Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back

Arizona Diamondbacks 3 @ New York Mets 2

9 hits combined by the Mets and Diamondbacks Friday night.

4 solo home runs by the two teams.

8 men left on base by the Mets.

8 consecutive scoreless appearances by Sean Green before giving up the winning run Friday.

0 hits given up by Green. The winning run, Justin Upton, got on base via the hit by pitch.

Arizona Diamondbacks 6 @ New York Mets 9

5 runs batted in by Mets leadoff hitter Angel Pagan Saturday night.

9 Mets scored Saturday night. No Met, however, scored more than once.

23 stolen bases by David Wright after Saturday’s game.

53 runs batted in on the season by Jeff Francoeur after knocking in another one on Saturday.

11 runs batted in by Jeff Francoeur in his last 9 games.

5 walks by Oliver Perez Saturday night. He has walked 32 batters in his last 29 and a third innings of work.

2.03 WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched) by Oliver Perez this season.

0.98 WHIP by Pedro Feliciano after one and two-thirds scoreless innings of work Saturday.

24 saves by Francisco Rodriguez on the season.

Arizona Diamondbacks 5 @ New York Mets 2

9 homeruns by Jeff Francoeur this season.

4 homeruns by Jeff Francoeur since joining the Mets.

.297 batting average by Luis Castillo this season following Sunday’s game, this after hitting .245 last season.

107 pitches by Mike Pelfrey through five innings Sunday afternoon.

106 pitches by Jon Garland through nine innings Sunday.

2 games lost to the Colorado Rockies in the last three days. The Mets are now, once again, seven and a half back in the NL Wild Card standings.

Mets Split Doubleheader Versus Rockies

Colorado Rockies 0 @ New York Mets 7

12 wins for Johan Santana. Santana recorded his 12th win against the Rockies in the first game of Thursday’s doubleheader. Santana pitched seven shutout innings for the win.

5 straight hits which propelled the Mets to a five-run second inning. The five straight hits were recorded by Daniel Murphy, Jeff Francoeur, Cory Sullivan, Omir Santos, and Angel Berroa.

8 – All 8 starting Met position players recorded at least one hit in the first game of Thursday’s doubleheader.

1 RBI in 33 at bats this season. That’s what Mets third baseman Angel Berroa had going into Thursday’s doubleheader.

2 RBIs in 3 at bats by Angel Berroa in the first game of Thursday’s doubleheader.

Colorado Rockies 4 @ New York Mets 2

22 stolen bases by David Wright – After stealing just 15 bases all of last year, Wright stole his 22nd base of the 2009 season in the second game of Thursday’s doubleheader.

3 straight hits – That’s all it took to ruin Jonathon Niese’s start in the second game of Thursday’s doubleheader. After six innings of work, Niese had given up just one run. In the seventh, three straight hits turned a 1 – 1 game into a 4 – 1 Rockies lead. Niese would be charged with all four runs in six and one-third innings of work.

22 - Jonathon Niese’s age. He was born on October 27, 1986, the same night the Mets won the 1986 World Series.

6 points – The amount Daniel Murphy’s batting average has gone up since July 24th.

.118 - Angel Berroa’s batting average after Thursday’s doubleheader.

6 - Jeff Francoeur has driven in at least one run in six of his last seven games for the New York Mets.

5.5 games back – The Mets came into their series against the Colorado Rockies down seven and a half games in the NL Wild Card chase. Now, after winning three of four against the Rockies, they are just five and a half back.

Forget October, What About August?

