Mets fall to Nats: 'We've got to start winning'

NEW YORK -- Although the Mets won only twice during their most brutal stretch of the season, a 13-game run against the Dodgers and Giants that expired on Thursday night, they could at least take solace in the fact that an equal and opposite part of the calendar was approaching: 15 in a row against the fourth-place Nationals and last-place Marlins, beginning Friday at Citi Field.

But the caveat is this: To climb their way back into contention in the NL East, the Mets will need to win far more of those 15 than they lose.

That is what made Friday’s 2-1 loss to the Nationals so dispiriting for the home team. Despite understanding how firmly their backs are pressed against the proverbial wall -- “It’s time to go … it’s been time to go,” shortstop Francisco Lindor said earlier this week -- the Mets were unable to win their first game of this schedule oasis. As a result, they lost for the 19th time in 25 contests this month to fall a season-high 8 1/2 games out of first place.

The Mets are now as close to the bottom of the division as they are to the top.

“I know that moving forward, obviously we’ve got to start winning,” starting pitcher Rich Hill said. “That’s something that’s on everybody’s mind.”

Hill did his part, holding the Nats to two runs in five innings. But outside of a fourth-inning Javier Báez homer, the Mets had no answers against Paolo Espino and four Nationals relievers. That’s been a trend throughout August, which has seen the Mets rank last in the Majors in batting average, slugging percentage and runs per game. They are 29th in MLB in runs per game over the balance of the season.

And they’ve shown no signs of emerging from this funk. Lindor, Michael Conforto, Jeff McNeil and Dominic Smith have all slumped for significant portions of the year. An early-season change of hitting coaches did not help, nor did a return to health for many injured Mets. Friday, the Mets mustered just four hits against a quintet of relatively anonymous Nationals pitchers.

“They are frustrated,” Mets manager Luis Rojas said. “Usually when we lose a game like this, they are frustrated. Some guys that demand more out of themselves are going to be frustrated, because they’re not pleased with their approach.”

“The way I see it, we’re just trying too much,” Báez said.

This was supposed to be the easy part for the Mets, facing a Nationals roster barely resembling the team that gave them so much trouble in the first half of the season. Gone are Max Scherzer, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and others. Before the game, Rojas acknowledged that this is “an opportunity to make up some ground.”

Instead, the Mets dug a little deeper. They’ve lost 13 1/2 games to the Braves in the standings over the past month.

“How do you get to that point of turning it around?” Hill said. “I know everybody’s tired of talking about it and wants to see results. So do we in the locker room. We want to start seeing W’s going up on the scorecard. It’s extremely important. Hopefully, we can turn it around tomorrow and start a good stretch.”