Mets chose the wrong time for their latest low-cost clunker

MILWAUKEE — About 36 hours after escaping a natural disaster in the South, the Mets caused a debacle of their own making, imploding minutes into a crucial game with ace Sean Manaea on the mound. The Mets are still in control of their own destiny after their opening game loss here, although that's not necessarily a huge blessing considering how they're playing in their biggest game of the season.

The current scorecard for the trip that will decide this season is as follows: Braves one win, Brewers one win, Hurricane Helene two rainouts, Mets two no-show games.

This certainly wasn't the time for one of the worst performances of the season, but that's exactly what it was. There were almost no encouraging events in the Mets' 8-4 loss to the Brewers.

“They definitely outplayed us today,” Francisco Lindor said.

Manaea looked nothing like himself, and the Mets' lineup didn't fight nearly well enough against Frankie Montas and Co., who fell short against the Yankees. Furthermore, Lindor, playing his first full game in two weeks, is clearly nowhere near 100 percent, no matter what anyone says. And to add to the pain, Francisco Alvarez was out in this case, also with back inflammation.

To add insult to injury, noted Mets tormentor Rhys Hoskins once again played the villain, hitting a grand slam in the first inning. Not that anyone gets to pick their winners, but Hoskins has already been reviled in the Mets clubhouse.

This hatred of Hoskins started in Philly but escalated in the first week of that season when his batting heroics won a game after upsetting Jeff McNeil (remember him?) with a hard slide into second base. On Friday he gave them the courage to start this final weekend. His two-out, two-strike home run to left basically decided everything after 20 minutes.

The Mets have two games left here and a real chance in October. But they have to take it up.

Give the up-and-coming Brewers plenty of credit from arguably the smallest MLB market. They field, they run the bases (they stole six bases) and they win, securing the No. 3 seed and home field for their wild-card series – whether they play the Mets or someone else.

The game was almost inconsequential for Milwaukee, yet they started with their A lineup and played close to their A game. Good for you. But bad for the Mets.

For the team from Queens, this attempt was almost a complete failure. They were playing in a competition they “had to win” (coach Carlos Mendoza) after fleeing Atlanta, and they didn’t give themselves a chance.

However, I can't say they didn't show fire. Mendoza was ejected for freaking out home plate umpire Ramon De Jesus after De Jesus called out Francisco Alvarez on a pitch that appeared below the strike zone with two on and two outs in the fourth. That happened after Alvarez — who later left with back spasms — hopped around and threw his helmet to the ground.

“He didn't have a good game behind the plate, there were other calls that I wasn't happy with,” Mendoza said. “But I know they’re trying, and we have to keep going.”

There is reason to scream. The schedule, which looked arduous, deteriorated significantly with the likelihood of a flight south and a destination in Atlanta on Monday to catch up with the two eliminated players becoming even more dire. Even if the Mets get through this weekend well, their pitching depth will be tested with the prospect of two games on Monday before the start of a potential playoff series on Tuesday.

When Milwaukee gets back into action it will be difficult. Honestly, the Brewers seem like the better team. These little things they do can add up, right?

As if the Mets didn't have enough to worry about, former MVP candidate Lindor didn't really resemble himself. Although he scored twice, he struck with an unusually weak swing and made a rare throwing error while playing through a back problem. While he and his team staff kept saying he was fine, he didn't look it.

“The pain came and went,” Lindor said, “so I’m happy with it.”…Good enough.”

The whole team doesn't look quite right either. But while this journey has been nothing short of disastrous so far, remarkably her circumstances are still not entirely dire. They just need to beat one of the Braves or Diamondbacks, who have similar records – all three teams have 16 games over .500 – and other serious flaws. The Braves can pitch, but they can't hit. The D'backs are the opposite: good hitters but suspect pitchers.

Right now, it looks like the Mets can't accomplish much. But as we know, things can change. The Mets came back from an 0-5 start and 11 games under .500 and prepared for a possible playoff appearance. But if they go back to being the bad version of themselves, they can't expect to get where they want to go.