The Mets were six outs away from surviving the Dodgers and leaving Citi Field on Sunday night with a critical series win.
Then the bullpen pulled its old tricks, and the Mets flew to Colorado with their season on life support.
In the rubber match of a series with high-end pitching matchups and high-end implications for the home team, Zack Wheeler delivered a gem. But it promptly went to waste, as Justin Wilson gave up the tying run in the eighth and Seth Lugo allowed the go-ahead run to score in the ninth as the Mets fell to the Dodgers in crushing fashion, 3-2.