The Mets' bullpen is only half the problem.

The other part is what the team's offense does in late innings (7-9). Which is basically, nothing.

The Mets currently have 141 RBIs in innings 7-9, which is 2nd to worst in the NL (the Dodgers have 139, except they also have one of the top bullpens in the league.)

They are also currently dead last in runs scored (154), just behind the Dodgers (155) and Padres (156) in innings 7 through 9.

The strength of this team in August has primarily been the starting pitching, and the offense's ability to score in the first 6 innings.

The dichotomy is so great, it's astounding. The Mets have scored 484 runs in the first 6 innings of games, more than any other team in the NL. The team's SLG is 2nd only to the Cubs, and 3rd in OBP (behind St. Louis and Chicago).

What's more disturbing about this is that it only allows the opposition's relievers to be that much more effective against a team that simply cannot put together the hits in clutch situations.

The recent walkoff victory against the Atlanta Braves when Carlos Delgado lined a shot to LF Omar Infante, who lost the ball in the lights, was quite memorable. All the more memorable because these types of finishes have occurred so infrequently for the 2008 team.

The team's strengths are clearly the starting pitching (2nd-half Johan Santana, Oliver Perez finding a second life under pitching coach Dan Warthen, the maturation of Mike Pelfrey), the ability to attack the opposition's starters early and sometimes often.

But the weaknesses have everything to do with close games that go down to the wire. A shaky inconsistent bullpen and a practically non-existent clutch offense in late innings, is where the team is finding itself in dire straits.

They're not going to win every game, and any fan who expects so is a fool. There's always going to be games where they're simply outmatched and outplayed. But in close games in late innings, the team needs to figure out how to hold the leads, and more importantly, expand on those leads, and/or find ways to comeback.

Successful teams have a way of rallying from behind when the chips are down. The 2008 Mets have done so a handful of times, and they are memorable times. But they're memorable because they happen so infrequently.