Well, on the bright side, Zack Wheeler threw just 100 pitches, and Jenrry Mejia didn't fire up any opponents with on-the-mound antics Saturday night at Citi Field.
Then again, Wheeler couldn't pick up even one out in the fifth inning, and Mejia took the night off thanks to his team coming nowhere close to a save situation.
The Mets suffered a 10-3 loss to the Nationals on a night characterized by lousy weather and even lousier baseball — and the result decreased the Mets' already minuscule chances to pull off a miracle postseason run. With a steady mist hovering for the first half of the game, Wheeler recorded one of his worst outings of the season, and a terrible Mets defense intensified the agony by committing four errors.
At 72-77, the Mets fell 13 games behind the NL East-leading Nationals (84-63) with 13 games left, so they officially can be eliminated from the division race if they drop Sunday's series finale to Washington. They remained 6 ¹/₂ games behind Pittsburgh (78-70) in the hunt for the NL's second wild-card, thanks to the Pirates' 6-4 loss to the Cubs.
They also took a hit on their more realistic goal of finishing the season at .500 or better. In fact, this game served as a road map for how the Mets can ensure a sixth straight season under .500.
Though only the toughest grader would deny Wheeler has developed and improved in 2014, there remain too many games when the 24-year-old appears adrift and unsteady. This proved to very much be one of those games. He lasted just four-plus innings while giving up six runs, seven hits and two walks — arguably his worst outing since a June 25 loss to Oakland here at Citi, when he lasted just two innings and allowed six runs. He struck out four as his ERA shot up from 3.38 to 3.61.
His pitch count skyrocketed, as often is his problem, and Mets manager Terry Collins yanked him after he had thrown precisely 100 pitches to record just 12 outs. As The Post's Mike Puma reported last week, Collins allowed Wheeler to throw 335 pitches over a three-start stretch in August, which drew the ire of the Mets' front office.
Earlier Saturday, Collins spoke with his excitable closer Mejia about toning down his end-of-game celebrations following a particularly raucous such display Friday night. Because the Nationals cruised to their 27th victory in their last 32 games here at Citi, this turned into a non-issue. Fittingly, Washington shortstop Ian Desmond, whom Mejia struck out for the save Friday and then pretended to "catch" with a pantomime finishing reel, did the most damage with three hits, a walk, two stolen bases, three runs scored and three RBIs.
The fifth inning turned out to be the game-killer for the Mets, as the Nationals (84-63) sent nine batters to the plate and scored three runs, doubling their lead from 3-0 to 6-0. Wheeler departed with one run in and Nationals on second and third; Gonzalez Germen entered and, after striking out Adam LaRoche, served up a two-run single to Desmond.
Wilmer Flores' two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth drew the Mets slightly closer, and Curtis Granderson added an RBI single in the sixth. Nevertheless, Washington picked up insurance scores in the sixth and eighth, and the Mets' offense ultimately couldn't pull off the comeback.
The Nationals jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second when Wheeler walked the leadoff batter Desmond and served up a full-count fastball to Bryce Harper that the 21-year-old pummeled into the Pepsi Porch for a 2-0 Washington lead.
Washington added a run in the fourth without putting the ball out of the infield, the rally lowlighted by Travis d'Arnaud's throwing error into left field when he attempted to catch Desmond stealing third.
That started the parade of miscues for the Mets. Rookie second baseman Dilson Herrera made a bad throw on Denard Span's grounder to start the sixth; center fielder Juan Lagares bobbled the very next batter Anthony Rendon's single, allowing Span to advance to third; and Flores threw wildly on an attempted double-play grounder by Jayson Werth, allowing Werth to reach second. Vic Black represented on the pitchers' behalf when he contributed an eighth-inning wild pitch.
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