At critical juncture, Mets focused on winning

CHICAGO — Six games into the most important juncture of their season to date, a nine-game road trip coming out of the All-Star break, the Mets are 3-3. After losing, 6-2, to the Cubs on Wednesday, they jetted off to Miami, where they will play the role of challenger. It will be the defending National League champions chasing the second-place Marlins, not the other way around.

Welcome to must-win baseball. Welcome to the rest of the season.

“This is what this time of year brings,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “When you’re in a pennant race, they’re big games against big teams against good pitching. That’s why the game’s great and that’s why it’s fun.”

“Fun” might not be the word some would use to describe a Mets club scratching and clawing without David Wright, Matt Harvey and Lucas Duda — and proceeding with, statistically, one of the three worst offenses in Major League Baseball. Wednesday’s loss was the same old story for a Mets team that finished 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position, doing all of its damage on a Wilmer Flores homer once the game was already largely out of hand.

But the Mets have a …

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