Sad Mets Leave Los Angeles

When I reluctantly left sunny Los Angeles three years ago after living there for nine years, I couldn’t imagine anyone leaving that glorious city with a sadder look on their face than mine.  But after the way the Mets latest visit to Los Angeles went, I’m sure they looked as sad, if not sadder, than I did.

They dropped all four games by a combined score of 36-11. Mets pitching allowed an astonishing 15 home runs, the most they have ever allowed in a four-game series in franchise history.

Here are some more grim numbers. They are 10 games under .500 for the first time since September 2014.  They have lost seven out of their last eight games to fall 12 games back in the NL East and a whopping 14.5 games in the Wild Card chase.

Does this mean the Mets season is dead? No, but it is on life support. If the Mets hope to salvage anything resembling a run at the postseason, they have to turn things around, and right now. Fortunately, the upcoming schedule is favorable.

They play three in San Francisco against a last-place Giants team that looks worse than the Mets. Then they go to Miami to play the Marlins, which despite being ahead of the Mets in the standings are not a good team. Then they host the awful Phillies for a quick homestand.

The Mets need to go at least 7-2 over those nine games (they are allowed to lose one game in each San Francisco and Miami, and must sweep the Phillies at home) in order to get back into things. Because after this, they play three in D.C. and three in St. Louis before the All-Star break. They best they can likely achieve is a split of those six tough road games.

Even being five games under .500 at the break is not a great thing. But it’s better than 10 where the Mets are now, and gives them a least a chance to turn the frowns they wore to LAX upside down.