14 posts tagged “atlanta braves”

I keep reading and hearing about it. 

I've been somewhat neglectful again of updating this blog on a consistent basis. The reason? Real life interferes.

But hopefully I'll find a little more time between all the sports action going on with the Mets and Angels, and other baseball playoff matchups, college football season now underway, and the NHL season starting in October.

So, with that out of the way, let's briefly talk about the New York Mets.

Through 143 games played, the Mets are 63-80. There are 19 games remaining in the season, so the chances of going 81-81 are virtually impossible unless the club goes 18-1. Now it's a matter of 70 wins instead of 81. Can they get there?

Back on August 6, I predicted that the Mets were going to end up with a final record of 77-85. However, even that seems unlikely unless they can go 14-5 to finish out the season. Possible, still not very probable, especially considering how the club has played over the past month.

Now, at best, the Mets are in the role of potentially playing spoilers to the rest of the NL East as they'll be playing Atlanta, Florida and Washington the rest of the way. None of them are in a strong position to take the NL Wild Card away from either the Colorado Rockies or Los Angeles Dodgers, although mathematically, Atlanta and Florida are still in the hunt.

As for 2010, there's going to be a LOT of talk going into the offseason as to what this Mets organization needs to do in order to rebound. The desperate need for a power-hitting leftfielder. How will the team fill holes at catcher, 1B, and the starting rotation? Will the bullpen undergo another overhaul outside of Frankie and Feliciano? That will all be covered in due time.

Right now, the Met players that are still healthy simply need to focus upon doing the best they can on the field. For many of them, this is an audition for a spot in the majors come 2010, never mind the Mets.

As if in a bad dream, David Wright is struck down.

After a 3-game sweep at the hands of NL East rivals and current division leaders Philadelphia Phillies over the July 4 weekend, it's time to call it. The season for the 2009 New York Mets is basically over.

Understand that unlike a lot of Met fans, I'm not the whining complaining blame & flame-throwing type. I don't fault any one person for the failure of the 2009 New York Mets. I don't beat drums about firing everyone in the front office, or demanding that they trade away part of "the core." I'm generally pretty optimistic when it comes to all things baseball. But I'm also realistic.

And the reality has finally set in for this team. It's not Jerry Manuel's fault. It's not Omar Minaya's fault. It's not Fred and Jeff Wilpon's fault.

It's the fault of overwhelming injuries to a multitude of players.

Injuries are the great unequalizer in sports. It's what makes fantasy sports such a tough game to win. You can draft the best players in any fantasy sports league, but if your #1, #2 and #3 picks go down for an extended period of time, you're going to have a very tough time of winning your fantasy league. Now translate that to REAL sports, and you've got a serious problem.

The 2009 New York Mets have lost a lot of players this season to injury. Some minor, many major. Oliver Perez was first to fall. To some, that's not a big deal. But then Carlos Delgado went down with a hip injury. Then Jose Reyes's calf and hamstring. Then JJ Putz with his elbow. Then the oft-injured starting pitcher John Maine and his shoulder.

But the biggest loss on top of all of the others that had already accumulated, was Carlos Beltran and the debilitating and painful bone bruise on his right knee.

There were periods of time in which the Mets were also without starters Ryan Church (RF), Brian Schneider (C), and backup utility man Alex Cora (SS/2B). There's a revolving door/platoon in LF once the Daniel Murphy outfield experiment ended. Fernando Tatis is not hitting at even close to the pace he was in 2008, and the backup players (Alex Cora, Gary Sheffield) are being worn down by playing nearly every day.

David Wright has become a very streaky and inconsistent hitter who has lost his power swing. Despite being the only major Met starter to remain healthy all season, he is going to have a career year in most strikeouts at his current pace, and his final BA could end up being .260 or .350, depending on what streak he ends the 2009 season on. But even assuming the best for David Wright, he's one player. Even Albert Pujols has a superior supporting cast surrounding him.

There are some Met fans who want to blame GM Omar Minaya for not providing a better set of backup players, forgetting that backup players are just that. Backups.

They're the guys who alternate in to give the others rest on a Sunday day game after a Saturday night game, and occasionally a couple of them can fill in for extended periods of time over the course of a season when needed. But when your backup players get hurt, and then you're calling up minor league players to fill-in for THEM before they are ready to produce at an MLB level a la Fernando (K-Mart) Martinez, Nick Evans, Argenis Reyes, etc. it's an unplanned recipe for disaster.

