In a little more than two weeks, the New York Mets went from comfortable division lead to the lowest of lows: A three-game sweep doled out by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Not even a players-only meeting could stop the carnage, as the Mets’ response after a Saturday night airing of grievances was a 12-1 loss at PNC Park that capped a three-game set in which Pittsburgh outscored the Mets 30-4.
Little wonder, then, that the Mets tumbled four places in USA TODAY Sports’ power rankings.
It’s hard to call this a low point since it’s merely the end of June and the Mets are just 1 ½ games behind the similarly inconsistent Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East. Yet on June 12, they held a 5 ½-game lead and the confidence that injured pitchers such as Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea were coming back. Well, Montas gave up a half-dozen runs to the Pirates on Sunday and Manaea now has an elbow injury to add to his oblique recovery. And trusty fill-in Griffin Canning is now out for the year with an Achilles injury.
A look at our updated rankings:
MLB power rankings: Free-falling Mets suffer weekend humiliation. Can NY recover? – USA Today
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