The Mets must attain the playoffs and win the wild-card spherical if they'll play once more at Citi Area this season.
Positive, it might occur.
Or the Mets might merely name it a season when the final recreation on the schedule is performed subsequent Sunday in Miami.
The fact of that chance crept nearer on Sunday with a 3-2 loss to the Nationals that left the Mets in critical scoreboard-watching mode.
With the loss, the Mets' lead on the Reds for the NL's third and remaining wild-card spot shriveled to a half-game on the Reds, who had been dealing with the Cubs in a later end.
A Reds victory would formally put the Mets in chase mode: Cincinnati owns the tiebreaker between the 2 groups.
Jacob Younger's second highlight-reel catch of the sport helped seal it: the Nationals middle fielder reached above the fence in left-center to rob Francisco Alvarez of a game-tying homer main off the underside of the ninth.
For a second straight day, the Mets couldn't produce sufficient offensively to deal with a Nationals staff about to complete final within the NL East. The Mets went 2-4 of their remaining two sequence in opposition to the Nationals.
Sean Manaea, returning to beginning responsibility following a bullpen look final week, lasted simply three innings and allowed three earned runs on 4 hits with three strikeouts. Clay Holmes piggybacked Manaea and pitched 3 ²/₃ scoreless innings. It was a reversal from Tuesday, when Manaea piggybacked Holmes.
Manaea fell right into a 3-0 gap within the second inning. Jorge Alfaro stroked a double and Daylen Lile, who had been operating from first base, scored on the play after Francisco Lindor took the cutoff and threw errantly to second base, making an attempt to nail Lile. With two outs, Nasim Nuñez cleared the left-field fence for a two-run homer.
The Mets pulled to inside 3-1 within the backside of the inning as Cedric Mullins adopted Luis Torrens' leadoff double with an RBI single.
On the play, Lile slid into the aspect wall and misplaced the ball. Umpires signaled a timeout for the damage, sending Mullins again to first base after he had initially been dominated out at second.
However any likelihood of a giant inning was erased when Lindor lined to first base to begin a double play. Juan Soto adopted with a double and reached third on a balk earlier than he was left stranded.
Younger's circus catch in middle robbed Brett Baty of an extra-base hit within the fifth.
Younger hit the fence, bobbled the ball after which kicked it midair (hacky sack model) into his glove for a jaw-dropping out.
Lindor homered main off the underside of the sixth in opposition to Jake Irvin to slice the Nationals' result in 3-2. The homer was Lindor's twenty eighth, leaving him inside two of becoming a member of Soto and Pete Alonso in giving the Mets three gamers with no less than 30 in a season, which might be a primary in franchise historical past.
Mark Vientos received ejected after protesting a verify swing that was dominated strike three to finish the sixth with two runners on base. Vientos, who slammed his bat in anger, was ejected by plate umpire John Tumpane.
Alonso singled with two outs within the eighth and reached second on a wild pitch earlier than Jeff McNeil was retired.