There are some Met fans who want to blame GM Omar Minaya for not having already traded for another offensive player, like an Aubrey Huff, Mark DeRosa or Matt Holliday. The three major problems with these concepts is that one player alone isn't going to turn the Mets around. The second is that despite the simplistic belief of many a baseball fan no matter which team they support, other GMs have to actually agree to the trades. The third is that Minaya has gone on record stating he wasn't willing to mortgage the future prospects of the franchise for short-term solutions. A very wise decision. However, the pill of potentially giving up on 2009 to have a shot at legitimately competing in 2010 and 2011 is proving to be a tough one to swallow.

The indisputable facts are this:

• Through 81 games, the halfway-point of a MLB season, the New York Mets have gone 39-42. They are 3 games under .500, and 4.5 games behind the Phillies.
  
• Last year, the 2008 Mets were 40-41 at the halfway point, 3 games behind the Phillies. They went 59-32 over the 2nd half of the season, which was still a game short of the NL wild card. And that's a team that didn't have nearly the number of injury problems that the 2009 team has endured.
  
• There are SEVEN teams currently ahead of them (Giants, Rockies, Brewers, Cubs, Marlins, Reds, Astros) in the wild card race, with Atlanta just a half-game behind the Mets in both the NL East and wild card race.The Mets are 5.5 games behind current wild card leading San Francisco Giants.
  
• Since June 1, the team has went 11-21, which would only be slightly palatable had they not gone 9-12 in April. Even though the team went 19-9 in May, things started to slide when June came, and went to hell in a handbasket once Beltran went on the DL (5-9 since June 22), including series sweeps against the Yankees and Phillies.

The Mets have their next 6 at home going into the All-Star Break. 3 against the Dodgers, owners of the best record in baseball, and the Cincinnati Reds. Figure the Mets go 3-3 over that span, losing the series to the Dodgers, winning the series against the Reds.

After the All-Star break, the Mets go on the road for 4 against Atlanta, 3 against Washington, 3 against Houston. If this were truly the 2009 Mets with all their healthy starters in the lineup, it would not be absurd to expect them to win 8-9 of those 10 games.

But without those starting players in the lineup and the team's inability to score runs at a consistent pace, the more likely outcome of that 10-game roadtrip is 4-6.

The Mets will finish up July with a 4-game set at home against the Colorado Rockies, and a 4-game set that extends into August (1 game in July) against the dying Arizona Diamondbacks. Over those 5 games, I'll give the Mets a 3-2 record.

Taking into account all the series remaining in the month, that would bring the Mets to a July finish of 12-14, and a total record of 49-53 through 102 games played.

For the New York Mets to actually have a reasonable shot of winning the NL East or even the wildcard, they'd have to amass at least 88-90 wins by season's end at the bare minimum.

In a perfect world, you get back all your healthy players PLUS Billy Wagner in the bullpen by August 1, 2009. Maybe you already have some of then back already. But the Mets would then need to go around 39-14 over the rest of the season, and pray that other teams in the NL East encounter troubles of their own. While that's not impossible, it's certainly not very probable. Keep in mind that this is also assuming that the team doesn't suffer any additional injuries to major players.

Whether the Mets should be buyers, sellers, or neither at the end of July will ultimately be determined how the team plays their next 21 games. Will they still be in the race? Will they be completely out of it? Will they barely be hanging on? And can GM Omar Minaya afford to publicly wave the white flag at the risk of lost ticket sales and other revenues at Met home games in August and September, and depending on what moves he makes, 2010?

Only time will tell, but you can put this one in the books. The 2009 Mets will not make the postseason because they've gone too many games without their horses. By the time the cavalry comes back, it will be too late.

I really hope to be proven wrong, but this time, I highly doubt it.

Go Angels.

Every year, MLB begins their All-Star game balloting near the end of April, which is far too early. I advocate for voting only after June 1, as you simply cannot elect players to the All-Star game based on less than one month of baseball.

Got this statistic from ESPN's SportsCenter....

In the modern NL, there have been 4 teams since 1900 that started their season with a 10-0 record at home.

