The New York Mets cannot afford to slip up with the regular season coming to a close and their playoff standing remaining on shaky ground. But this four-game series they’re currently in against the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies could not be going any worse. Following a 1-0 defeat on Monday, the Mets were punched hard on the mouth on Tuesday as they suffered a 9-3 defeat — widening the gap between them and the Phillies to nine games.

But the Phillies may not be the Mets’ biggest problem at the moment. With that latest defeat, their Wild Card standing is far from safe. In fact, with the San Francisco Giants’ 5-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday, the Mets’ lead over them for the third and final Wild Card spot is down to two games. And with 17 games left in the regular season, the Mets better be watching their six.

Nonetheless, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza is backing his team to get the job done and hold off the Giants — and let the chips fall where they may come postseason time.

“No, we will. We will. But we gotta play better. We got to fight. We’re in the middle of it. There’s no time to feel sorry. We got to fight. What’s in the past is in the past and we’ve got to continue to take it one day at a time,” Mendoza said, per SNY on X (formerly Twitter).

Carlos Mendoza was asked about the level of concern that the Mets won’t be able to hold onto their lead in the NL Wild Card:

“No, we will. We’re good. But we gotta play better. We got to fight. What’s in the past is in the past and we’ve got to take it one day at a time” pic.twitter.com/xzDaxJUSz6

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There is always a fine line to walk between confidence and complacency, and only time will tell if the Mets can strike the right balance. Whatever the case may be, they have to get back to winning ways soon — starting on Wednesday, when they face the Phillies yet again.

Mets feel the heat as Giants mount playoff push

As the old sports adage goes, “it’s not about how you start, it’s how you finish.” The Mets certainly want to avoid being a cautionary tale for years to come — a high-spending team that makes the biggest splash of the offseason, only to falter right when they needed to get it together.

As for the Giants, it looked like their playoff hopes were dead until they started to play better last month, and they have carried over that uptick in form. They’ve posted the best record in MLB over the past two weeks, at 11-3, and the Mets better not the threat of them lightly at all.