First-half finale a microcosm of Mets' season

SEATTLE

Down to their final out of the first half, the Mets had to watch Francisco Alvarez, the franchise’s first must-see catcher since Mike Piazza, get drilled on the right knee, courtesy of a 77-mph slider flung by Padres lefty sidearmer Tom Cosgrove.

So much already had gone wrong for Buck Showalter & Co. on a shiny Sunday afternoon at Petco Park that initially held so much promise — the opportunity to keep the Mets pushing for serious wild-card contention. But watching Alvarez, tough as a knotted fist, hobble around was an extra kick in the gut they didn’t need, especially as Showalter’s fifth player to get plunked in the 6-2 loss to the Padres.

Alvarez seemed OK after a quick check by the manager and trainer. As for the Mets, who dropped two straight to sorry San Diego, stay tuned. We’d like to officially announce them as a legitimate second-half threat, earning a second chance, but Sunday’s loss makes any proclamation feel premature. At seven games out of the third wild card, behind five teams — including the Giants, who own that spot — the Mets’ situation remains perilously fragile, with the building pressure of the fast-advancing Aug. 1 trade deadline.

“Some days the game makes you feel like you got it figured out,” Showalter said after the Mets’ rebound fizzled on the final weekend en route to a 42-48 finish. “And some days you don’t think it will ever let you off the deck. So just keep chasing it. And it will usually reward you if you stay true to it. Our guys have and they’ve stayed together. They’ve given themselves a chance to play better as we go forward.”

The Mets provided plenty of reasons to believe during this last stretch of runway toward the All-Star break, reeling off six straight wins, including an electrifying three-game sweep of the NL West-leading Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Simply put, the Mets finally looked awake, performing like the names on the back of their uniforms. Or at least a heck of a lot closer to their $377 million price tag.

But the way they unraveled Sunday, thanks to a few self-inflicted wounds and a dash of bad luck, felt like the entire first half boiled down to its frustrating essence. Right from the jump, too.

There was Showalter flushing his challenge on Max Scherzer’s opening pitch when he questioned whether Ha-Seong Kim’s foul pop actually scraped the third-base netting before landing in Brett Baty’s glove (call stood, no catch.).

That left the boiling Scherzer standing around during the delay, and things soon would get worse. When Kim slapped a single to leftfield, Tommy Pham — the Mets’ offensive MVP of the past five-plus weeks — pulled up lame with what the team described as right groin soreness (imaging Monday in NYC).

Almost immediately, the Mets were running through their ’23 punch list. Head-scratching move by Showalter? Check. Pivotal injury by routine means? Check. There were a few boxes left, however.

Scherzer getting stung by his slider? Check. But first there was Fernando Tatis Jr. mashing a two-strike fastball at the top of the zone for a double over Brandon Nimmo’s head. Scherzer also got two strikes on Manny Machado but then frisbeed a hanging slider that he rocketed into the second deck of the leftfield warehouse for a 3-0 lead.

The Mets being betrayed by one of their $43 million co-aces was a nagging storyline of the first half, so it was only fitting that Scherzer penned another disappointing chapter to close things out. He heads into the All-Star break with a 4.31 ERA, and while Justin Verlander’s 3.60 looks more palatable, he missed the first month with a shoulder strain.

Machado went deep against Scherzer again in the fifth, sending a high 3-and-0 fastball inside the rightfield foul pole to put the Padres up 5-0. At the time, the deficit felt like twice that, as Joe Musgrove — the sticky-eared clincher from last October’s wild-card series at Citi Field — again had the Mets flailing at his physics-defying breaking stuff.

Scherzer has been way too hittable, serving up 18 homers in 87 2⁄3 innings this season.

“I just need to pitch better,” he said. “I gotta pitch better. There’s no other option here . . . Right now I’m just not consistent.”

With 72 games left, the Mets don’t have that luxury anymore. Any margin for error has evaporated. Maybe the first half wasn’t a worst-case scenario for them, but it was pretty darn close. And while they technically still have the names to get to October — along with an owner willing to take on more salary — the Mets must be near-perfect for these next two-plus weeks before the deadline to convince Steve Cohen to stay the course. There can’t be many more of these San Diego Sundays after the break.

By David Lennon

dave.lennon@newsday.comDPLennon

David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.