Before Friday’s series opener against the red-hot Rangers, featuring the long-awaited homecoming of Jacob deGrom , there was Carlos Mendoza at the pregame microphone, plodding through his routine media briefing hours before the first pitch.

The Mets had just been swept in Philadelphia and had lost seven of their previous eight games. The final wild-card spot was slipping away and Mendoza’s team was tied for the third-fewest wins in MLB in a three-month span (Saturday’s loss dropped them to 31-49 since June 13).

The two clubs below them were the historically awful Rockies (28-52) and the fire-sale Twins (29-50), who auctioned off half their roster at the deadline.

Still, Friday’s news conference with Mendoza lasted only six minutes and was limited to questions involving deGrom’s re

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