According to the schedule, the Mets have 10 regular season games remaining.
Not according to Brandon Nimmo.
“I definitely think we're not in the regular season anymore,” Nimmo said after the Mets beat the Nationals, 10-0, on Wednesday for their third straight win. “We're in the playoffs. Every win is crucial. It determines whether we continue to play.”
The Mets closed out the game with nine runs in the fourth inning, capped by a two-run single by Mark Vientos and a three-run homer by Nimmo.
The Mets have been on the brink of certain doom at various times throughout the season, but their recent momentum carries them into a crucial four-game series against the first-place Phillies on Thursday in Queens, followed by a final trip to Atlanta and then Milwaukee.
They enter this final stretch of the season two games behind the Braves for the third and final wild card spot in the National League and tied with Arizona for the second wild card spot, 16 games above their season-best winning percentage of over .500 (84-68), although Francisco Lindor remains uncertain due to a sore back.
Still, the Mets are on a roll, having won nine of their last 10 home games and looking to win more.
“The energy tonight was amazing, but we want to take it even further this weekend,” Nimmo said. “We want to pack this place out.”
Games like Wednesday's should help the team, especially with Jose Quintana pitching seven scoreless innings. Quintana has now pitched 22 ²/₃ consecutive scoreless innings and has allowed just one run over 32 innings in his past five starts.
Since Sept. 1, the Mets' starters have a 1.77 ERA.
Nimmo walked the leadoff batter to start the deciding inning, then Pete Alonso singled to left.
Tyrone Taylor then hit a double to right-center field for his fourth hit in his last six games.
Nimmo threw the ball home to give the Mets the lead.
With runners on second and third, the struggling Vientos (who was hitless in his previous 15 at-bats) hit a two-run single to center field to make the score 3-0.
Vientos scored on a hit to the left side of the infield by rookie Luis Ángel Acuña.
Jose Iglesias hit a powerful single down the right field line to load the bases and end DJ Hurts' night.
Starling Marte smashed a hard single to right to add two more runs, and Nimmo capped off the onslaught with his 20th home run of the season.
The rest of the game was an easy one for Quintana, allowing just two hits and two walks.
Acuña added the Mets' final run with a solo homer in the eighth inning, the shortstop's second consecutive night of home runs and helped make up some of the loss of Lindor.
The Mets have been the strongest team in the major leagues since the end of May, and this was another night for them to dream big.
“We haven't done anything,” Carlos Mendoza said. “We have to continue to play well and I'm sure we can.”
This test is likely to be the toughest yet.
“We're ready,” Mendoza said. “We're ready. We've been showing that for quite some time now.”
That's why the manager won't say the next series against the Phillies in Queens will be the last one of the year.
“We're not ready to call this our last home game yet,” Mendoza said, “It's a regular season game. I don't think anybody here is ready to call it that… Hopefully there's still a lot of baseball left in this stadium this year.”
