New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza is shouldering the blame after his team’s disastrous week, in which they were swept in a four-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
Following Thursday’s 6-4 loss, Mendoza told reporters “I’m responsible” for how the Mets played and he “will” get them going in the right direction with 15 games remaining in the regular season.
Thursday’s game was especially frustrating for the Mets because they jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning against Jesús Luzardo. Unfortunately, that was it for their offense because they didn’t have a runner reach base over the final eight innings.
The Phillies scored six unanswered runs, including three in the bottom of the sixth, to take the lead.
The Mets started the series trailing the Phillies by seven games in the NL East and likely needing a sweep to have any shot of winning the division. It didn’t seem that far-fetched since they swept a three-game series between these two teams in Queens from Aug. 25-27.
Philadelphia outscored the Mets 27-10 over the last four games. The Phillies’ magic number to clinch the NL East is down to five. They are also two games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs.
Conversely, New York now finds itself desperately clinging to the final wild card spot with a 1.5 game lead over the Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants.
The Mets have now lost six straight games and are 14-24 since Aug. 1. They are 35-36 against teams that are .500 or better. Nine of their final 15 games are against teams with winning records, starting with a three-game set against the Texas Rangers at Citi Field on Friday.
If Mets fans want a reason to be hopeful, their next nine games are at home where they are 45-27 this season.
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