Mickey Callaway has seen his team come back from the dead before.
And after five straight losses — all at home — the Mets once again seem pretty close to the precipice.
Following a disastrous outing from Noah Syndergaard and a comeback that fell short in a 10-7 loss to the Cubs at Citi Field on Wednesday night, the Mets will turn to Jacob deGrom to try and salvage a crucial homestand, which began with tremendous promise but has turned into a nightmare.
“It’s huge,’’ Syndergaard said of Thursday’s game, when they’ll look to avoid a sixth straight loss and second consecutive sweep. “We’ll have our ace on the mound. This last stretch, every game is a playoff atmosphere.”
They didn’t play like it for much of Wednesday, as Syndergaard delivered the worst start of his career, allowing 10 runs (nine earned) in just three innings. The three homers Syndergaard gave up, along with the 10 runs, were career-highs.
He left with the Mets in a 10-1 hole, but a five-run rally in the fifth and another run in the eighth — coupled with six scoreless innings from the bullpen — put the Mets in a position to come up with their most improbable win of the year.
They got the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth against Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel. Wilson Ramos led off with a single, and pinch-hitter Rajai Davis walked. Kimbrel fell behind Amed Rosario 3-0 before Rosario grounded into a forceout.
Juan Lagares struck out looking and Todd Frazier flied out, as Syndergaard’s brutal performance — and some shoddy defense behind him — was too much to overcome as they slid four games behind the Cubs in the race for the second NL wild-card spot.
The right-hander — coming off five good starts in a row, and seven of eight — was pummeled for six runs in the first inning.
He opened the game by striking out Jason Heyward but then hit Nicholas Castellanos with an 0-2 sinker. Kris Bryant followed with a flare single to left.
Javier Baez then grounded to shortstop, but Rosario made an ill-advised and careless flip to second base and tossed the ball into short right, allowing Castellanos to score and Bryant to get to third.
With runners on the corners and one out, Kyle Schwarber doubled to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead. Addison Russell then blooped a single to right, scoring Baez and Schwarber to make it 4-0.
Syndergaard then gave up a booming homer to left-center to Ian Happ, as the Cubs went up 6-0. He got out of the inning with no more damage and the Mets scored a run in the bottom of the inning, but left two runners on.
The Mets’ woes continued in the second, when Bryant hit a pop-up to shallow left. Rosario and J.D. Davis, bothered by the light rain, let it drop between them for a leadoff “double.”
“They’ve had this happen a couple times,’’ Callaway said. “It’s kind of no-man’s land. One of them has got to take charge and get it.”
Once again, Syndergaard couldn’t overcome the mistake. Two batters later, Schwarber homered to left and it was 8-1. Sundergaard allowed two more in the third, as Castellanos took him deep with two out to make it 10-1.
Paul Sewald pitched two scoreless innings before Jeff McNeil hit a two-run homer, and J.D. Davis followed it up with another home run to make it 10-4 to awaken the crowd in the fifth.
Joe Panik and Rosario had RBI singles to cut the deficit to 10-6, but Lagares flied to right to finish the inning.
The Mets stranded two base runners in the sixth and seventh, but Frazier reached on an error and scored in the eighth before their failed rally in the ninth.
The Mets took a bit of solace in their comeback, but they know it doesn’t help them in the standings.
“We’ve been in these situations before,’’ Callaway said. “We’ve risen to the challenge, and I feel like we’ll do the same thing.”
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