Mets hoping Bruce can climb out of slump

WASHINGTON — For the Mets, the seminal moment of Wednesday’s 1-0 loss to the Nationals turned out to be the top of the first inning, after they loaded the bases with one out. Up strode Jay Bruce, the Mets’ splashy Trade Deadline acquisition, while a traveling pack of Mets fans chanted, “Bruce! There it is! Bruce! There it is!”

Whatever good vibes surrounded the slugging outfielder in that moment, however, quickly scattered. Bruce swung through a Tanner Roark fastball, and fouled off a slider. Then he watched a two-seam fastball, Roark’s best pitch, cut over the inner half of the plate for strike three. The Mets never truly threatened again, as Bruce fell to 3-for-25 over his last seven games.

“Baseball’s like a puzzle that never has all the pieces,” Bruce said. “You just keep rolling. I think that that’s why you have to try and divorce yourself from the results as much as you can and really focus on the process, and preparing every single day, asking yourself if you’re mentally and physically prepared to play. I feel like that’s something that I do a good job of. I’ve been through it before.”

There was a period from late August into early September during which Bruce indeed seemed comfortable with the Mets, batting .421 with two …

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