Porcello strong, but 'time is ticking away'

NEW YORK -- Thoughts of the postseason seem far away now. Thoughts of a late run seem implausible at best. In losing a 7-0 game to the Braves on Sunday at Citi Field, the Mets dropped to five games below .500 with seven to play. They sit in 11th place in the National League, 2 1/2 games back of a playoff spot.

Mathematically, there is still a chance for the Mets to win out and make the postseason. Statistically, those odds have never been worse. The Mets (24-29) will need to win at least six of their remaining seven games, and possibly all seven, to have a realistic chance at playing into October.

? Box score

“Obviously, today is a tough day,” outfielder Brandon Nimmo said. “We don’t have many more losses that we can handle. So it’s tough, but this team is resilient. I believe in this team, and I believe in the fight. All we can do, that’s our only choice right now, is to fight.”

What made Sunday particularly difficult for the Mets was that they finally received a strong start from Rick Porcello, who matched the longest outing of the season by a Mets pitcher with seven innings of one-run ball. Porcello struck out 10. He used his sinker and slider to great effect, keeping the Braves scoreless until Ronald Acu?a Jr. hit a solo homer in the sixth.

By that point, it wasn’t unreasonable to think one run would be enough for the Braves, whose starter, Kyle Wright, allowed only one hit. Entering the day with a 7.46 career ERA, Wright did not allow his second baserunner of the afternoon until there was one out in the seventh.

Eighth- and ninth-inning rallies ensured the Mets would not wander their way back into the game, nor realistically back into playoff contention. They’re the first ones to admit it. Entering Spring Training, and especially entering the regular season after Major League Baseball expanded the postseason from five to eight teams per league, the Mets believed they had a strong chance to play in October -- if not win the NL East outright.

But injuries and other issues interfered. The Mets lost Noah Syndergaard to Tommy John surgery and Marcus Stroman to his decision not to play for COVID-19-related reasons. They endured inconsistency from Porcello, Michael Wacha, Steven Matz and others who were supposed to provide rotation depth. They struggled to hit with runners in scoring position despite a Major League-leading team batting average.

As a result, they struggled to win.

“It’s not talent that separates you,” Porcello said. “It’s playing good baseball.”

In fairness, Porcello cautioned, the Mets are not yet officially eliminated. But Nimmo noted that the team must either win out or go 6-1 over its remaining seven games to have a realistic chance at the playoffs. To date, the Mets have not constructed more than a three-game winning streak. Making matters worse, those final seven games will come against the Rays and Nationals -- a first-place team and the defending World Series champions, respectively.

“Time is ticking away,” Nimmo said. “We don’t have many more to really try and recover. It is disappointing to all of us.”

I remember you …
Following the path of Justin Turner, Daniel Murphy and countless others to hit another level after leaving New York, Travis d’Arnaud has established himself as a haunting presence for the Mets.

d’Arnaud hit a game-breaking two-run double off Jeurys Familia in the eighth inning Sunday, after homering in each of the first two games of the series. Overall against the Mets this season, d’Arnaud went 11-for-24 (.458) with two doubles, three homers, 11 RBIs and a 1.452 OPS.

“You wish he was on your team, so you just didn’t have to play him,” Nimmo said. “He’s a great player. He’s a great catcher. Just all-around good.”

A Met from 2013-19, d’Arnaud was on the Opening Day roster last year after the team chose to tender him a $3.5 million contract coming off Tommy John surgery. Only after guaranteeing d’Arnaud that money did the Mets release him, when he started the season in a 2-for-23 funk. He subsequently hooked on with the Dodgers, then the Rays, becoming a key piece of Tampa Bay’s postseason push. That earned d’Arnaud a two-year, $16 million contract in Atlanta, where he has blossomed into one of the league’s top offensive catchers.

“It was cool to win the season series against them throughout the whole year,” d’Arnaud said of his performance against the Mets. “That was big for us especially as we’re trying to have a championship [season] in the NL East.”