Mets flash cash, pays off through summer, spent by playoffs

By RONALD BLUM
AP Baseball Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Baseball’s biggest spenders looked spent. The New York Mets enjoyed 175 days in first place, boosted by their billionaire new owner, confident Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer would lead them to glory, that Buck Showalter would make all the right moves.  All that blood, toil, tears and sweat ended not with bubbly and rings, but in a one-hit shutout defeat before a stunned crowd short of a sellout and Showalter prodding umpires to search the other team’s starter for secret sticky substances.