They are:
1918 Giants. Finished 71-53. Did not make the playoffs.
1970 Cubs. Finished 84-78. Did not make the playoffs.
1983 Braves. Finished 88-74. Did not make the playoffs.

The 2009 Dodgers have won their first 10 home games of the season by sweeping the San Francisco Giants (3), Colorado Rockies (3) and San Diego Padres (4).

If history can please repeat itself, I will be super duper happy.

Allow me to bottom line this...

Oliver Perez was signed by the New York Mets to pitch against 3 teams.

The Philadelphia Phillies, the Atlanta Braves, and the New York Yankees.

Perez has inexplicably owned the Yankees throughout his entire career, (5-1 in 6 career starts, 41.1 IP, 2.61 ERA). While the Mets only face the Yankees 6 times per season, it would be quite fortuitous if Perez were able to have 2 starts against them.

Last year, Perez dominated the Philadelphia Phillies even more than Mets ace Johan Santana did.
In 4 starts against the Phillies, Perez was 1-0 with a 0.35 ERA over 26 IP. He gave up a total of one earned run in 4 games against Philadelphia.

In 2007, Perez posted a 4-1 record in 5 starts against the Atlanta Braves, with a 3.03 ERA over 32.2 IP.
In 2008, Perez had no decisions in 3 starts against Atlanta, with a 3.72 ERA over 19.1 IP.

For all the talk about how "inconsistent" Oliver Perez is, the reality is that he more often than not, pitches very well against any one of those 3 teams, OR in high-pressure situations. When he pitches against other teams that are merely "regular season games," no one really knows what to expect.

His one good performance in 2009 came against the San Diego Padres. It was a high-pressure situation in that the Mets had lost the CitiField opener to San Diego, and the Mets desperately wanted that first home win ASAP.

The way the schedule works out, unless there are any rainouts, Oliver Perez's next three starts will be against Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Atlanta.

Of course, there's no guarantee that Perez will pitch great those games, but the odds are in his favor based on track record.

If he fails to pitch adequately in these games, then I would say there is great cause for concern. As it is, you don't want to see him pitch so extremely poorly against the rest of the league.

But it's too early in the season to panic, especially when Oliver Perez is about to begin facing teams that he was specifically paid to beat.

Allow me to make a very important, yet simple point.

Game 3 of the final series between the Mets and Phillies during the regular season all comes down to this.

The Phillies won the first two games of the series and have shrunk the Mets NL East-division lead to 1 game. If the Phillies complete the sweep at Shea, they will be tied for first place as the two teams go their separate ways. The Mets have a 2-game series against the Washington Nationals on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Phillies return home to face the Marlins in a 3-game set Monday through Wednesday.

A lot is going to be made of this series, but even if the Mets lose this game, there are still 19 games remaining for both teams, and it's very likely going to be a race that goes down to the final week, or even day unless one team... ahem... collapses.

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(All times Pacific)
Top of 1st Inning:

5:11pm: Jimmy Rollins grounds sharply to SS Jose Reyes. 6-3. 1 out.

5:12pm: ESPN's Jon Miller reads off a bunch of stats as to how many times Santana has pitched well only to have the Mets' bullpen blow it for him. *sigh*

5:13pm: Chase Utley lines a single into centerfield.

5:14pm: Jayson Werth is up, and he hits lefties VERY well this season, especially with the longball. He has 15 HRs in 2008 against lefty pitching, which leads the majors.

5:15pm: Johan Santana falls behind Jayson Werth going 2-0, 2-1, 3-1, and ends up walking him.

5:17pm: Ryan Howard singles to leftfield scoring Chase Utley from 2nd easily. Jayson Werth to 2nd. Phillies go up 1-0.

5:18pm: Met-killer Pat Burrell is up. Although he's slumping something fierce over the last month. Burrell has 42 HRs against the Mets, the most among all active players.

5:20pm: Johan Santana is having trouble throwing strikes. 20 pitches in the inning so far 11 of them are balls.

5:22pm: Pat Burrell thinks he just saw ball 4, but it was clearly strike 3 that went into Schneider's mitt. 2 out.

5:23pm: Shane Victorino flies out to deep centerfield. 3 out.

Bottom of 1st Inning:

5:28pm: Jose Reyes pops out to 2B Chase Utley. 1 out.

5:30pm: Ryan Church fights off a high fastball and hits it into LF for a single.

