Dreams of World Series title crushed with early elimination

Bryce Harper won't receive any rings this year nor will he be hoisting any trophies over the monuments. The Mets clinched the National League East with a convincing 10-2 win over the Reds, officially eliminating the Nationals from a postseason that almost everyone predicted they would be a major factor in.

Not even a dominating 13-strikeout performance from Stephen Strasburg coupled with a walk-off RBI double from Harper in the 12th inning could help the vulnerable Nats today. The drama-filled 2-1 victory over the Phillies was rendered meaningless along with the upcoming final eight games.

"We gotta win tomorrow," manager Matt Williams insisted, refusing to reflect on the disappointment. "I mean we're here. We have to play games. We've got some remaining. We want to play well in those games. After the fact, we'll have a chance to look back at it."

Harper uttered his "Where's my ring" proclamation back in spring training, reacting to the Nationals supposedly historic starting rotation after the addition of former Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer.

But the rotation that was built to lead the Nats deep into the fall never came close to fulfilling the expectations. Strasburg delivered a 6.55 ERA while battling numerous nagging injuries throughout his first 10 starts before emerging as one of the majors' best starters over the final two months.

Gio Gonzalez and Jordan Zimmermann were stellar for stretches and inconsistent for others. Doug Fister spent a month on the DL early and eventually ended up in the bullpen. And despite a spectacular first half of the season, Scherzer fell apart when the Nats needed him most in August, while the Mets took a commanding division lead.

"Sometimes this game isn't fair," Strasburg said. "Every single one of these guys competed all year. We dealt with some adversity, but we battled through it. That's all you can do. Keep grinding, keep fighting. It just didn't work out this year."

The historic season ended up coming from Harper, who more than backed up his words with a sensational breakthrough year that should end in his first NL Most Valuable Player award.

"I think it's just part of the game," Harper said. "I think that's just the way it was this year. The Mets had everything going for them. They did a lot of things. That deadline came around and they got (Yoenis) Cespedes, (Tyler) Clippard and they built their team. They did a great job this year and they're doing it. Coming from the East, I hope they win it all."

Many questions are left for this upcoming long winter with core players Ian Desmond, Denard Span, Zimmermann and Fister set to become free agents at season's end.

"I think I said that in February that this could be the last run of this core group of guys," Jayson Werth said. "It's got a chance to be drastically different next year, so that's tough. This is my fifth year here. Played with these guys, get to know these guys, go to work with these guys every year, you're basically family. So it's unfortunate. It sucks. You wanna win. You wanna keep playing. You wanna be the last team standing. When that's not the case, it's no good."

The future of Williams, who received a vote of confidence from Harper two weeks ago, figures to be the first decision made by ownership as soon as the Nats wrap up their insignificant series with the Mets next weekend.

"Being eliminated is in and of itself disappointing," Williams said. "That being said, I think everybody on the bench knew at one point or another. That didn't stop them, though. I'm proud of that, proud of the way they went about it."