On June 12, 69 games into the regular season, the New York Mets held the best record in baseball. Sitting at 45–24, the Mets had the lowest ERA in the league despite not having a clear frontline starter. And Juan Soto, the franchise’s $765 million investment, was off to a slow start. 

Public opinion assumed the Mets were not yet at full strength, and that their best play was still ahead of them.

But June ended up being their high mark. The Mets went 38–55 the rest of the way, only better than four teams in that timeframe. They finished at 83–79 with the same record as the Cincinnati Reds for the third NL Wild Card spot but did not hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. 

The Mets missed the playoffs by one game. The league’s highest payroll of $340 million could not buy them one more win. 

In a 162-game season, not every game will carry the same weight. In the dog days of July and August, one blown lead late in the game may not seem like a big deal. But it’s so easy to forget that one game, over the course of 162, can change the season’s outcome. 

On April 27, just over a month into the season, the Mets held a 7–1 lead against the Washington Nationals heading into the bottom of the seventh. The Mets were 19–8 through their first 27 games, well on track to be the first team to 20 wins, assuming they could put away the Nationals.

Well, they couldn’t. The Nationals rallied to walk off the Mets in the bottom of the ninth, thanks to a throwing error by Mets first baseman Pete Alonso. There was no way to know at the time, but winning that game would have sent the Mets to the playoffs.

“It’s a failure,” Soto said, following the team’s final regular season game, a 4–0 loss to the Miami Marlins. “Anytime you don’t make it to the playoffs or win a championship, it’s a failure. That’s how we’re going to look at it, and that’s how we’re going to go through things in the offseason.”

The Mets were 0–67 this season when trailing after eight innings — the only team to not have a single win in that circumstance. 

“It’s hard to describe,” Mets Manager Carlos Mendoza said after the team’s final regular season game. “I just got done addressing the team, and there’s no word to describe what we’re going through. It’s pain. It’s frustration. You name it. We came in with a lot of expectations, and here we are going home. Not only did we fall short, we didn’t even get into October.” 

Less than 10 miles away, the crosstown rival New York Yankees finished their season 94–68, tied for the best record in the American League with the Toronto Blue Jays. 

Similarly to the Mets, the Yankees did not hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Blue Jays, and since they are AL East foes, the Yankees were relegated to the first AL Wild Card. 

The Yankees were one game away from being the No. 1 seed in the playoffs and clinching a ticket to the division series. 

Instead, the Yankees found themselves in an elimation game. After dropping the first game of the Wild Card series to the Boston Red Sox, they fought back to take the next two and move on to the American League Division Series against the Blue Jays. 

On Aug. 1, the first game after the Yankees made a splash via the trade market, acquiring two bats and three bullpen arms, they took the field against the Marlins. The Yankees jumped out to a quick 6–0 lead through the top half of the fifth. The Marlins clawed back to make it a 6–4 game, but the Yankees offense came through again, taking a 9–4 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh. 

The Marlins scored 6 runs on 7 hits in the bottom half of the seventh, giving them a 10–9 lead. The Yankees tied the game in the eighth and held a 12–10 lead going into the bottom of the ninth. The Marlins scored three to walk off the Yankees in stunning fashion, 13–12.

It may seem unfair to place the weight of an entire season directly on one game’s shoulders, but that is the harsh reality of the league.

For the second time in a row since 2013, this season did not feature a 100 game winner — the Milwaukee Brewers paced the league with 97 wins. No team ran away from the field; every game had drastic implications for playoff-hopeful teams.

The Houston Astros finished 87–75 and missed the playoffs by one game because they lost the head-to-head tiebreaker to the Detroit Tigers.

The Guardians clinched the AL Central on the final day of the regular season, securing home field advantage throughout the Wild Card series against the Tigers. 

As crazy as it may seem in a 162 game season, minuscule moments matter — the Mets and Yankees faltering in singular games in the heart of the season sent massive ripples through the rest of their season.

So, the next time a playoff-hopeful team blows a late game lead in the midst of a summer stretch, it may result in bigger implications than you might think.