Perhaps the Mets were going for symbolism.
They dug themselves a big hole early on.
They then went on a relentless offensive and were back in contention for the championship.
But on Sunday the Mets were unable to complete the complete comeback they’ve attempted so many times throughout the first half of the season.
The Mets reached the midpoint of their season after falling short again in an attempt to come back from behind, losing 10-5 in the 11th inning to the Astros in front of 26,853 fans at Citi Field.
In the 81st game of the season, the Mets (40-41) had their eight-game unbeaten series streak ended.
In the final game, they were down by four runs to the Astros, came back in the sixth inning, tied the game in the seventh, but lost in extra innings.
Perhaps the momentum of a team on fire was thwarted by the storm that blew in before the bottom of the ninth inning, which forced a two-hour, 47-minute suspension of play.
Each team scored one run in the 10th inning. Houston scored on a Chas McCormick single off Adam Ottavino and the Mets scored on a Brandon Nimmo double, but the Mets’ relief corps’ weaknesses were exposed in the 11th inning.
Matt Festa, a 31-year-old Brooklyn native who was promoted earlier in the day and making his team debut, allowed three consecutive hits, helping the Astros put the lead behind them.
Houston’s fourth hit of the inning, a Trey Cavage double, brought in two more runs and effectively decided the game.
In the bottom of the inning, Tyrone Taylor, Luis Torrens and Jeff McNeil got outs in order against Houston’s Luis Contreras, and the Mets moved to within two games of the Cardinals for the National League wild-card spot.
The Mets finished their homestand with a 3-2 record before heading into a series against Washington that begins Monday.
The game lasted until the end, when the Mets, with MLB’s best offense in June, tried to bounce back after a season that saw them lose their first five games and fall 11 games below .500 this month.
“It’s funny,” Mendoza said with a chuckle before the game as he summed up the first half, “We’ve been through a lot. We’ve had good times and bad times, but that’s part of life over 162 years. Understand that tougher times are coming.”
The Mets continued the same dramatic streak, facing Astros relief pitchers out of the bullpen and going hitless until Nimmo singled in the sixth inning.
Despite trailing 0-4 after five games, manager Luis Severino was far from at his best but was able to keep his team within striking distance.
In the sixth inning, Nimmo’s single and Pete Alonso’s double threatened to give the offense a breakthrough.
With two outs, a phenomenal player named Mark Vientos smashed a two-run double over third baseman Alex Bregman’s head to cut the lead in half.
The lead disappeared in the next inning.
Luis Torrence walked Nimmo, trailing 0-2, and with two outs, he hit a 97.8 mph fastball from Bryan Abreu over the wall in left-center field for the tying home run, Nimmo’s 100th career homer.
Adrian Hauser held Severino to two scoreless innings in response to his strong performance (seven innings, eight hits, one walk, four runs allowed), and Torrens got some help in the eighth when he stopped Joey Loperfido from stealing second base, the first of two baserunning casualties for Torrens.
But then the storm hit, and soon after, the Astros, and the Mets’ momentum halted.
Or maybe it was an improved bullpen that killed the momentum, adding Festas and left-hander Tyler Jay before the game and then optioning starter Tyler Megill and left-hander Danny Young after the bullpen’s shortcomings were exposed Saturday.
The thin units once again proved to be not reliable enough.
