The Mets’ series in Milwaukee felt like a microcosm of the season so far

A series that started well and ended poorly has a familiar ring to it. After a stirring 5-0 victory in the first game of a four-game series in Milwaukee, in which Steven Matz pitched six solid innings and Brandon Nimmo reached base five times, the series went downhill fast.

Mets reliever A.J. Ramos walked Hernan Perez and Travis Shaw on a combined nine pitches to give Milwaukee the win in the second game after the Mets valiantly tied the game in the ninth.

Game three’s score of 17-6 would have looked better 102 miles to the north of Miller Park at Lambeau Field. The nineteen-hit attack by the Brewers may have signaled a season low for Mets’ pitching, punctuated by offseason acquisition Jason Vargas allowing five runs in just three innings. He now sports a horrid 10.62 ERA.

And then there was the final game of the series, when the Mets took a 6-4 lead into the bottom of the seventh only to have three relievers—Robert Gsellman, Jerry Blevins, and Paul Sewald—combine to give up the lead.

That short stretch feels like a microcosm of the season thus far. After an 11-1 start, the Mets are 25-24 with roughly 30 percent of their games in the books, meaning they have gone 14-23 after the hot start.

A four game series against a first-place club in May will hardly make a statistician blink. Yet there are certain points even a long season that illustrate what’s right with a team and what’s not. The series in Milwaukee showed deficiencies on defense, at the plate, and on the mound, along with questionable decision making from the dugout. After a fast start, the Mets have to find themselves before the All-Star break.