On Saturday, the Mets were officially eliminated from the 2020 post season. It’s a bitter pill to swallow for Mets fans, since eight of 15 National League teams qualify for the COVID-induced tournament this year. Going into the season, many – or most – Mets fans were confident that the team would be playing at least into early October in the expanded format.

The Mets had some tough luck in the March version of spring training, when Noah Syndergaard went down to Tommy John surgery. Then, just before the season began, Marcus Stroman chose to opt-out, further weakening the starting rotation. However, the Mets have a strong offense, and led the league in batting average and OBP most of the season.

Their lineup, that struggled with runners in scoring position all season, was not able to overcome their pitching deficiencies, both in the rotation and in the bullpen. There are many reasons that the Mets are going home Sunday, and many games in the 2020 season that one could reference as exemplifying one or more of the team’s weaknesses.

After Sunday’s game, the Mets will fall between two and five games short of a playoff spot. So, here are five games that stand out to me as particularly poignant in the postmortem analysis of another season ending without playoff baseball.

5. Aug. 31st, Marlins/Mets at Citi Field

The day before, the Mets had lost both games of a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium  (more on that later). All seemed set up for a Mets win, as ace Jacob deGrom was taking on a Marlins team that had to fly from Miami to New York for one day, to make up a game lost the week before. The Mets jumped to an early 2-0 lead, and deGrom was handling the Miami offense with his usual aplomb through the first five innings.

The Marlins ambushed Jake in the sixth for four runs, highlighted by a Garrett Cooper home run, and a run that scored as a result of a Pete Alonso error allowing a runner to reach base (defense was a huge problem all year).

Though Robinson Cano homered in the bottom of the sixth, the Mets would lose 5-3, on a day when they were relying on their stopper to stop a three-game losing streak. It did not happen, somewhat surprisingly given deGrom’s reliability in such situations.

4. Aug. 14th, Mets/Phillies in Philadelphia

Before the game, deGrom discusses his sore neck and Jeff McNeil discusses his injured knee that he sustained the day before making an outstanding catch. Why McNeil was not placed on the injured list is something I’ll never understand.

Regardless, the Mets take a 4-2 lead early, only to see the Phillies take a 5-4 lead in the fifth inning. Robinson Cano ties the game in the top of the ninth, setting up a situation that will forever be known as the “non-tag.”

Seth Lugo was on the mound, and gave up back-to-back singles to start the inning. After a strikeout, Bryce Harper singles to right, and Roman Quinn streaks for the plate. Michael Conforto‘s throw is on the mark. Wilson Ramos, the veteran catcher who had a dreadful season, demonstrates poor fundamentals on the tag. Quinn scores, and the Mets lose.

https://youtu.be/nUZbnkHNXvg

We have all winter to think about this one (and the numerous passed balls).

3. July 25th, Braves/Mets at Citi Field

It was the second game of the season. The Mets had won on Opening Day, behind a great outing from deGrom and a home run from Yoenis Cespedes. In this game, the Mets were holding a 2-1 lead in the ninth, thanks to a strong start from Steven Matz and some good work by the bullpen. Edwin Diaz was on to close, and recorded the first two outs in the ninth.

He had Marcell Ozuna down to his last strike, with the Mets a pitch from victory. After a questionable call that could have rung Ozuna up, Diaz leaves a slider up over the outside corner, and Ozuna takes it out to right-center field. Game tied. The Mets get two on with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but they’re left on base (common problem). The Braves win the game by a 5-3 score.

2. Sept. 7th, Phillies/Mets at Citi Field

Zack Wheeler makes his return to Queens, and the Mets are down 6-0 in the fifth after an ineffective start by David Peterson.

The Mets begin to chip away, and cut the deficit to 6-3 in the bottom of the fifth. The Mets plate four in the bottom of the seventh, capped by a Jeff McNeil home run. It was right here that many felt the Mets had turned the corner, and were ready for a run. They’d won the last two in a row.

Jeurys Familia (who had a bad year) comes in for the eighth, and promptly allows the tying run to score. You could feel the air come out of the Mets’ balloon. In the 10th inning, Jean Segura homers off newly acquired Miguel Castro, and the Phillies hold on for a 9-8 win. This one was an absolute crusher.

1. Aug. 30th, Mets/Yankees at Yankee Stadium

This one goes at the top (or bottom, depending upon perspective) of the list for a couple of reasons. First, it was the Yankees. Enough said on that one. Beyond that, I can say without hyperbole that this was the most bizarre games I’ve seen in my 45 years watching baseball. It was game one of a doubleheader.

The Mets had a five-run lead, with two outs in the ninth inning, and the Yankees had a runner on first base. It’s almost unfathomable that a major league team could lose this game. Yes, Washington staged an epic comeback against the Mets in 2019.

However in this game, the Yankees had nothing going in the ninth and were down to their last out, behind by five runs. Diaz (who struggled early in the season but performed better in September) could not extinguish the fire. Aaron Hicks tied the game on a laser to right field, that height-wise cleared the wall by inches. The Mets would lose in extra innings, as they would in the nightcap.

At this point, we can hope that the flaws were clear and the lessons were learned in these games (and others), and that the blueprint to improve the team will be clear (to whoever will be making the decisions) and executed in the off season.