NEW YORK _ Getting swept in Miami in May didn't end the season. Losing the first game of the second half to fall to 11 under .500 didn't end the season. Suffering six consecutive losses at home in August didn't end the season. Blowing a six-run lead in the ninth inning in Washington last week didn't end the season.
Improbably, inexplicably, incredibly, the Mets are very much playoff contenders. And, after an 11-1 win over the Diamondbacks on Thursday, they are positioned as well as almost anybody in the National League wild card race.
The best game of Juan Lagares' life _ two homers, six RBIs _ and Marcus Stroman's best start with the Mets helped the team to a blowout finish of the four-game sweep in a rainy matinee at a mostly empty Citi Field. They began the day two games behind the Cubs and Brewers, who recently have lost star players to significant injuries, for the last NL postseason spot.
