2022 MLB Playoffs: Mets complete 10-day disaster with Game 3 wild-card loss

By Deesha Thosar
FOX Sports MLB Writer

NEW YORK — In 10 days, the Mets' 2022 season quickly deteriorated.

"It's one of those things that you can't do anything but say it was self-inflicted," manager Buck Showalter said.

On Sept. 28 at Citi Field, the Mets celebrated a come-from-behind win against the Marlins because it meant they could fly to Atlanta with a one-game lead in the National League East. All they had to do was win one game against the Braves in the three-game series that took place Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 at Truist Park. One win would've essentially ensured that the Mets would earn their first division title since 2015. 

Instead, the worst-case scenario happened: They were swept by the Braves.

And so the Mets flew back to New York with heavy hearts, knowing Atlanta had all but secured its fifth consecutive NL East crown, but they still had a shot in the postseason in the wild-card round, where it's anyone’s game. The Mets headed into the playoffs with 101 wins, same as the Braves and the second-most victories in franchise history.

"Nobody really cares how you do in the regular season," outfielder Brandon Nimmo said. "It doesn’t matter when you come to the postseason. Everybody starts new."

In the Wild-Card Series, the Padres decisively took Game 1, ambushing Max Scherzer with four home runs and gaining the edge in the three-game set. The Mets roared back and took Game 2, chasing left-hander Blake Snell after 3⅓ innings and leaning on their stars to rally the offense. As Showalter has said multiple times this season, everything the Mets wanted was right in front of them.

But the Mets lost 6-0 to the Padres on Sunday at Citi Field, ending their season by playing just three games in their first postseason appearance in six years. The loss — the finality of it all after the Mets registered 101 wins in the regular season — capped a disastrous 10 days for a 2022 club that fizzled out when it mattered most.

"Our goal was to win the World Series, and we failed," Scherzer said. "I thought we had great chemistry. I really thought we had the makeup to do it. I’ve been on several teams that have gone deep in the postseason. I thought we shared a lot of the same characteristics of those teams. Unfortunately, we got beat."

Then Scherzer succinctly summed up his emotions: "This is like a kick in the balls."

Chris Bassitt allowed three earned runs on three hits and was removed from his start after four innings. He seemed thrown off by both the PitchCom device in his ear and San Diego’s hitters, who kept stepping out of the box to mess up with his rhythm. While Bassitt crumbled in two critical outings — he gave up seven earned runs, six hits and six walks across just 6⅔ innings in his last two starts against the Braves and Padres combined — it didn’t matter much because the Mets offense was absent.

Padres right-hander Joe Musgrove limited the Mets to one measly hit across seven innings pitched. In the bottom of the sixth, Showalter trotted out of the dugout and went straight to first-base umpire and crew chief Alfonso Marquez to request a check on Musgrove. The Mets suspected the pitcher was using an illegal sticky substance, perhaps on his shiny ear. But after a thorough pat-down yielded no disciplinary action against Musgrove, the righty returned to work and continued his attack on the Mets lineup.

"I'm charged with doing what's best for the New York Mets," Showalter said. "If it makes me look however it makes me look or whatever, I'm going to do it every time and live with the consequences." 

On Sunday, the atmosphere at Citi Field quickly went from nervous-but-excited to funereal. The Padres played better than the Mets in every department: pitching, hitting, defense, gamesmanship — you name it. The one hit the Mets recorded was the fewest ever in a postseason game in franchise history. Their previous low in a playoff game was two hits in Game 2 of the 2015 World Series against the Kansas City Royals.

The crowd, surprisingly not a sell-out at 39,241, started streaming for the exits in the top of the eighth inning. One fan, as he was leaving, said to the person next to him that he knew he shouldn’t have come to the game. They had had enough of sitting through a blowout, down six runs while the finish line crept closer. The image of Scherzer and Jacob deGrom cheesing, holding a World Series trophy together, didn’t happen this year. It’s fair to question if, with deGrom’s free agency just around three weeks away, it will ever happen.

In addition to deGrom, Nimmo, Edwin Díaz, Bassitt, Carlos Carrasco, Taijuan Walker, Trevor May, Adam Ottavino and Seth Lugo will all enter free agency this offseason. The likelihood of the Mets' roster looking very different come spring training was of great concern for a handful of their star players Sunday.

"It’s not fun hugging guys goodbye," Scherzer said. "It’s just not fun."

"It really hurts," Pete Alonso said. "It’s not just the losing. It’s the disbanding of the group. It just sucks that you know it’s not going to be the same group next year."

All of which leads to the question: Can the Mets replicate their 101-win season with a different roster next year — possibly without deGrom, Nimmo, Díaz and other critical players? On Sunday, many players acknowledged that they believed they had the team to win it all this year.

Instead, the opportunity was squandered. And now, all they can do is think about the what-ifs and what-could’ve-beens. 

For the early-exit Mets, a long winter looms.

Deesha Thosar is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets for the New York Daily News. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.