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For a team attempting to make a playoff push, the last three games were eye-opening for the Mets, who were swept in Seattle while getting outscored 22-1.
And since sweeping the Yankees in the Subway Series and then beating the Braves to open their following series at Citi Field, the Mets have gone 6-9.
Worse, they are 29-37 against teams above .500, nearly the worst among teams still in the postseason picture.
So what’s next?
Fortunately for the Mets, they have back-to-back series against current last-place teams at Citi Field, with the A’s coming to Queens on Tuesday, followed by the Marlins.
The A’s, though, are 14-8 since July 14 and no longer the laughingstock many expected them to be in their final season in Oakland.
Still, fighting to remain in the playoff race, the Mets understand the task at hand this week.
“It’s a good opportunity,’’ Francisco Lindor said after Sunday’s loss of the upcoming homestand. “We’ve got to maximize it.”
They believe they can, despite their inability to compete against what Lindor called “playoff-like pitching” in Seattle.
“We’ve got a good group here,’’ Luis Severino said. “I know we’re going through a tough stretch right here, [but] guys have been in this situation before. It’s not [anything] new. We just have to figure out what’s going on.”
And for a team with postseason aspirations, their inability to beat teams that also have a shot to play in October is one of the things the Mets will have to figure out.
The Mets can hardly afford any slips this week at Citi Field, as they’re locked in a battle for the final NL wild-card spot with Atlanta, San Francisco and St. Louis.
“Right now, I don’t care how far or close we are,’’ Severino said of the playoff standings. “We just need to keep going. We need to win games.”
For now, they’ll look to get healthy against the A’s and Marlins, two teams that have played poorly all season and are weaker following the trade deadline.
They’ll have to respond to being completely outplayed by a Mariners team that is charging up the AL wild card standings.
“You can’t dwell on what happened,’’ Lindor said of the series sweep. “We’ve got a good team. We’ve got to continue to push [and] continue to strive to be better. Focus on what we did right, learn from what we did wrong and be back and play the game better.”
Not much went right in Seattle, but Lindor looked at the bigger picture.
“We understand we’re still in a good position for the goal we have of being in the playoffs,’’ the shortstop said. “We’ve got to compete. We put ourselves in position where we’re in the playoff hunt. We’ve got to stay there no matter what.”
And that means staying positive, despite the recent downturn.
“We have to protect what we have here, protect the vibe,’’ Lindor said.
According to Lindor, that includes, “Talking to each other and understanding this is part of baseball.”
“I’ve been saying the entire time, this is a wave,” Lindor said. “There’s good waves and there’s bad waves. We’ve got to find a good wave pretty soon. We have to. We’ve got to get on a good wave as soon as we can. Hopefully it starts Tuesday and we ride it as long as we can.”
— Additional reporting by Mike Puma in Seattle
