I apologize to those of you who have missed reading my blog over the last couple of weeks.  But I'm back with a vengeance, and I'll be writing through October and into the hot stove off-season.

    Since coming over from the Nats, Luis Ayala turned his season around and looked great in the closer role for the Mets.  Until last night.  Casey Kotchman, who was 6-9 in the series despite his .219 batting average since joining the Braves in the Mark Teixiera trade, and pinch hitter Kelly Johnson, the resident Met-killer, led off the ninth with back-to-back singles off Ayala.  Then Greg Norton stepped up to the plate as a pinch hitter, and belted a line drive over the right field fence on the eighth pitch of the at-bat.  The home run gave the Braves a 5-4 lead, and the blown save was Ayala's second, and the 27th of the season for the Mets' bullpen.  The two runs Atlanta tacked on against Pedro Feliciano were just gravy, as the Mets came up empty in the bottom of the ninth against Mike Gonzalez.  Meanwhile, the Phillies swept a double header from the Brewers to pull within a game of the Mets (two in the loss column) for the lead in the NL East.

Continue reading "Ayala Joins The Blown Save Party"

    The Mets have lost two in a row and three out of four, and have watched their lead in the NL East shrink to just a half game over the Phillies.  New York's 13 remaining games include three with the Nationals, three with the Braves, four with the Cubs and three with the Marlins.  You can't put an exact number on how many games the Mets will need to win the rest of the way in order to make the playoffs--one more than the Phillies will suffice.  Mike Pelfrey, Johan Santana and Oliver Perez, the Mets' three most dependable starters, will likely combine for eight starts down the stretch, with Pedro Martinez, Jon Niese and anyone's guess filling out the remaining five.  New York will need strong, deep outings from their big three, and lots of offense in the other five games in order to avoid leaving their playoff hopes in the hands of the bullpen.  Of course, a little help from Philadelphia's opponents couldn't hurt, but the Mets need to be able to take care of their own business.  If they can't win enough games on their own to hold their divisional lead, then they don't deserve to play baseball in October anyway.

Continue reading "Mets Cling To First Place With Lucky 13 Games Left"

    Flash back to five days ago:

    The Mets just swept a two-game series from the Nationals, scoring 23 runs in the two games, and stand 3.5 games atop the National League East.  The Phillies, who just dropped back to back games against the Marlins, are four games behind New York in the loss column.  The Brewers, who are in the midst of a rough stretch, themselves, are still four games up on the Astros and Phillies in the Wild Card race, but who cares about the Wild Card?  The Mets don't need to worry about the pity playoff spot when they're poised to win the division, right?

    Flash to the present:

    The Mets have lost three in a row and four of the last five.  The Phillies have won five straight, including a four-game sweep of Milwaukee, and start the day in first place in the NL East by a half game.  The Brewers, who are in a freefall, have sunk to a half game behind the Mets in the Wild Card race.  Good thing there's always the Wild Card, because otherwise the Mets would be out of a playoff spot.

Continue reading "Mets In First Place...For The Wild Card?"