The New York Mets are going through a bit of a rough stretch right now. After a 14-7 start to the season, the team with the highest payroll in baseball has lost 13 of their last 17 games. They have lost five straight series including losses to the sub-.500 Detroit Tigers, last-place Colorado Rockies and the team with the lowest payroll in MLB, the Cincinnati Reds.

Cincinnati and their $60 million payroll took two of three from the Mets, who are on the hook for $346.4 million this year. The Reds' active 26-man roster currently has a payroll of $34 million, which is about what Francisco Lindor, New York's third-highest paid player, will make this year. Yet the Reds beat the Mets 5-0 on Thursday, putting manager Buck Showalter in a position to unironically say that, "When you don't score runs, it's impossible to win a game." The Mets have been shut out seven times this year.

The Mets' road trip continues with a four-game stop in Washington this weekend. As of Thursday, they did not know who would would start any of those games, which made for this excellent graphic on SNY.

Max Scherzer, who has had some issues this season, was a late scratch earlier this week because of neck spasms and has not been slotted in the rotation. Though there is still a spot open on Sunday.

There's a lot of season left, but the Mets have gone from a half-game behind the Atlanta Braves for the best record in the National League to trailing by 7.5 in the NL East in three weeks. Right now it's looking like a long summer in Queens.

This article was originally published on thebiglead as New York Mets Are Making Lots of Money, But Not Scoring Runs or Winning Games.