Cal Ripken Jr. says Mets pitcher Matt Harvey is in 'no-win situation'

Berra passed away late Tuesday and the Mets had a moment of silence for their former manager Wednesday night at Citi Field.

Considering what happened in their 6-3 loss to the lowly Braves, the Mets still have work to do before they start making postseason plans.

Like Yogi said: It ain’t over ’til it’s over.

This isn’t Panic City, yet, but it’s not a good vibe around the Mets as they dropped two straight to the Braves and head out to play two more terrible teams — the Reds and Phillies — before finishing the season at home with a three-spot against the Nationals.

The Mets can be thankful the Nationals continue to be chokers.

Washington dropped a 4-3 decision to the Orioles to lower the Mets’ magic number to five.

The highlight of the night for the Mets happened in the food room. That’s where they saw the Nationals lose.

“It’s always nice when that magic number shrinks,’’ David Wright said. “Ultimately, we’d like to play better and have that magic number shrink because we’re winning.’’

That would be nice. Right now, backing into the postseason is the favored mode of transportation for the Mets.

If the Mets don’t clean it up, they could be scrambling instead of setting up their postseason plans to perfection.

“It was a poor homestand, but we have some of those young horses going in Cincinnati so maybe we can go win a series and get that much closer,’’ Wright said.

Wright singled in the seventh to tie the game at 3-3, but Freddie Freeman’s three-run home run in the ninth off closer Jeurys Familia was the difference. It was the first home run Familia had allowed since July 30.

Freeman also ripped a pinch-hit double to drive in two runs in the seventh to put the Braves on top, 3-2.

“Freddie is a thorn in our side and I wasn’t expecting to see him [because of a wrist injury]. So he comes off the bench and kills us again,’’ Wright said. “I’ll be glad to get rid of him and Andrelton Simmons and everybody else that beats us up over there.

The Braves, by the way, are 62-91 so it’s not like they are any good — though Wright and manager Terry Collins talked them up like the Greg Maddux Braves.

The Mets have lost five of their last six series at home and are 6-12 in their last 18 games at Citi Field dating to Aug. 14. It’s a home horror show.

Maybe the Mets shouldn’t grab home-field advantage in the NLDS.

Right now the Mets are a team that has lost its edge. They don’t look or act like a playoff team. There is no swagger to the Mets, other than Yoenis Cespedes.

As an offense, it looks like they are just going through the motions, when they should be going for the kill. They have lost their killer instinct and they need to get that back. They also have been playing without much emotion of late.

Until the Mets get rid of the Ghosts of 2007-08, this will be a team with self-doubts.

When the Mets get to Cincinnati, perhaps they will have T-shirts at their lockers proclaiming: “Finish the job!’’

On Wednesday night, the Mets allowed Freeman, the only true power hitter in the Braves lineup, to do them in and he didn’t even start the game.

Since 2012, Freeman has 15 home runs and 61 RBIs against the Mets.

The Mets could use a little offense like that before it’s too late.

Wright said he knows it’s a problem.

“We need to do a better job offensively of tacking on runs — we had chances and let them off the hook,’’ he said.

Again, it’s the Braves.

The Dodgers in the playoffs will be another story — especially facing Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke, who was scratched from Wednesday night’s start because of a sore calf.

“Right now we’re not giving our pitchers much room for error,’’ Wright said.

Heed Yogi’s words Mets, and get this over.

Terry Collins says Mets need to get back to being patient at the plate
GREG LOGAN, NEWSDAY
Hitting might be cyclical, but Mets manager Terry Collins believes the recent drop-off in production during the nine-game homestand that ended Wednesday night can be attributed to a recent increase in strikeouts.

"One of the things we're getting away from is our chase rate is up a little bit, which is something we have not been doing," Collins said before the rubber game against the Braves. "We've been making pitchers bring the ball in the strike zone. Look at what we did on the road. You've still got to be patient enough to make sure you're getting balls you can handle."

