Mets play as if they've given up the ghost

The Mets went down meekly all game, looking very much like a team that has seen a ghost but can't find any way to wake up to find out it's not real. The few loud sounds from the stands were boos. And even most of those were half-hearted, except when poor Randolph came out to speak with Martinez in the seventh just before he threw the last of his 105 pitches.

"It's unexplainable," Mets closer Billy Wagner said. "I've never seen anything like this before . . . We have to quit worrying about the things that have happened the last couple of weeks."

As Wagner talked, Randolph walked by and said to no one in particular, "We're going to win this thing."

Convincing oneself that it will get better must be a real test of the power of positive thinking.

"We'll reflect and reminisce later on after we win," Randolph had said earlier.

Wright had an idea.

"There's two choices, roll over and start making vacation plans for the offseason or battle like hell and win this thing," he said. "We still feel like this is our division."

The Mets had only to look across at the third-base dugout to see their role models. Last year, the Cardinals lost seven straight in late September and nearly blew the NL Central. They survived. Then, they beat the Padres, Mets and Tigers to win the World Series.

The message? The regular season does not matter in the postseason - if you make the postseason. How you get in is irrelevant - if you get in. *