MILWAUKEE The Mets were ticketed to play between two to four more regular-season games heading into Saturday nights matchup here in what has to be one of the more unusual, and po sibly unhappy, season endings ever. Their chances to make the playoffs look decent on paper (more on that below), but they have even more i sues than games, no matter how many Ashton Goudeau Jersey it turns out to be whether it be two, three or four. 1. The Mets played poorly the first couple games on their most momentous trip (but the combinations and permutations are still working somewhat favorably, believe it or not). Hard as it is to believe, they could clinch here but cannot be eliminated before they leave, thanks to holding the tiebreaker over the similarly struggling Diamondbacks. 2. J.D. Martinez, a noted hitting savant, fell to 0-for-his-last-35 once his pop fly that popped out of Brewers second baseman Brice Turangs glove was ruled an error Friday. (Martinez was out of Saturdays lineup). J.D. Martinez has been brutal at the plate for the Mets down the stretch. Jason Szenes / New York Post 3. Francisco Lindor even while gathering two hits in his first full game in two weeks. Its uncomfortable bending over, so shortstop isnt easy now. The pain would come and go so Im happy with that, Lindor said after the Mets dropped game one here 8-4 to a . (The Mets noticed, too, and Lindor was DH-ing Saturday.) More From Jon Heyman 4. They cant stop Milwaukees running game. The Brewers swiped six bases Friday, not to mention adding bases on two wild pitches and a pa sed ball as the Mets rushed to quell baseballs speediest team (Turang, Garrett Mitchell and Blake Perkins look like three-fourths of an Olympic sprint team.) Francisco Lindor takes batting practice before Saturdays Mets game. JASON SZENES/NEW YORK POST 5. Francisco Alvarez is in pain, too. , so while hes feeling way better, they replaced him in the lineup Saturday with Luis Torrens, who they picked up for pocket change from the Yankees ($100,000). 6. Unle s they can avoid the trip back to Atlanta by virtue of a combination of three Mets wins/D-Backs defeats, their pitching is about to get me sy thanks to the likely nece sity to play one or two games down south. admitted he considered removing Fridays starter Sean Manaea after falling behind 5-0 early in hopes of saving bullets. One big plus: the belief is they wont need to return to Atlanta on Monday if both teams are already in and only seeding is left to be decided. Remarkably, as of Saturday afternoon, while they could still clinch a playoff spot here, they could not be eliminated here even after doing nothing positive this trip beyond beating Hurricane Helene out of Atlanta. Speaking of nothing positive, Martinez, whose career 131 OPS-plus ties Hall of Famers Tony Oliva, Rod Carew and Wade Boggs, hasnt had a hit in what seems like a month. Mendoza penciled him into the lineup after not starting for a week. But after he took another 0-fer, hes back on the bench. New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez takes batting practice in the batting cage at American Family Field on Saturday. JASON SZENES/NEW YORK POST I thought I felt good tonight [but] the proofs in the pudding, Martinez conceded. The Mets offense is upside down now. The biggest contributors continue to be Mark Vientos and Jose Iglesias, the rookie and extreme veteran who began the season in the minors. Meantime, Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo are having statistically so-so seasons at least based on slash lines and Martinez even worse. Delivering insights on all things Amazins Sign up for Inside the Mets by Mike Puma, exclusively on Sports+ Thank you By clicking above you agree to the and . Enjoy this Post Sports+ exclusive newsletter! Alonsos 34 home runs rank him among NL leaders, but by his previous standards, his platform year is unquestionably below his norm. He also is looking for a signature moment. (Now might be a good time?) Nimmo is improving his base stealing, providing some big hits (believe it or not, he ranks fourth in the NL in win probability added, however thats figured) and hitting in about the worst luck imaginable. The poor fellow rocketed multiple shots over the foul pole that were ruled foul on gue swork. (He said there are discu sions to lengthen the pole, and lets hope so!) With Lindor in pain, Jeff McNeil in sick bay and the biggest boppers in pseudo slumps, the stars may need to start to shine. Vientos and Iglesias need help. Pete Alonso is looking for a signature moment this season. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post The Mets technically need no outside help, but continued losing will send them home. Its in their hands. The three-way tie heading into Saturdays games (plus the tiebreaker edge at least on Arizona) gives them plenty of hope. But they need to show a better version of themselves. There are still too many po sibilities to catalogue in this space. But suffice to say, their chances to advance beyond the preliminaries took something of a hit with the prospect of another unwanted trip to Atlanta. And a second-straight dud didnt help. But hope is far from lost. And they are holding onto that. We havent played our best, Mendoza said, but this team has been through a lot. They came back from down 11 games, so theres a belief they make it whether they have two more games to play, or three, or po sibly four. Jordan Beck Jersey