The New York Mets on Sunday lost to the Washington Nationals ( box score) while the Cincinnati Reds completed a four-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs ( box score ). That means the final wild card in the National League is now a deadlock between the Reds and Mets, both of whom sit 80-76 with one week to play, but Cincinnati holds the tiebreaker.

The 2007 Mets remain the gold standard for September collapses. Blowing a seven-game lead with seven to play remains one of the most statistically improbable downturns in Major League history. The players on that team are forever marked by what happened down the stretch.