First, it was in Philadelphia, then it was in St. Louis. On Tuesday it was nearly in San Francisco. The Mets almost pulled off another improbable comeback. Although with the regularity of their occurrence it seems no deficit is too large for the New York Mets.

Down 8-2 heading into the seventh inning, the Mets scored 10 runs over the final three innings in what would be a heartbreaking 13-12 loss to the Giants in the bottom of the ninth.

The Mets franchise was 180-0 when scoring 12 or more runs in a game. Now at 180-1, it represents the never say die attitude emanated by Mets teams throughout the franchise’s history.

Francisco Lindor led New York with six RBIs. He hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning to close the gap to four runs, then tripled in the eighth inning to clear the bases and give the Mets a 10-8 lead.

Lindor has been maligned for his play despite every metric placing the shortstop as a better-than-average player. On the season, he’s now hitting .244/.333/.419 with seven home runs and 32 RBIs. His OPS+ is at 119, the highest mark since he finished sixth in MVP voting in 2018. It’s higher than his 2017 number when he finished fifth in American League MVP voting. Lindor was an All-Star and silver slugger winner each of those seasons.

But Lindor couldn’t carry the Mets on his own.

Starling Marte went 3-for-6 with an RBI and two runs scored. Jeff McNeil was 3-for-4 with two runs and a walk. Eduardo Escobar temporarily eluded his slum to go 4-for-5 with a double. Dominic Smith blasted a leadoff triple in the ninth inning. Smith’s hit would’ve been a home run in every other park.

New York’s present ace Chris Bassitt had the worst start of his season, allowing eight runs in 4 and 1/3 innings. But Stephen Nogosek took what was a game out of reach and kept it competitive. The 27-year-old pitched 2 and 2/3 innings, allowed two hits, walked one, and struck out four. No runs scored.

The sports world is full of cliche. Iron sharpens iron. Next man up. Nearly everything you hear out of a football coach’s mouth is a cliche. Yet maybe some of it rings true about this Mets team.

New York made a concerted effort to bring in positive lockerroom presences. Escobar, Marte, Mark Canha, and Max Scherzer have all been lauded as great teammates. Then there’s the man at the top. Buck Showalter is proving to have been the best person for the managerial position.

Yes, sometimes his decision-making can be confusing … like having Drew Smith face Joc Pederson when you were going to bring in Joely Rodriguez. Yet you cannot measure what he does outside of the dugout.

Showalter has the back of every player and is unafraid to defend them at all times. He’s the first out of the dugout when a batter is hit and the first to face the media following a loss.

After the loss, Showalter was asked if it would bring down the team morale.

“Too down? Not this group,” Showalter said.

The Mets are fun. They’re winning at a clip fans haven’t seen since they appeared in the World Series in 2015. Even when things appear to go wrong they respond with gusto.

New York has only lost consecutive games once this season. It’s Thomas Szapucki‘s turn to step up. With the way the Mets are going, it’s easy to think he will.