Mets Lose Game, Playoff Hopes

As he left the clubhouse, Turk Wendell carried a stack of T-shirts that were ordered when the New York Mets had a chance to make the playoffs.

They won't be needed this year.

The Mets, who had a one-game lead in the NL wild-card race going into their final five games, finished a ghastly, winless final week with a 7-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves Sunday and were eliminated from playoff contention.

The wild-card shirts, which looked so valuable Tuesday, instead will serve as sad reminders to how the Mets bombed out.

"I'll take one," Mets closer John Franco said to Wendell, grabbing one of the shirts and stuffing it inside his travel bag. "I could use something to clean my house."

The Mets, who haven't made a postseason appearance since Los Angeles beat them in the 1988 NL championship series, lost their last five games and scored just seven runs in their final 44 innings.

"I don't know what happened ," Mets manager Bobby Valentine said. "If I knew, I would have done something about it. That's the frustrating part. I couldn't do anything about it. I should have done something, I should have done something ..."

New York, which dropped out of a three-way tie by losing 4-0 Saturday, began Sunday one game behind Chicago and San Francisco, needing a victory over the Braves and losses by both the Cubs and Giants to force a three-way playoff. Atlanta, which has won seven straight division titles, quickly ended that illusion with a four-run second inning.

The Mets' five-game slide was one huge headache for manager Bobby Valentine. (AP)

Unlike the Mets, who wasted numerous chances during the three-game sweep, the Braves scored their first six runs with two-outs hits and went on to their team-record 106th win. They open the playoffs Wednesday against the winner of Monday night's playoff game between the Cubs and Giants.

"We peaked pretty good at the end," said manager Bobby Cox, whose team finished with seven straight wins and 14 in 16 games. "Everybody seems to be hitting well."

Unlike New York.

During the final week, the Mets were shut out twice. During three days in Atlanta, they stranded 32 runners -- 11 Sunday -- and left the bases loaded four times.

"There's never a good time to struggle," Brian McRae said. "But at the end of the season, with the position we were in, it was more dramatic."

These Mets weren't Amazin'. Instead, they seemed amazed at how quickly their season ended.

"We knew if we didn't play good ball, it wasn't going to last," McRae said. "We didn't play good ball, so this is the position we find ourselves in."

After falling behind 5-0, the Mets closed to 5-2 in the seventh and had the tying run at the plate with one out. But Mike Piazza -- who stranded 15 runners in the series -- struck out against Dennis Martinez, and McRae went down swinging against John Rocker.

Atlanta sealed the victory with RBI doubles by Eddie Perez in the seventh and Chipper Jones in the eighth.

The Braves pounded Mets starter Armando Reynoso (7-3), who lasted only 1 2-3 innings and gave up five runs and six hits.

Andres Galarraga had an RBI double in the first before Atlanta broke it open with a flurry of two-out hits in the second.

Reynoso made the mistake of grooving a 3-2 fastball to Greg Maddux, one of the best-hitting pitchers in the league. Maddux, who hit .240 this season, slammed a drive to the wall in center for an RBI double.

After Walt Weiss' single, Keith Lockhart made it 4-0 with a two-run double to the gap in right-center. Chipper Jones then blooped a hit just behind shortstop that a diving Rey Ordonez failed to snare. Ordonez quickly grabbed the ball and jumped to his feet, but seemed startled to see Lockhart was trying to score all the way from second.

Ordonez's throw sailed over Piazza's head for an error while the runner slid across the plate.

The Mets bunched together three straight hits in the third, including John Olerud's RBI single, but their frustration was epitomized the following inning when Atlanta came up with two brilliant defensive plays.

On a slow roller by Carlos Baerga , Chipper Jones swooped in from third, barehanded the ball and barely beat the runner with the throw to irst. Then, Rey Ordonez hit a grounder deep in the hole that was backhanded by shortstop Ozzie Guillen, who skipped a throw just ahead of a head-first slide by the Mets shortstop.

Maddux (18-9), who had lost his first three September decisions, avoided having his first winless month since June 1990, allowing five hits and a run in six innings. Despite a late-season swoon, the four-time NL Cy Young winner finished with a 2.22 ERA, leading the NL for the fourth time. He finished second the last two seasons.

Largely overlooked amid the hoopla generated by Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and the New York Yankees, Atlanta (106-56) put together one of the best seasons ever by an NL team. Only five NL teams have won more games in a season, the last being the 1986 Mets (108-54).

Piazza, eligible for free agency after the season, ended the game by popping out to second against Rudy Seanez.

"I'm going to take some time off," Piazza said. "I have no feelings on next year at this time. I'm just going to spend some time with my family and friends and see where it goes from there."

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