Sting of WC loss eclipses strength of final push

NEW YORK — When the Nationals began pulling away from the rest of the National League East around midsummer, the Mets focused their sights on the Wild Card, considering it the most realistic avenue to defend the NL pennant. They also knew it was an imperfect avenue — in one game, anything can and often does happen.

So in the aftermath of their 3-0 loss to the Giants on Wednesday night in the NL Wild Card Game, the Mets tried to focus less on those nine innings — Madison Bumgarner was excellent, Jeurys Familia was not — and instead on the two months that preceded them. From the depths of a broken season, their roster decimated by injuries, the Mets mustered a playoff berth. That was something worth applauding.

“They’re hurting, but there’s no reason to be,” manager Terry Collins said. “I mean, they were written off so many times this summer, and yet they kept fighting back.”

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Over the first five months of the season, the Mets lost three-fifths of their starting rotation and three-quarters of their starting infield while pushing past less significant aches for nearly every member of their roster. General manager Sandy Alderson crumpled up most of the plans he’d sketched out over the offseason. Collins improvised.

But it worked. …

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