Mets' implosion was to be expected

It’s inconceivable that the Mets have arrived at this nightmarish situation.

But even if you’re a Mets fan who’s been rendered catatonic by despair, you’ve got to appreciate baseball’s bottomless ability to astonish you with things you’ve never seen before, things that were supposed to be impossible.

Things like not one National League playoff slot wrapped up with just three games left in the season. Things like seven teams still in contention for four tickets to October. Things like the New York Mets, the most expensive team National League money can buy, blowing a seven-game lead in the space of just 14 games.The Mets haven’t lost the NL East yet, but they’re working hard at it. After blowing a 5-0 lead on Wednesday night and getting swept by the Nationals, the Mets welcomed the Cardinals to Shea Mausoleum on Thursday for a make-up game.

The Cardinals, slumping badly in September and out of the race, were supposed to be beyond caring about this game, eager just to get the season over with and go home. The Mets, desperate for a win, had their ace and inspirational leader, Pedro Martinez with an extra day’s rest, ready to save the season.

And they lost. Got shut out by Joel Piniero for eight innings and by Jason Isringhausen for the ninth. Walked back to their clubhouse like zombies, their faces blank, their minds unable to comprehend what is happening to them.

The headlines say they’re on the verge of a historic collapse. With 17 games to go, they had a seven-game lead, and no team had ever blown a lead that large with so few games to play. But the headlines are wrong.

The collapse has already taken place. What else can you call losing 11 of their last 16 games and giving up 10 or more runs in five of those losses?