Collins also acknowledged the Mets hit better on the road after their previous two homestands, so, he's hopeful the tide will turn during a seven-game road trip to the hitter's parks in Cincinnati and Philadelphia.

"For six years, I've said this is not an easy place to hit," Collins said of Citi Field. "It never has been. It's a big park still, even though we've made adjustments to it. There's wind factors a lot of times. We live and die with power, and this is a tough place to have power."

Rest helping Wright

David Wright's home run Tuesday was his first at Citi Field since returning from the disabled list on Aug. 24. His average in those 22 games entering Wednesday night was .297 with nine extra-base hits, eight RBIs and 16 runs scored.

"I think he's swinging great," said Collins, who is giving Wright regular days off. "When he plays three or four in a row, he gets that general body stiffness.

"I told him today the difference in the day after the day off is unbelievable. His bat speed is so much different and the energy level. I just know that, after this winter, he's going to be healthy."

Extra bases

The Mets held a moment of silence before the game to honor the passing of Yogi Berra . . . Relief pitcher Carlos Torres (leg) will perform pitcher's fielding drills Thursday . . . Juan Uribe (sore chest) took batting practice Wednesday after sitting out a couple of games.

Much has changed. In March, Collins figured Jeurys Familia and Bobby Parnell would supply a solid bridge to Jenrry Mejia in the ninth. As October approaches, Mejia has been suspended twice, Parnell marooned to mop-up duty and it's been Familia handling the ninth, for months now. He's been brilliant, the three runs allowed in Wednesday's 6-3 loss to the Braves aside.

But the Mets still don't have an automatic bridge, despite the early returns of Tyler Clippard, Addison Reed and other acquisitions. This homestand, over which the Mets limped to a 3-6 record against the Marlins, Yankees and Braves, only reinforced that.

"It's the same thing we talked about last night," Collins said Wednesday.

Collins has been talking about it all week. And while most of the conversation has yo-yoed between New York's suddenly struggling offense and its starting-pitching restrictions, the bullpen woes are beginning to creep to the surface again after weeks on the back burner.

Mets relievers posted a 6.42 ERA in 28 innings this homestand, over which eight different pitchers were touched for multiple-run innings. That number doesn't include Reed, who allowed all three runners he inherited Wednesday to score (those were charged to starter Bartolo Colon).

Who it does include is every other pitcher Collins will rely on to get big outs if the Mets make the postseason, which would be his first as a manager and the Mets' first since 2006. Hansel Robles struggled Sunday night against the Yankees, and his own errant throw to third base was the only reason just one of his five runs allowed was earned.

Clippard, who allowed two runs Tuesday before working a scoreless frame Wednesday, has given up six runs over his past five innings. Carlos Torres, Erik Goeddel and Sean Gilmartin qualify as offenders. And Wednesday the virus spread even to Familia. He had allowed just one earned run over his last 25 innings before surrendering Freddie Freeman's go-ahead three-run homer in the ninth.

"That's about as uncommon as anything we've seen in a long time," Collins said.

"You like it when your seventh-, eighth- and ninth-inning guys have a lead, hopefully a couple of runs to play with, so they don't have to be so perfect and so fine," Mets third baseman David Wright said.

The good news for the Mets is, they still have time. Clippard allowed just one run over his first 20 appearances with New York, and Reed has still technically not allowed a run since coming over from the D-backs on Aug. 30. They'll have to rebound if the Mets plan to make a deep October push, because no more reinforcements are on the way.

Collins' quote from Tuesday about the starting rotation rings true for his relievers as well: "These are the guys we got," he said.

The Reds enter play having lost four straight. Thursday will mark the second start for Smith (0-2, 7.71) after two relief appearances followed his callup from Triple-A Louisville on Sept. 8.

For the Mets, it begins a seven-game road trip and represents a return to normalcy of sorts. After a month of skipping, pushing and holding back their young frontline starters, New York will feature its four most dynamic arms in succession. Matt Harvey (starting Saturday) and Noah Syndergaard (Friday) remain on pitch and innings limits to varying degrees. But Matz (4-0, 1.80) should face few restrictions when he toes the rubber Thursday for his sixth Major League start.

