The New York Mets are still atop the NL East with an 89-55 record, but they need every win they can get especially with the Atlanta Braves closing in on them. Holding a precarious half-game lead over the Braves, the Mets missed a golden opportunity to widen the gap after getting swept by the 61-82 Chicago Cubs, unable to collect a victory despite playing in the friendly confines of Citi Field.

In the process, the Mets made some pretty appalling history, one that stars Francisco Lindor and Jacob deGrom would soon want to forget. According to ESPN Stats and Info, the Mets are the first team since 1968 to get swept at home by a team that's 20 games under .500 while entering the final game of the series 35+ games above .500, and the only team since the start of the Division Era to earn such an embarrassing distinction.

There is some good news for Mets fans, however; the 1968 Detroit Tigers, the last team to match the Mets' egregious sweep, won the World Series during that fateful year, taking home the prize against the St. Louis Cardinals in a hard-fought seven-game series after finishing with an MLB-best 103-59 record.

Hopefully the 1968 Tigers prove to be a sign for things to come for the Mets, but they should focus on locking up the division crown first. The difference between having the second-best record in the NL while taking home the division, which the Mets currently are in the position of, and a wild-card spot is night and day.

If the Mets get usurped by the Braves in the standings, the Mets will have to play a best of three wildcard series instead of getting an automatic bye to the Division Series, and for a team that's had its fair share of injury woes, including Max Scherzer, who is currently on the injured list, not having to grind out another postseason series could be huge in their hopes of winning their first World Series in 36 years.

The Mets should just heed the sage advice of their shortstop Lindor, and lose less than the Braves do.