Mets aren’t going to beat Braves in playoff race by playing like this

The Mets have one of their best opportunities in recent years to finally take down the banged-up Braves, their forever nemesis. But they certainly can’t do it like this.

It was a mild and lovely night in Flushing, and the Mets nicely celebrated the entire county of Queens. Fans’ moods turned south, however, as they started to realize the Mets’ scary slide was about to continue.

Booing began when Mets starter Paul Blackburn, pitching in his home debut and against his former team, gave up an early three-run home run. Half-hearted boos were sprinkled throughout the lovely evening. They were deserved.

The soon-to-be-Sacramento A’s eventually beat the Mets 9-4 to make it four straight losses for the team from Queens and raise more doubt about a squad that erased a huge hole to move into playoff position before falling back out in recent days.

Unlike in the Mets’ wasted weekend in Seattle, there were no excuses.

The Mets are no longer playing a contender on the final leg of an arduous, exhausting four-city, three-time-zone trip. No, they followed a full day’s rest with a Citi Field date against an also-ran.