Things to know about this game

• When Smith takes the mound, it'll mark the 54th consecutive game that Cincinnati has started a rookie pitcher. The Reds have already set the Major League record for such a streak, bypassing the 1902 Cardinals in September.

• The Mets are 23-15 all-time at Great American Ball Park, good for a winning percentage (.605) better than any other NL team, including the Reds (.525).

• Matz made his Major League debut June 28 against Cincinnati, dazzling with 7 2/3 strong innings and four RBIs at the plate.

Experienced Colon should start in postseason
BARRY M. BLOOM, MLB.COM
The Mets will undoubtedly win the National League East and make the postseason even though they are limping to the finish line.
And when they get there, manager Terry Collins and the baseball operations team is going to have to figure out how to fit the seemingly ageless Bartolo Colon into the rotation.

"That, is a big question," Juan Uribe said after the Braves stunned the Mets, 6-3, on Freddie Freeman's three-run, ninth-inning homer off closer Jeurys Familia on Wednesday night at Citi Field.

With all the controversy surrounding young starters Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard, Colon simply takes the ball every five days and pitches. At 42, the right-hander looks like he should be pitching in a beer league, but he's tossed a staff-high 188 2/3 innings so far this season.

And nobody is worried about his pitch count, cumulative innings pitched or his arm falling off. Colon has 10 postseason starts on his resume. The other five starters have a grand total of zero. That's the kind of experience a team wants and needs when it gets to the postseason.

"I know what you're saying," Uribe said. "But I'm just a player. I'm not the manager. I don't make those decisions."

On Wednesday night, Colon allowed only one infield single through the first five innings and pitched unscathed out of a first and third, one-out situation in the sixth. Collins came out and got him with the bases jammed and one out in the seventh.

When he left in lieu of Addison Reed, the Mets had a 2-0 lead. Two batters later, including a two-run, pinch-hit double by Freeman, that lead was gone and the Mets were behind by a run.

Colon had tossed just 75 pitches at the time and Collins might as well have given him another chance to wiggle out of the situation. It couldn't have turned out any worse.

"He was tremendous," Collins said when asked about Colon's performance. "I didn't see too many good swings against him the entire night. Just, all of a sudden, they got some hits and I went to a guy who has been pitching brilliantly. [Colon] was outstanding."

That's the point, isn't it? Colon spots the ball well and doesn't walk many batters, 24 on the season. He gives the Mets a chance to win, which is all a manager can ask.

The Mets will probably face the Dodgers in the NL Division Series, barring a historic collapse in the last 10 days by either of the teams. Despite a disappointing homestand in which the Mets lost six of the nine games, they hit the road for four in Cincinnati and three in Philadelphia with a 6 1/2-game lead and 10 to play.

The Nationals have picked up three games in the standings since the homestand began with a Mets win over the Marlins on Sept. 14. It could have been much worse if Washington hadn't lost to the Orioles the last two days while the Braves were beating the Mets.

Still up for grabs is home-field advantage in the best-of-five series with the Dodgers, who now hold the narrowest of leads.

Collins knows the Mets will face Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke in the first two games regardless of whether the series opens in New York or Los Angeles. If the Mets can somehow split those two games, they'll have an advantage.

"If they start Harvey, deGrom and Syndergaard you have to like their chances," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said before the game.

You'd figure those young right-handers will indeed get the first three games even if their innings are limited by either performance or overuse.

It would make sense to have the lefties, Steven Matz and Jon Niese, in the bullpen for immediate backup and give the Dodgers a different look in the middle innings. That way Dodgers manager Don Mattingly will exhaust his bench early.

Thus, Colon is a perfect choice for Game 4, tossing his funky offspeed stuff after the bevy of hard throwers. But right now, there's a little matter of nailing down the division title. The magic number for that to happen is any combination of five Mets wins and Nationals losses.