5:31pm: David Wright, swinging an 0-2 pitch, fouls it off but also hits catcher Chris Coste's glove on his swing, triggering a catcher's interference call from the home plate umpire. David Wright automatically gets 1st base, Ryan Church moves to 2nd.

5:33pm: Phillies manager Charlie Manuel is out to argue and gets the toss for his argument. The fans pop huge and a "LETS GO METS" chant erupts.

5:34pm: Carlos Beltran lines a ball down the leftfield line. Ryan Church scores easily. David Wright beats the tag of Pedro Feliz at 3rd base, Carlos Beltran to 2nd on the throw. Tie game 1-1. Bench coach (acting manager) Jimmy Williams is out to argue the call at 3rd. Replays show Wright may have been out but it's tough to tell. No ejection this time.

5:37pm: Carlos Delgado grounds a ball up the middle for a single, driving in David Wright and Carlos Beltran. 3-1 Mets.

5:39pm: Fernando Tatis grounds a ball up the middle but SS Jimmy Rollins makes a nice play to field the ball, toss to Utley at 2nd for an out, but Tatis beats the throw to 1st. 2 out.

5:41pm: Cole Hamels strikes out Damion Easley. Pretty exciting inning to start this one. Mets up 3-1, a rare catcher's interference call, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel ejected, and Cole Hamels looks very hittable. Hopefully moreso than Santana.

Top of 2nd Inning:

5:45pm: Pedro Feliz goes down swinging at a Johan Santana changeup. 1 out.

5:46pm: Chris Coste takes a trot down to 1st base.

5:47pm: Cole Hamels lays down a bunt in front of Johan Santana who fields it cleanly, fires to Reyes at 2B for the out. Reyes throws to Easley covering 1B, but Hamels beats the throw. 2 out.

5:49pm: Jimmy Rollins grounds to 3B David Wright. 5-3. 3 out.

Bottom of 2nd Inning:

5:52pm: Brian Schneider strikes out swinging. 1 out.

5:55pm: Johan Santana lines a 3-2 pitch down the leftfield line. If not for 3B Pedro Feliz knocking it down, it would have been a double for Santana. However, he'll settle for a single.

5:56pm: Jose Reyes is not looking good at the plate against Cole Hamels.

5:57pm: Jose Reyes hits a weak groundball to SS Jimmy Rollins who tosses the ball to Chase Utley at 2B, but Utley comes way off the bag and Santana is safe at 2nd. That should be ruled an error on Utley as there was no need for him to field the toss from Rollins that way.

5:58pm: Ryan Church hits a grounder back to pitcher Cole Hamels, but he can' t field it cleanly as it goes off his glove.  Bases loaded for the Mets and that may end up rule being an infield single. David Wright to the plate with bases full and 1 out.

6:01pm: Miller and Morgan note David Wright's less-than-stellar numbers with bases loaded. And sure enough, Wright goes down swinging on a 3-2 fastball from Hamels. 2 out.

6:02pm; Carlos Beltran swings at the first pitch and fouls out to 1B Ryan Howard. Phillies escape the jam. 3 out.

Top of 3rd Inning:

6:06pm: Johan Santana strikes out Chase Utley. 1 out.

6:08pm: Johan Santana strikes out Jayson Werth on 3 pitches. 2 outs.

6:09pm: Ryan Howard crushes the first pitch he sees from Santana into the LF bleachers for his 40th HR of the season. Mets lead cut to 3-2.

6:10pm: Pat Burrell strikes out swinging. Santana ends up striking out the side but gives up the dinger to Howard. 3 out.

Bottom of 3rd Inning:

6:12pm: Carlos Delgado hits a scoreboard moonshot SLAMMA LAMMA DING DONG, which is all the more dramatic considering the piece ESPN just did on him, explaining how the Mets were trying to figure out what to do with Carlos after his subpar first half. Mets up 4-2.

6:15pm: Fernando Tatis hits a hard lineshot into the glove of CF Shane Victorino. 1 out.

6:16pm: Damion Easley breaks his bat with a bloop shot to shallow center which is tracked down and caught by SS Jimmy Rollins. 2 out.

6:18pm: Brian Schneider smokes a shot into centerfield which almost gets past CF Shane Victorino, but Schneider is limited to the single.

