Mets squandering soft schedule leaves serious playoff doubts

Yes, I know, I said back on that fateful May 18 date that the Mets were headed for the playoffs. I still think that. But I am worried now — very worried.

The Mets wasted many chances on what turned out to be an otherwise beautiful Sunday at Citi Field. And they wasted their greatest opportunity of the season over 12 early August games against the four worst teams in baseball not counting the history-bound White Sox. And who does count the South Side Sox anymore, anyway?

The Mets are a well-deserved 7-9 to start August, following their worst defeat of the season (at least until the next worst defeat) — an excruciating 3-2 loss to the scrappy but fire-sold Marlins. Yep, the Miami lineup of anonymous kids trying out for a future of their own made baseball’s best-paid team’s present worse.

What hurts is the Mets would be in playoff position if only they reversed their squandered August start and went 9-7 versus the softest almost imaginable part of the schedule.

What hurts worse is that they went 6-6 against the Marlins, A’s, Angels and Rockies. I wouldn’t say any of those games are gimmies, as they are not the White Sox, whose only remaining competition is history’s darlings, the 1962 Mets. But they are four teams that started off bad and got worse after selling some of the few desirable pieces on rotten rosters.

I am very worried after seeing first-half relief revelation Reed Garrett blow up yet again. Following an extraordinary run-saving diving catch by Brandon Nimmo, who hurt his shoulder on the play, Garrett walked three straight Marlins to set up the game-winning rally in the eighth inning.