Mets drop final game of season to Nationals, move forward with what was built in second half

Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News on Sep 27, 2026

Published in Baseball

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WASHINGTON — A season that couldn’t end soon enough was extended by another hour Sunday afternoon because of the same nor’easter that has ravaged much of the East Coast. The New York Mets lost 6-4 at Nationals Park in game 162, but it didn’t matter for them or for the Washington Nationals, the NL East’s two worst teams in 2026.

Still, finishing the season strong means something for the Mets.

A season that started with so much promise went awry immediately. The Mets lost 12 straight games in April, lost several key position players to injuries, and by the end of June, they lost their manager, Carlos Mendoza. The Mets fired Mendoza in his third season in the dugout, but they’ve already found their manager of the future in Andy Green.

Avoiding a managerial search allows the Mets to go into an uncertain offseason with a degree of certainty. The biggest takeaway from the season was that too much change in such a short amount of time is a good way to throw a team into a tailspin. Once the team finally got used to one another, used to the way the new coaching staff delivered information, and developed some chemistry, it was too late to save the season.

But that doesn’t mean the Mets stopped trying to win. The entire second half of the season has been about building the foundation of a better future, even if they don’t know when that future will come, and they’re ending the season in a good place.

“You can’t play with the weight of unmet expectations on your back and expect good baseball to happen,” Green said. “I think you have to take that with you next year. I think you have to resolve that we’re not going to run into this spot again.”

Left-hander Sean Manaea pitched six rain-filled innings, giving up five runs on seven hits, walking one and striking out three to finish the season 6-8 with a 4.78 ERA. The veteran looked as though he was done at the start of the season, but worked hard to get his velocity up and earn a spot in the rotation again. He was more productive as a starter, and the Mets liked what they saw out of him as the season wore on.

With one more year on his contract, this finish for Manaea is more important than a casual fan might understand.

Next season, the rotation will hinge heavily on what a young, mostly unproven group of pitchers can do, and Manaea has become the veteran leader of the group. Keeping him healthy and effective will help keep Christian Scott, Nolan McLean, Zac Thornton and Jonah Tong effective as well.

Ronny Mauricio hit another home run, his third in his last two games, giving the Mets one final look at the power he’s displayed since he was a rising prospect. It’s probably fair to say the Mets mishandled him as a prospect as far back as 2022. The knee injury he suffered in December 2023 was devastating and proved detrimental to his development.

This was his last option year. At 25, the potential is still there for the infielder, but the Mets don’t seem to know what they want to do with him. The Baby Mets of 2023, Mauricio, Francisco Alvarez, Brett Baty and Mark Vientos, have yet to become stars and at this point, they may never reach the potential the club thought they had as prospects. That doesn’t mean they don’t have value, but they are among the tough decisions the Mets will need to make this winter.

This isn’t what the Mets wanted for the last season before a lockout, and before a new CBA brings fundamental changes to the game. But they aren’t dwelling on the disappointment. The Mets are choosing to take the good parts of 2026, flush the bad, and hope the 2027 season starts sooner rather than later.

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