NEW YORK — Baseball's biggest spenders looked spent. The New York Mets enjoyed 175 days in first place, boosted by their billionaire new owner, confident Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer would lead them to glory, certain Buck Showalter would make all the right moves.
All that blood, toil, tears and sweat ended not with bubbly and rings but in a one-hit shutout defeat before a stunned crowd short of a sellout and Showalter prodding umpires to search the other team's starter for secret sticky substances. «To be honest, it hurts.
It really hurts,» Pete Alonso said after Sunday night's 6-0 loss to San Diego ended the Mets' postseason return just three games after it began. «It's not just the losing.
It's kind of the disbanding of the group because every single guy in this clubhouse is really awesome. And it just sucks that it's not going to be the same group next year because you have free agency, trade possibilities,» he said.