NEW YORK — The 2007 Mets remain the gold standard for September collapses. Blowing a seven-game lead with seven to play remains one of the most statistically improbable downturns in Major League history. The players on that team are forever marked by what happened down the stretch.
The 2025 Mets are not that. Their implosion has been slower, steadier, easier to see coming. Their 3-2 loss to the last-place Nationals on Sunday once again put their National League Wild Card standing at risk, depending on the Reds’ result against the Cubs.
At the end of the game at Citi Field, the Mets no longer held control of their own destiny. It’s a fate that has been chasing them since mid-June.
Sunday’s loss followed a familiar formula: New York fell behind early due to a subpar starting pitching effort, this time from Sean Manaea. Nasim Nuñez hit a two-run homer and, although the Mets got two back on a Cedric Mullins RBI single and a Francisco Lindor solo shot, they could not push across a third run. As a result, they lost for the 11th time in their past 15 games.
The Reds (79-76 through Saturday), with a win on Sunday, can tie the Mets (80-76) in the Wild Card standings despite the fact that they’ve also played sub-.500 baseball since the start of August. It hasn’t mattered, as New York, which was once 21 games above .500, now stands just four games above that mark.
Cincinnati holds a crucial head-to-head tiebreaker with the Mets, meaning if those teams finish with the same record, the Reds will go to the playoffs while New York goes home.