• It wasn’t so much that the Mets lost as much as it was the way in which they lost. It was the score more than the winner that left so many Mets fans with a bad taste in their mouth. Atlanta 11. New York 0.
• It was a tough match-up for the Mets. The Mets were up against Braves ace Jair Jurrjens, who has a sub-3 ERA on the season and pitched beautifully his last time out versus the Mets. Meanwhile, the Mets sent out Mike Pelfrey, who’s always had a rough time versus the Braves. So, to some extent, the cards were stacked against the Mets before the game even began.
• But still, this was unacceptable.
• The Mets offense was once again invisible. Only 5 Mets reached base Friday night on just 2 hits and 3 walks.
• They were absolutely shut down by Jurrjens, who needed just 85 pitches to make it through six innings, giving up just two hits and two walks in the process. And then, for the second night in a row, they were shut down by the Braves bullpen. In three innings versus the Braves bullpen, they could only get one man on base.
• Meanwhile, the Braves had no problem getting the bats going against Pelfrey. They started out early with three in the first, sparked by a Brian McCann 2-RBI double and a Yunel Escobar RBI-single. They then put up another three-spot in the third, led by home runs from Martin Prado and McCann. And then, they outdid themselves in the fifth, putting up four more runs and chasing Pelfrey out of the game.
• NOTE: Another nice game from Escobar, who has become a bit of a Met-killer. He is now batting .326 in 86 career at-bats versus the Mets. Two home runs in two games thus far this series. Watch out for this guy.
• Pelfrey’s final line would be nine runs on nine hits in four-plus innings of work. Terrible start. Absolute battering.
• Then, Tim Redding comes in and gives up three consecutive hits, including one to Ryan Church. By the time the inning mercifully ends, the Braves have a 10 – 0 lead. From there on out, things were OK. Elmer Dessens gave up a run in two innings of work and Sean Green pitched a scoreless ninth. But the damage had been done. An absolutely crushing 11 – 0 defeat.
• Worse yet, the Philadelphia Phillies won Friday, so the Mets are now EIGHT AND A HALF GAMES BACK in the NL East.
• The best news of the day came when Pittsburgh defeat San Francisco in 14 innings meaning the Mets will remain just seven games back of the Ssn Francisco Giants in the Wild Card hunt.
• But still, in both chases, they are digging themselves a very deep hole. There are 8 teams ahead of them in the Wild Card standings. 3 teams ahead of them in the division. It’s hard to be a Mets fan right now.
• One almost has to begin wondering when the Mets will begin looking towards the future and become sellers on the trade market. Carlos Beltran? Any takers?

Mets Dig The Hole Deeper, Fall to Braves 5 – 3

• It looked tough from the outset for the Mets. They were starting Oliver Perez, who has been simply awful all season long. Perez came into the game with an ERA over 8. Even in his last start, when he gave up just two runs, he walked seven hitters, giving the Mets plenty of cause for concern. Meanwhile, the Braves starter was Derek Lowe, a man the Mets had struggled against earlier this season.
• And sure enough things started badly, when the Braves took a 2 – 0 lead in the second after solo homeruns by Yunel Escobar and Garrett Anderson.
• Yet, the Mets clawed their way back in the top of the fourth. The inning started with three consecutive singles by Luis Castillo, David Wright, and Gary Sheffield, the last one knocking in a run. Then, Jeff Francoeur grounded out, scoring another run, and Daniel Murphy doubled in a third run, giving the Mets a 3 – 2 lead.
• Perez gave a run back in the fourth. But after six innings, with both starters out, the Mets had to feel pretty good, having survived a Perez start, to be knotted 3 – 3 with the Braves.
• That’s when the combination of Pedro Feliciano and Bobby Parnell gave the game away. Feliciano walked the leadoff hitter in the bottom seventh, but got the next hitter to fly out. Then, Jerry brought Parnell in. Parnell proceeded to give up two straight singles, the second giving the Braves a 4 – 3. Feliciano would be charged the run, but most of the blame has to fall on Parnell. Yes, Feliciano walked a guy, but it was Parnell who let him come all the way around to score. Parnell would give up another run in the bottom of the eighth and there was your final score. 5 – 3 Atlanta.
• While you could blame this one on the bullpen, the offense deserves just as much blame. They scored 3 runs Thursday night on just 6 hits. That’s right: just 6 hits, 5 off Lowe and just one in three innings versus the Braves bullpen.
• Tough way for the Mets to start out the second half. They lose a game on the Braves. The Phillies won too, so the Mets are now SEVEN AND A HALF games out of first. They remain seven games back in the Wild Card.
• Thankfully, the Mets have Johan starting tonight, so hopefully that can win it, and then keep on winning. We deseperately need to get on a winning streak. Let’s start tonight.

