 9-3 loss at the rival Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza urged his players to show some "fight." 

The Mets then dropped a fifth straight game via Wednesday's 11-3 defeat at Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park. Then they lost their sixth straight game on Thursday night, 6-4. 

 Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor spoke with reporters about all that's gone wrong for the club during its latest disappointing stretch of play.

Francisco Lindor shares why the Mets are in trouble

"We haven’t been consistent," Lindor said, per John Flanigan of SNY. "It's just one of those years that things haven’t clicked for a long time — in baseball you have ups and downs. Those are guarantees, but you try to limit the downs and ride the highs as long as you can, and for some reason, it’s been a very wavy season. We are still in a position that we can make the year look completely different, and everyone here is pushing towards that, fighting to try to get on that wave and ride it as long as we can. Baseball is a game of momentum, and we haven’t been able to capitalize on the time we’ve had the momentum." 

The good news for Lindor and Co. is that they hold a 1.5-game lead over the San Francisco Giants and Cincinnati Reds for the final National League wild-card postseason berth. That said, StatMuse shows the Mets have gone 31-47 in their last 78 games after ending June 12 at 45-24. Such a run indicates the Mets simply aren't as good as people thought in the final days of spring.

The Athletic's Will Sammon noted that the Mets' starting pitching and bullpen are both liabilities. Meanwhile, the New York offense scored just 10runs over four straight losses to the Phillies. 

Francisco Lindor sends message to teammates amid losing streak

"We just have to stay optimistic, fight for each other and just play better," Lindor added. "I have to play better. I haven’t gotten a hit in this series, and at this point in the year, I have to get on-base and I have to help the team. [First baseman Pete Alonso] is having good at-bats. [Outfielder Brandon Nimmo] is having good at-bats. [Slugger Juan Soto] is having good at-bats. I have to be better for this team because, like I said, at the end of the year, it comes down to playing baseball the right way."

The clearly frustrated Mets will need to "play better" if they want to salvage their season.