6:20pm: Johan Santana grounds out to 3B Pedro Feliz who throws to Utley for the forceout at 2nd. 3 out.

Top of 4th Inning:

6:24pm: Shane Victorino foul pops to 1B Carlos Delgado. 1 out.

6:25pm: Pedro Feliz pops out to 2B Damion Easley. 2 out.

6:26pm: Chris Coste grounds to 3B David Wright. 5-3. 3 out. A very economical 7-pitch inning for Johan Santana.

Bottom of 4th Inning:

6:28pm: Cole Hamels is going to be lucky to go 5 innings this game with his pitch count now above 80.

6:29pm: Jose Reyes continues to look horrible against Cole Hamels, swinging at a pitch in the dirt for strike 3. 1 out.

6:30pm: Ryan Church grounds out sharply to 1B Ryan Howard who runs to the bag for out 2.

6:31pm: David Wright flies out to 2B Chase Utley in shallow left-center. 3 out.

Top of 5th Inning:

6:34pm: Johan Santana strikes out Cole Hamels, which is now 6 K's through 5.1 IP. 1 out.

6:36pm: Jimmy Rollins grounds to SS Jose Reyes. 6-3. 2 out.

6:38pm: Chase Utley flies out to LF Fernando Tatis. 3 out.

Bottom of 5th Inning:

6:43pm: Carlos Beltran goes down swinging. 1 out.

6:45pm: Carlos Delgado crushes yet another moonshot off of Cole Hamels' first pitch. This time off a changeup instead of the curveball. Mets up 5-2.

6:46pm: Fernando Tatis grounds out to 3B Pedro Feliz. 5-3. 2 out.

6:47pm: Damion Easley hits a hard shot to LF that bounces up against the wall for a double.

6:48pm: With a base open, Cole Hamels gives the IBB to Brian Schneider so they can face Johan Santana.

6:49pm: ESPN's Jon Miller says Carlos Delgado's 2nd HR went an estimated 460 feet. Wow.

6:50pm: Johan Santana strikes out swinging on Cole Hamel's 109th pitch. 3 out.

Top of 6th Inning:

6:53pm: Jayson Werth grounds out to 3B David Wright who makes a very nice play and throw onto 1st for the out. 1 out.

6:55pm: Ryan Howard flies out to CF Carlos Beltran. 2 out.

6:58pm: Pat Burrell works out a walk.

6:59pm: Shane Victorino flies out to RF Ryan Church. 3 out.

Bottom of 6th Inning:

7:02pm: Now pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies is right-hander Clay Condrey. Maybe Jose Reyes can start hitting better now.

7:03pm: Or not. Reyes breaks his bat with a grounder to 2B Chase Utley. 4-3. 1 out.

7:05pm: Ryan Church strikes out swinging. 2 out.

7:06pm: David Wright grounds the first pitch he sees from Condrey right to SS Jimmy Rollins. 6-3. 3 out.

Top of 7th Inning:

7:08pm: Pedro Feliz grounds a ball past Carlos Delgado into RF for a single.

7:09pm: With Johan Santana nearing 100 pitches, this will surely be his final inning.

7:10pm: Chris Coste flies out to CF Carlos Beltran. 1 out.

7:11pm: Carlos Ruiz in to pinch-hit for Clay Condrey.

7:13pm: Ruiz grounds out to David Wright who makes a diving stop, gets up and throws to Easley for the out. Easley throws on to Delgado at first but Ruiz beats it easily. 2 out.

7:15pm: Jimmy Rollins lines a 3-2 pitch directly at David Wright for the third out. Santana throws 110 pitches for the night through 7, and he's done. Another very good outing from Johan.

Bottom of 7th Inning:

7:20pm: In relief for the Phillies is right-hander Rudy Seanez.

7:21pm: Carlos Beltran just misses a HR by a bit as he hits a long flyball to the warning track, but Jayson Werth catches it. 1 out.

7:22pm: The fans chant "MVP" at Carlos Delgado, which he may be for the Mets team, but certainly a joke if they think it's for the National League. Mind you, a good percentage of these "fans" are the same asshats who were busy booing Delgado in May, demanding his release, and parroting the words "Bring up Mike Carp!" until their empty heads exploded.

7:23pm: It is noted that no Met has ever hit 3 HR in one game at Shea Stadium.

7:24pm: Carlos Delgado strikes out swinging. 2 out.

