DOWN & OUT
WASHINGTON — The dream is dead.
Realistically, it was over several days ago for the Mets, if not earlier, but at 5:44 p.m. on Saturday it became official with J.D. Davis’ strikeout against Will Harris. For a fourth straight year the Mets will be absent from the postseason.
Jacob deGrom wasn’t enough deGrom, and the lineup behind him couldn’t produce enough juice in a 4-3 loss to the Nationals in the first game of a doubleheader that eliminated the Mets from postseason consideration. The Mets also lost the nightcap, 5-3.
“It’s the toughest loss of the year because it takes us out from what we’re trying to achieve,” manager Luis Rojas said after Game 1. “It’s not the season that we anticipated because we felt we were going to be part of that playoff group and we didn’t achieve our goal.”
The Mets had managed to stay alive into Saturday, as the last NL wildcard spot remained open, with the Giants, Phillies and Brewers all in better position to claim that prize. Even if the Mets had won their remaining three games they would have needed plenty of help to secure the berth.
“There’s a lot of disappointment,” deGrom said. “We were excited coming into this year, looking forward to playing a full season and once that kind of got shut down and the summer started up we were excited for that. Unfortunately we didn’t make it.
“We let some games get away, including today. I have got to do a better job today. These guys went out there and put up runs for me, and I couldn’t put up zeroes for them.”
Miguel Castro was charged with the goahead run in the sixth in Game 1, after walking the inning’s leadoff batter, Brock Holt. Yan Gomes’ ensuing single and a fielder’s choice later, the Nationals had their first lead.
Only adding to the Mets’ angst of missing the playoffs this season was a postseason expansion in which eight teams from each league will qualify instead of just five.
But the Mets fell behind early in the race and never recovered. Most notably, a thin rotation became even weaker with Marcus Stroman’s opt out from the season as he neared a return from a calf injury. The Mets also received disappointing seasons from Michael Wacha and Steven Matz, in particular.
“We were pushing the whole time,” Rojas said. “We were playing a lot of catch-up baseball, it felt like.”
Any realistic hopes of a late-season Mets rally dissipated during the final homestand, in which the team went 2-4 against the Braves and Rays.
“I wish we had 100 more [games],” Pete Alonso said. “I feel this team is built to win.”
With the Reds’ Trevor Bauer in a comfortable position, deGrom probably needed a special afternoon to boost his chances of winning the Cy Young award for a third straight season. DeGrom was standard deGrom — electric and nasty — but not special.
DeGrom threw a season-high 113 pitches and was removed after five innings in which he allowed three earned runs on five hits with 10 strikeouts and two walks. The right-hander concluded with a 2.38 ERA and will finish as the NL leader with 103 strikeouts.
Bauer, who leads the NL with a 1.73 ERA, would have pitched Sunday on short rest if the Reds needed the victory. But the Reds clinched a postseason berth Friday night, removing Bauer from that start.
Asked who he sees as the Cy Young award winner, deGrom named Bauer and Yu Darvish as possibilities.
“I would have liked to have been there in the talks, but I don’t think today helped me,” deGrom said.
In the nightcap, Rick Porcello surrendered five runs, two of which were unearned, on eight hits over three innings. The veteran righthander, who will be a free agent after the season, finished with a 5.64 ERA.
Porcello, a New Jersey native who grew up rooting for the Mets, thanked the front office and team owners for the chance to live out a dream.
“I wish I could have performed better for the Mets fanbase and our ballclub,” Porcello said. “Unfortunately we’re out of time and that hasn’t happened and we’re not going to make the postseason. Those things stink.”