Close the curtains, turn off the lights, tell everyone to go home. The Mets’ season has come to an early and horrific close thanks to a staggering, unbelievable loss to the Nationals in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday night—one in which they blew a six-run lead in the ninth in an 11–10 defeat that gets more and more ridiculous the longer you think about it.
At least, that’s how it has to feel for Mets fans, who took a shot to the gut so hard that their stomachs are floating somewhere around their eyes. With New York up 10–4 heading into the bottom of the ninth after pouring five runs on the Nationals in the top of the frame, three relievers—including Edwin Diaz, the hard-throwing closer for whom the Mets ponied up two of their top prospects this winter—combined to spray napalm all over the place.