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It starts with a nick, a small graze on the face (or leg) while shaving, a thin splinter in the palm of your hand. No blood. Very little pain. It starts, in this instance, with the Mets riding high: six-game winning streak, 5 ½-game cushion in the NL East, 21 games over .500, and a quick 5-1 lead over Tampa, the other hottest team in baseball this night of June 13. 

In the moment, life is giddy at 41 Seaver Way. 

And then you turn the page of a book, and it slices your index finger: damned paper cut. The Rays score six in the sixth. They win the game 7-5. The streak is over. The record in June? It’s still a heady 9-3. It’s tripping over the kid’s toys. It’s slipping on a small patch of ice. You’re annoyed for an instant, then keep walking. 

“We’ll just have to start a new winning streak tomorrow,” Francisco Lindor says.