Spirit of St. Louis: All-Star Break Reflections

• I didn’t watch the whole thing (I never do), but from what I saw, I must say that was a very entertaining home run derby. That swingoff between Albert Pujols, Joe Mauer, and Carlos Pena made for some great TV. The hometown excitement surrounding Pujols. It really was a great event.
• And there were some great shots. Hitters going on streaks. It was great. Ryan Howard got an impressive streak going at one point. I remember that.
• And what a wonderful story. Nelson Cruz shocking everyone, leading the derby off with 11 home runs and advancing all the way to the final.
• One downer was watching Brandon Inge fail to hit a single home run. The one thing I root for in the Home Run Derby (since there’s usually no Met to root for) is for everyone to hit a home run because it’s pretty depressing when a player goes 0-for. Well, that was Inge Monday night. Tough to watch. Very tough to watch.
• As for the celebrity softball game, I only watched the end, but I did have a thought about it
• Have you ever noticed how there are a lot of Yankee fans who aren’t very knowledgeable about the game of baseball? I don’t mean to say all Yankee fans lack knowledge about the game. One of my best friends is a Yankees fan, and he knows pretty much everything there is to know about the game. In fact, he borders on the obsessive. Obviously, there are some great Yankee fans. But, there are also lots of people out there who claim to like the Yankees yet have no clue what they’re talking about. They know they’ve won the most world championships, but know little else.  I encountered a few of those back in middle school. I’d tell them I was a Mets fan. They’d say, “Why are you a Mets fan? The Mets suck!” Often times, they were right. The Mets frequently sucked, especially in my middle school days, but I would just shake my head. If only they understood what it meant to be a real fan.
• Anyway, to my original point. I thought it was kind of funny when the American League player hit a fly ball in the fifth and final inning with Ashanti on first base. Ashanti was on second base by the time the ball was caught and was quite content to stay there until old Red Sox great Fred Lynn yelled at her to go back to first. So she headed back to first but when the ball headed to the first basemen, she stopped and acted as if she were in a rundown, apparently completely unaware that there was a force at first. It was an unbeliavably stupid ending to an event that is pretty ridiculous in the first place. And what was Ashanti wearing? A Yankees cap.

Mets Hold Onto Lead, Go Into All-Star Break on High Note

Cincinnati Reds 7 @ New York Mets 9

• Great game for everyone except the guys in the bullpen.
• Wonderful offensive onslaught to begin the game. Seven runs in the first four innings. The onslaught was largely led by Luis Castillo, Daniel Murphy and Gary Sheffield. Castillo reached base four times on three singles and a walk. He scored three runs in the first five innings. Murphy knocked in two runs, one on an RBI double in the bottom of the third and another with an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth. Sheffield knocked in three runs, two on an RBI single in the bottom of the third and one more on an RBI single in the fourth.
• It’s especially good to see Murphy’ having some success. He’s had a tough time of it this season, but recently he’s seemed to regain his hitting stroke and has improved in the field. He made a very nice catch by the stands on Sunday. Excellent end to the first half for Murphy. Also nice to see Castillo do well. Thus far, this has been a nice comeback season for Luis after a dreadful 2008.
• Alex Cora went 2 for 4, with an RBI single in the third. Jeff Francoeur went 2 for 5, and is now 4 for 9 since joining the Mets. David Wright also got two hits. Overall, the Mets combined for 16 hits
• The Mets early onslaught gave Mike Pelfrey a 7 – 0 lead going into the top of the fifth. At that point, Pelfrey had been pitching a great ball game and it looked like things were going to be pretty easy for the Mets on this Sunday afternoon. But then, Pelfrey cracked in the fifth, walking the first two hitters, then recorded an out, before surrendering three consecutive RBI hits.
• To his credit, after giving up those three consecutive RBI hits in the fifth, he recorded two consecutive outs with runners on second and third to escape the inning without any further damage. Better yet, he went on to pitch two more scoreless innings. In the end, Pelfrey went seven innings, giving up just the three runs on five hits and two walks. Overall, it was a very impressive start from Pelfrey, with just that slight cause of concern.  Certainly, it was a nice improvement from his last start versus Los Angeles.
• Things looked even better when the Mets got some long-awaited, much-needed power in the bottom of the seventh. Solo home runs by Brian Schneider and Fernando Tatis gave the Mets a 9 – 3 lead. The one thing about Schneider is he does have good power, even if he doesn’t hit them out of the park very often. His home run Monday was really well struck.
• In came the Mets bullpen. Six runs up. Just six outs to get. But Sean Green gives up three consecutive hits to start the inning. Pedro Feliciano comes in and gives up an RBI single to the only batter he faces. In comes Bobby Parnell with the bases loaded in a 9 – 4 game. He gives up a single making it 9 – 5, but then does a pretty good job getting out of the inning with the tying run at the plate. At the end of eight, it 9 – 6.
• Francisco Rodriguez gives up another run but gets the save, his 23rd of the season.
• It was truly a day for the hitters. The teams combined to score 16 runs on 27 hits. Very few pitchers did well. Pelfrey was great. Parnell was pretty good. The rest of the Mets guys sttuggled. Green flat out stunk.
• So, in the end it was tight, tighter than it should’ve been, but a win’s a win, and the Mets will take it. It really was a great day for the offense. Tons of hits. Loads of runs. Especially good job of coming back after the Reds scored three runs off of Pelfrey. Francoeur’s looked good thus far, so that’s also nice to see. Meanwhile, Pelfrey pitches a good game, is resilient, pitching those two scoreless innings after the three-run fifth. Good day for the Mets.
• So, the Mets will go into the All-Star break three games below .500 with a new right fielder and a lot of players due to come off the disabled list. They remain in 4th place in the NL East, six and a half behind the Philadelphia Phillies.
• The Mets are also six and a half back in the NL Wild Card with seven teams in front of them.
• In short, the Mets end a tough first half of the season just barely in contention, leaving fans with something to hope for if not expect.

