Everything looked rosy for the Mets when they held a seven-game lead Sept. 12 with 17 games left, but it's been mostly downhill from there. They're on the brink now of an unthinkable collapse: No major league team has blown such a big lead in such a short time at the end of a season.
They have two games left against Florida at Shea Stadium but they might be better off on the road. The Mets are in the midst of their longest losing streak at Shea since they dropped nine in a row in 2004.
Phillies 6, Nationals 0 - Cole Hamels struck out 13 in eight dominant innings, Ryan Howard hit his 45th homer, and host Philadelphia grabbed the NL East lead.
Making his third start since missing one month because of a strained elbow, Hamels (15-5) shut down the Nationals, allowing six hits and walking one.
Cubs 6, Reds 0 - Alfonso Soriano hit another leadoff homer, Carlos Zambrano (18-13) kept his cool, and the Cubs clinched the NL Central with a victory at Cincinnati.
Thousands of Chicago fans made the five-hour road trip and cheered every move by the Cubs, who earned their first playoff spot since 2003 when Milwaukee lost.
Padres 6, Brewers 3 - Khalil Greene hit a go-ahead double and drove in three runs as San Diego boosted its playoff hopes and eliminated host Milwaukee.
Greg Maddux (14-11) gave up three runs and six hits in five innings for his 347th win as San Diego opened a two-game lead in the NL wild-card standings and remained one game behind Arizona in the NL West. Trevor Hoffman pitched the ninth for his 42d save in 47 chances.
Indians 5, Royals 3 - C.C. Sabathia picked up his 100th career victory and visiting Cleveland wrapped up home-field advantage for the first round of the playoffs against the Yankees.
The Indians claimed their 95th victory, tying them with the Red Sox for the most wins in the American League. The Red Sox, however, hold the tiebreaker by taking five of seven from Cleveland.
Diamondbacks 4, Rockies 2 - Brandon Webb and Arizona clinched a playoff spot and stopped Colorado's 11-game winning streak with a victory in Denver.