7:26pm: Jon Miller notes that no one is pitching in the Mets bullpen, which indicates Santana is going another frame.

7:27pm: Fernando Tatis skies a shot into left-centerfield, but it's caught by Shane Victorino. 3 out.

Top of 8th Inning:

7:29pm: Johan Santana pitching another inning to the heart of the Phillies order. Utley, Werth and Howard. Endy Chavez is in LF as a defensive replacement for Fernando Tatis.

7:31pm: Chase Utley grounds out to 1B Carlos Delgado who jogs to the bag for the out.

7:32pm: Jayson Werth pounds a ball to deep CF for a double. Mets manager Jerry Manuel goes to the mound to get Johan Santana, who gets the standing ovation from the Shea fans. Santana even tips his cap to the 1st-base side fans. Sometimes lefty-specialist Pedro Feliciano is coming in from the bullpen to face lefty powerhouse Ryan Howard.

7:36pm: Ryan Howard grounds out to 1B Carlos Delgado who jogs to the bag for the out. Jayson Werth goes to 3rd on the play. That's all for Pedro Feliciano. Jerry Manuel to the mound for the pitching change as righty Brian Stokes is in to face righty Pat Burrell.

7:39pm: Pat Burrell breaks his bat on the first pitch he sees from Brian Stokes, grounding out to SS Jose Reyes. 6-3. 3 out.

Bottom of 8th Inning:

7:42pm: Luis Ayala is warming up in the bullpen for the 9th. Ayala may be the closer for the rest of the season if Wagner's setback today is as serious as is being reported.

7:43pm: Damion Easley hits a ball over CF Shane Victorino's head that goes just past his glove for a leadoff stand-up triple.

7:45pm: Brian Schneider hits a long fly ball into RF caught by Jayson Werth, but Damion Easley tags up easily to expand the Mets lead to 6-2. 1 out.

7:46pm: Marlon Anderson is in to pinch-hit for Brian Stokes.

7:47pm: Marlon Anderson fouls off two pitches before swinging through the third and striking out. 2 out.

7:48pm: Jose Reyes grounds out to 1B Ryan Howard who is a step away from the bag when he fields it. 3 out.

Top of 9th Inning:

7:51pm: Luis Ayala is on to pitch the 9th in a non-save situation.

7:52pm: Shane Victorino hits an excellent unintentional swinging bunt which deadens downs the 3rd-base line. Catcher Brian Schneider fields it and tries to throw out Victorino at 1st, but the throw sails over Delgado into RF and bounces into the stands. Victorino to 2nd on the error.

7:53pm: Greg Dobbs is in to pinch-hit for Pedro Feliz. Dobbs flies out to CF Carlos Beltran. 1 out.

7:54pm: Righty pitchers Al Reyes and Joe Smith are warming up in the Mets bullpen. Lefty Matt Stairs is on to pinch-hit for Chris Coste.

7:55pm: Matt Stairs basically does the same thing Shane Victorino did. A swinging bunt, except the ball goes further up the third-base line for an infield hit. David Wright knows he has no chance so he lets the ball go. Victorino to 3rd base on the play. The hide is torn off on this ball.

7:57pm: Tadahito Iguchi is in to pinch-run for Matt Stairs. Andy Tracy is in to pinch-hit for Rudy Seanez.

7:58pm: Andy Tracy hits a flyball to deep LF which Endy Chavez catches near the wall with a slight jump. Victorino tags up. Mets lead cut by one, but they're still up 6-3. 2 out.

7:59pm: Luis Ayala gets the dramatic strikeout game-ender with Rollins swinging and missing. 3 out. GAME OVER. Mets win 6-3.

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With the Mets victory, they lose the series but gain a division lead back on the Phillies to 2 games.

The two teams will not meet again this season, and with Milwaukee looking to be the NL Wildcard team at this point, they can't face each other in the postseason either.

More importantly, the Mets win the season series from Philadelphia 12-7, something they did not do in 2007 when they went 6-12 against the Phillies.

The next 19 games will be very important to both teams, which I believe will go down to the final week. The Mets have a 4-game series against the Chicago Cubs Sep 22-25 which the Mets are going to have to dominate if the Phillies are still in the race 2 weeks from now, and with their upcoming schedule, there's no reason to expect that they won't be.

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.