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The New York Mets have completed their late-season collapse to miss the postseason in Juan Soto's first year with the team after he signed his record 15-year, $765million contract.
The Mets heading home, instead of the playoffs, was confirmed after the team's 4-0 loss to the Miami Marlins on Sunday.
New York knew after Friday's loss to the Marlins that it likely had to sweep the rest of the series to have a chance at the postseason, with those dreams ending without scoring a run in its season-ender.
Soto did impress in his first season in Queens after making the crosstown move from the Yankees, hitting 43 home runs, which was seventh in baseball, and driving in 105 runs.
The Mets making the postseason looked like a certainty three weeks ago, before an 8-game losing streak turned the tide against them.
Two losses to the Cincinnati Reds, a four-game sweep from the Philadelphia Phillies, and two defeats at the hands of the Texas Rangers was too far of a hole to dig out of.
The New York Mets have completed their late-season collapse to miss the postseason
The Mets heading home was confirmed after the team's 4-0 loss to the Miami Marlins
The Mets loss clinched the final playoff spot in the National League for the Cincinnati Reds.
The Mets best chance to score in Sunday's game came in the fifth inning, when it loaded the bases for Pete Alonso.
New York's trusted bat over the last several seasons smacked a ball out to left field that would have led to runs if it was not right at Javier Sanoja.
The Mets had the best record in baseball on June 12 at 45-24, with a 5.5-game lead in the NL East.
New York ends the regular season tied with the Reds in the standings at 83-79, with Cincinnati playing on due to having the tiebreaker from head-to-head record.
The Reds will now face the Dodgers in the Wild Card round, while the Padres and Cubs will face in the other NL opening-round playoff series. Waiting for the winners are the Phillies and Brewers in the NLDS.
In the American League, the Yankees and Red Sox will play in one Wild Card series, while the Tigers will play the Guardians in the other.
The Mariners and Blue Jays have automatically advanced to the ALDS, where the winner of the AL East rivalry series will play their division winner in the next round. Seattle will face the AL Central victor.
