Thrill ride for Mets hits a bump as win streak ends

NEW YORK — As Geno Auriemma will tell you, all streaks — no matter how long or glorious — must come to an end. And this one did for the Mets in a 74 loss on Sunday afternoon.

The Mets went to the lefthander early, very early, in this one. New school president Thomas Katsouleas threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the team’s fourth annual UConn Day. And while no sane person could expect a major league baseball team to nearly approach the UConn women’s basketball team’s record 111 straight wins, Mets fans could be forgiven if they sensed something magical.

The Mets had won eight in a row, including two rousing comefrombehind victories over the Washington Nationals, and not only had 41,000 fans packed Citi Field, they had shown up loud and proud and itching for more.

After winning seven in a row and losing in Pittsburgh on Aug. 2, manager Mickey Callaway said, hey, “Let’s just start another streak.” The Mets did.

Every game this weekend was a thriller. Every one marked Mets comebacks. And with the sun rising Sunday, there was reason to believe the Mets, who had won a remarkable 15 of 16 games, were going to do something special again.

After all, no one pitches better when the sun is high than Jacob deGrom. Allowing 69 earned runs in 338 innings, deGrom has the best career ERA (1.84) in major league day games dating to 1913 of anyone with 200 innings pitched. He has a 1.97 ERA in 96 innings — day or night — since May 22.

DeGrom didn’t allow any earned runs in this one either, yet the only reason he didn’t take the loss was because the Mets charged back yet again.

The top of the first was a train wreck and, of course, Mets fans being Mets fans immediately filled social media with 140character dark clouds … Mets doing Mets things … the Mets are BACK … Mets Metsing … Nice while it lasted …

With the bases loaded and two outs, first baseman Pete Alonso made a diving stop on an Asdrubal Cabrera grounder in the hole. Alonso threw from his knees and deGrom, trying to cover first, stabbed at the ball. It bounced off his glove. One run in. Two runs. As deGrom tracked the ball in foul territory, Juan Soto raced toward the plate. DeGrom threw to Wilson Ramos and the Mets catcher couldn’t hold on. Three runs.

Alonso was charged with the error, although it certainly looked like deGrom could have caught it.

“I just need to hit him in the chest,” Alonso said. “Simple as that. I threw the ball over the bag, but he wasn’t quite there yet.”

“Jake even made the statement, ‘I should have had that,’” Callaway said. “Nobody’s fault. There are a lot of years of experience in that dugout and not one of us have seen a ball not leave the infield with the bases loaded and all three runs score. That was kind of tough. Something that never happens happened on that play.”

Yeah, the play was ugly. Callaway yelling at a Newsday writer in the last week of June ugly. Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen throwing a chair in

disgust during a postgame meeting ugly.

But, hey, these aren’t your old Mets from the last week of June or the first week of July.

These are your New NoLeadIsTooBigToOvercome Mets.

As the Mets came to bat in the bottom of the second, SNY reporter Steve Gelbs tracked down Auriemma at his seat. Although he grew up a staunch Phillies fan, Geno’s magic is known to spread throughout this great land of ours. And, sure enough, the more he talked the more alive came the Mets’ bats.

J.D. Davis singled to right off Anibal Sanchez and Ramos followed with a single to left. Joe Panik drove Davis home with a hit to rightcenter. After deGrom dropped a bunt single, Jeff McNeil drove a tworun double down the right field line to tie it at 3. CitiField was pulsating with noise.

If SNY let Geno keep talking the Mets might have won, 103.

Down 63 heading into the bottom of the ninth on Friday night, Todd Frazier clubbed a threerun homer to tie it. Michael Conforto lined the gamewinning hit to right field and the entire Mets team charged him, including injured Dominic Smith on his scooter. Alonso got so excited he ripped Conforto’s jersey off.

The Mets came back twice more Saturday. After Juan Soto put the Nationals ahead with his second homer of the game in the top of the eighth, pinchhitter Luis Guillorme stepped to the plate in the bottom of the inning. In 99 previous career atbats he had never

homered. He was a career .192 hitter. Of course, Guillorme homered off Fernando Rodney to tie it. Of course, Davis hit a sacrifice fly to win it.

These are the New Mets. These are the Mets, who according to FanGraphs had a 3.9 percent chance of making the postseason on July 25, yet entered Sunday with a 53 percent chance.

Sure, there are 44 games left, yet with a full park rocking and the Nats a tick ahead in the wildcard standings, this one sure felt a lot like October.

“It really did,” said Callaway, acknowledging each team used six relievers. “There was a lot of matching up. It felt like that crowdwise and the game developed like that.”

The Nationals took a 53 lead in the seventh when Cabrera doubled down the rightfield line off Robert Gsellman. When Cabrera was released last week by the Rangers, the Mets, who traded him last year and eschewed signing him in the offseason, tried to get Cabrera back. He signed with the rival Nationals. Maybe it takes an Old Met to beat the New Mets. Who knows?

We do know the Mets were dead in the water three weeks ago. Now, they’re the hottest thing going. Folks thought they would be pitchingsellers at the deadline. Instead they acquired Marcus Stroman, and Brodie keeps loading up the clubhouse with New YorkJersey guys. It’s getting local, and it’s getting crazy.

Soto rolled his ankle rounding third on the Cabrera double, got thrown out trying to hobble back and left the game. Instead of a potential fourrun rally,

the inning was over, and the Nationals’ young star was out. An omen? The Mets immediately pulled to 54 on a Conforto sacrifice fly. Yet Edwin Diaz entered in the ninth and you want to hear giddiness turn to boos in a New York minute? Victor Robles, who replaced Soto, jacked a tworun, twoout homer off a bad Diaz slider. All seven Washington runs came with two outs.

Callaway said the way the staff is set up, the Mets can’t afford to stop using Diaz in highleverage, closer situations. Although he said, he’ll pick his spots the way he did Saturday.

“The common denominator,” Callaway said, “is the pitches for home runs were over the middle of the plate.”

“I’m trying to get out of this rut,” Diaz said. “If I’m frustrated all (the) time, it’s only going to get worse.”

Still, this was an upbeat clubhouse afterward. Even cynics who had pointed to the easy opposition the Mets had faced, had to be impressed with this weekend.

“We had an opportunity to sweep and it’s unfortunate we didn’t,” Alonso said, “but we played really quality baseball. We’ve been challenged and all of us have risen and answered the bell. The way this team has fought all year it’s been remarkable …

“If we really turn it on and keep it turned, on we have a chance to win the division.”

Less than a month ago, folks would have questioned Pete Alonso’s sanity.