For One Night, Things Come Easy for the Mets

Cincinnati Reds 0 @ New York Mets 4

• Good win for the Mets, but let’s not get too excited about this victory. It’s the Cincinnati Reds we’re talking about.  A sub-.500 team that is currently fifth in the NL Central. And this was a home game for the Mets. A home game with their ace on the hill. Against a pitcher that failed to make it out of the first inning his last time out. It was a game the Mets had to win. And they did.
• Great effort by Johan Santana. 7 shutout innings giving up just 5 hits and a walk. Earned his 10th win of the season. Yes, it was against a Reds team that has struggled all year offensively, but regardless, you got to give Santana credit, he put up a huge performance when his team needed it most.
• It was nice to watch the Mets burst right out of the gate on offense, recording four runs on nine hits in the first five innings. Each of the first four hitters reached base, paced by leadoff man Angel Pagan who got two hits, stole two bases, and scored twice. The Mets also got a two-hit game from new acquisition Jeff Francoeur, who hit from the fifth spot Saturday night.
• 11 hits overall for the Mets offense. Impressive, yet also lucky. The Mets benefitted from a couple key bloopers falling in, including Francoeur’s 2-RBI single in the bottom first, which really was a doinker that just happened to fall past the first baseman’s reach into shallow right field.
• Another nice game from the bullpen. Pedro Feliciano and Francisco Rodriguez have, safe to say, been the two best relievers in the Mets bullpen. They were great again Saturday. Feliciano needed just seven pitches in the eighth, working around a leadoff single to retire the Reds with ease. His scoreless eighth decreased his ERA to 2.52 (his WHIP is an outstanding 0.93). Meanwhile, K-Rod pitched a scoreless ninth, a nice recovery after two consecutive rough appearances.
• Unfortunately, even on a night when the Mets caught all the breaks, they didn’t. The Phillies and Braves both won, although the Marlins did lose. So, the Mets remain six and a half back.
• PS – Perhaps the nicest thing about Saturday’s game was seeing the smile on Francoeur’s face after recording the first out on a shallow fly to right-center. It’s been a while since we’ve seen that type of smile coming from a Mets uniform.

No Offense, No Chance

Mets Fall Six and a Half Back With 3 – 0 Loss to Reds

Mets Deal Ryan Church to Braves, Get Jeff Francoeur

• Terrible, terrible game from this pathetic Mets offense. They hit pretty much everything into the ground. They mustered absolutely nothing. No rallies. No runners past first base. Terrible.
• The bottom of the seventh was a classic example of how this Mets offense has been working. Daniel Murphy leads off the inning with a solid single. But then David Wright, Jeremy Reed, and Fernando Tatis each ground into fielder’s choices.
• The one exception being Daniel Murphy. Murphy got two singles Friday night, both solid, well-struck balls to the outfield. Murphy would account for two of the Mets four hits. David Wright also hit the ball hard a couple of times but had nothing to show for it.
• The final stats were embarassing. Bronson Arroyo pitched a complete-game shutout for the Reds, giving up just four hits and no walks. Now, I can understand the Mets getting shut out by AJ Burnett or C.C. Sabathia, but Bronson Arroyo? A man who had given up 16 earned runs on 29 hits and 9 walks in his last 14 innings of work. Unbelievable.
• As Mets announcer Gary Cohen pointed out, this is the third time this Mets offense has been shut out in less than a week.
• Once again, the fielding was sloppy. It seems like the Mets manage to make some sort of dumb mistake every time out there. Tonight, the Reds scored when David Wright and Brian Schneider botched a run down with Wright throwing the ball over Schneider’s head, allowing Brandon Phillips to score.
• There were a few nice plays though. A leaping grab by Argenis Reyes. A nice play on a grounder by Daniel Murphy. A beautiful caught stealing executed by Brian Schneider. But they’ve got to stop making dumb mistakes. Come on.
• Decent effort by Fernando Nieve. Three runs in six innings of work. Only two were really earned. That being said, he did give up a lot of hard-hit balls, including two monsterous home runs, one by Joey Votto and one by Lance Nix. But he gave the team six innings and kept them in the game. For that, he deserves credit. Too bad his offense couldn’t do anything with his effort.
• NOTE: These could be famous last words, but I like this Jeff Francoeur trade. Yes, it’s a shame losing a quality player like Ryan Church, but changes are necessary. And this trade wasn’t just made for the sake of change. Francoeur is 25. Church is 30. So, this helps the Mets get younger. And Francoeur should give the Mets some much-needed power.
• We need something different, because right now, this team’s got nothing. When you think about it, there’s no element of this team that’s particularly good. Our offense sucks. We don’t get many hits. We’re not stealing bases. We don’t hit home runs. Our starting rotation isn’t all that good. Our relief pitching, particularly our middle relief, isn’t very good either. Our fielding is shaky. Everyone playing in a position they’re not accustomed to. We don’t play particularly hard. We’re uninspiring. Not much more to say. We suck right now. Hopefully, we’ll get some guys off the disabled list before we’ve blown ourselves out of contention.
• Yes, the injuries suck, but still, the way we are playing is unacceptable. We are better than this.
• One more thing, I’m starting a new statistic. Games ahead of Washington. With our loss and with Washington now leading the Astros, we should be 14 games ahead of the Nationals by night’s end. Great job guys! Keep up the good work!

