NEW YORK – The Mets’ season may have just gone up in smoke.
Dark clouds hung over Citi Field and sirens could be heard in the distance as the Braves polished off a 7-0 win over the Mets on Sunday.
Inside, the Mets dug themselves an even greater hole with only a week to climb out.
Rick Porcello delivered one of his finest starts this year, but it wasn’t enough to bail the Mets out of this one. Their lineup produced only three hits and showed little life until it was too late.
Ronald Acuna drove in four runs and old friend Travis d’Arnaud continue to punish his old team with a two-out, two-run double. An error by Chasen Schreve came back to haunt the Mets when the Braves scored four insurance runs in the ninth. The scene got even more bizarre moments later when gray smoke clouds began filling the hazy air.
Now the Mets have seven games to try to save their season. The next three will come at home against the first-place Tampa Bay Rays.
“We know that if we want to make the playoffs, we have to go out there and try to win every game,” Robinson Cano said. “That’s our goal and we’re going to keep fighting until the end.”
The Mets (24-29) started the day 1.5 games back in the Wild Card race, with a 17.3% chance of making the playoffs. Every game now feels like a must-win. It’s why wasting a gem like the one Porcello threw is so devastating.
Porcello, who is from Chester, allowed one run on three hits over seven innings of work. He fanned 10 batters to pick up his sixth career game with double-digit strikeouts. One of his only mistakes came in the sixth inning when Acuna went deep to right.
Porcello (5.46 ERA) has struggled mightily in his first season in New York, but was in complete command Sunday. He painted the corners with his sinker and shut down one of the league’s best lineups. He even picked a runner off first base.
The only problem was the Mets weren’t able to get him help. Braves starter Kyle Wright kept putting zeroes on the board over 6 1/3 innings. J.D. Davis chased him out of the game with a one-out walk, but Dominic Smith then rolled into an inning-ending double play.
“We’re going to fight until the end,” Cano said. “We know what kind of team we have. We know we’re going to face tough situations and tough games.”
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