The New York Mets and the Art of the Choke

Perhaps it's time for MLB to contract the New York Mets.

Or maybe just smother the franchise with a pillow.

The Mets really out-Mets'd themselves this time, engineering a spectacular meltdown in DC.

It really was quite breathtaking, so you may want to sit down for this.

 

Coward.

The Mets had somehow procured a 10-4 lead against the Nationals in the top of the ninth with a pretty nifty five-spot, punctuated by yet another Pete Alonso homer.

 

The Mets' broadcaster foolishly referred to this as the icing on the cake, a statement that quickly became a harbinger of doom.

Honestly, he really should've known better.

 

The Mets started Metsing immediately in the bottom of the ninth.

Someone named Paul Sewald allowed four hits and four earned runs while recording just one lonely out.

Eventually the cursed Edwin Díaz was summoned from his crawl space, so that was pretty much that.

Here's a fun little summary of the carnage:

 

And a better look at the Kurt Suzuki walk-off:

 

Technically, the Mets are still alive for the second Wild Card, but let's not delude ourselves.

 

They've completely Mets up their season.