Vargas awful again, but

The Mets got good news in the morning and everything went downhill from there. After announcing they were hopeful that Jacob deGrom could make his next start after leaving Wednesday night’s game with a hyperextended elbow, the Mets lost their third straight game, a first this season, and got swept by the Braves. They were no-hit for 6.2 innings and eventually shut out 11-0 at Citi Field Thursday, less than 24 hours after they were shut out for the first time this year.

After watching everything fall back into a disturbing, familiar pattern around Citi Field, it makes you wonder why they would push their luck just to have deGrom face the Reds on Monday?

After an MRI on deGrom’s elbow showed no damage to the ligaments, Mets manager Mickey Callaway said they will prepare deGrom to make his next scheduled start.

That there was no damage to deGrom’s elbow was a huge break, of which the Mets have not gotten many in recent days. In fact, things have been a slog ever since a red-hot beginning to the season.

After starting off 11-1, the Mets have lost 11 of their last 17 games.

“I don’t think that our guys are giving up or not preparing or anything like that,” Callaway said. “So I am happy about that. Things have not gone well lately, that’s part of a long baseball season. You are going to have ups and downs. The main thing we have to do, continue to do the same things we did when we were going well and eventually things will come around.”

Key to the Mets coming around is deGrom staying healthy. Thursday’s debacle just emphasized how important deGrom’s health and success are to the club’s hopes this season.

While Noah Syndergaard has been healthy, he has not yet found that groove where he dominates lineups. Zack Wheeler, who began the year being demoted to the minor leagues, has also been inconsistent. Steven Matz, also inconsistent on the mound, has already had a start pushed back because of an upper back issue.

Matt Harvey, who gave up five runs on three hits