The New York Mets might be a playoff team, but their chance at the division title is fading. They’re now eight games behind the Philadelphia Phillies with 18 contests left in the season after losing to them 1-0 on Monday.

The Mets have been hurt by their streakiness. For example, they’re 4-6 in their last 10 games after going 7-3 in their previous 10, and they went 11-17 in August after going 14-10 in July.

Now, New York must worry about the wild card. It’s 3.5 games ahead of the San Francisco Giants and Cincinnati Reds for the third and final spot in the NL.

However, manager Carlos Mendoza still had his eyes on the NL East title after Monday’s game, via SNY.

Carlos Mendoza on where the Mets are right now:

"We've been pretty inconsistent. We put ourselves in this position. The goal is to win the division. We're 8 back now. But we got to keep going" pic.twitter.com/Z9mpUCchfQ

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 9, 2025

“We’ve been pretty inconsistent. We put ourselves in this position,” he said. “The goal is to win the division. We’re 8 back now. But we got to keep going. We’ve gotta turn the page here and get ready for another game tomorrow and continue to get the job done. But overall, it’s the inconsistency, and here we are in this position.”

The Mets could get within five games back if they beat the Phillies on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, which would also put them up 10-3 in the season series. That would give them the advantage in a tiebreaker, but they’d still likely have to win the majority of their matchups over the final two weeks to get to that point. Additionally, Philadelphia would have to struggle simultaneously.

Carlos Mendoza Toes Line Between Motivation and Impracticality

Sports managers and coaches have and will always try to motivate their teams when their backs are against the wall. While Mendoza was doing his job in that regard, it’s also important to have realistic goals.

Every team wants to win the division, but that dream is fading for New York. Rather than mentioning that, it would be more productive to focus on ending its current three-game slide, as it could lose its wild-card spot if its struggles continue.

Mets southpaw Sean Manaea will start on the mound against Phillies southpaw Ranger Suarez on Tuesday night. After this series, they’ll host the Texas Rangers, San Diego Padres, and Washington Nationals before facing the Chicago Cubs and Miami Marlins on the road to close out the regular season.

New York’s current series against Philadelphia is its last four-game set of the year.