We Stink Right Now

Sorry my dear friends for the lack of posts these past several days. I took a trip to Atlanta and didn’t bring my computer with me, so I was unable to post. Unfortunately, I was able to get the Mets scores from my phone, so I was able to see the Phillies sweep us. And I got to see the Dodgers beat us 8 – 0. Ah, good times. Anyway, some thoughts:

• Livan Hernandez sucked last night. He lasted just three innings, giving up seven runs (all earned) on ten hits and four walks. Of the 24 batters he faced, he was able to record just nine outs. This after giving the Mets three consecutive quality starts.
• One has to be concerned about the number of base runners he’s giving up. He has given up 36 hits and 14 walks in his last 29.1 innings of work. Not good.
• One also must be concerned about the way he’s starting out games. He gave up six runs in the first two innings last night. He gave up three first-innings runs to the Yankees in his previous start. Perhaps he needs to alter the way he warms up for the games.
• Tim Redding sucks right now. He gave up three runs  on six hits and a walk in two innings of work last night. His ERA now stands at 7.14 on the season.
• Thursday marked Pat Misch’s fifth straight scoreless appearance for the Mets.
• For the second consecutive time, Brandon Stokes walked three hitters in an appearance. He threw just 22 of 43 pitches for strikes. When you’ve got a fastball like Stokes does, that is absolutely unacceptable.
• On the bright side, the Mets needed just three relivers to get them through five innings. Jerry Manuel was thus able to avoid using guys like Pedro Feliciano, Francisco Rodriguez, and Bobby Parnell.
• The Mets really let Dodgers starter Randy Wolf off the hook last night. After the Dodgers scored four runs in the top of the first, the Mets put three runners on base against Wolf in the bottom of the first but scored just one run. The Mets stranded two more runners, wasting a Hernandez hit, in the bottom of the second. The Mets stranded a runner on third base in the third. They had something early, but blew various opportunities, and thus allowed Wolf to get on a roll. Wolf would end up lasting six and a third innings, giving up just two earned runs.
• On offense, Nick Evans is slumping. He left five runners on base last night, and is 3 for his last 19.
• On the bright side, David Wright had another multi-hit, his second straight, going 2 for 3 last night. Gary Sheffield also notched two hits.
• The Mets are now an astonishing five and a half games out of first place in the NL East. They are fourth in the division, behind the Phillies, Marlins, and Braves. They are in serious danger of falling out of contention.
• Meanwhile, they are six and half games out in the NL Wild Card race.

Mets Take A Wild One

New York Mets 9 @ Pittsburgh Pirates 8 (10 innings)

• Just when you think you know the Mets, they prove you wrong. I was in bed listening to the game on the radio this afternoon, and when they fell behind by five runs, I thought we had no chance. I ended up falling asleep, and when I woke up, I was shocked to hear that the Mets were leading. I fell back asleep, and by the time I woke up and got out of bed, it was over. The Mets had secured a victory that was as impressive as it was troubling.
• The Mets fell behind early due to a terrible performance by starter Tim Redding. After a relatively easy first inning, Redding gave up three runs in the second and two more in the third. He couldn’t even get through the third inning. With a man on second and one out, manager Jerry Manuel was forced to take Redding out.
• Redding’s final line was: 2.1 IP, 6H, 5ER, 2BB, 2K. This is the fourth straight start in which Redding has given up four-plus earned runs. Of his nine starts this season, only three could really be called good. He’s been awful several times. His ERA is 6.99. It’s time to get him out of the rotation.
• Give the middle relievers credit. Pat Misch came on in the third to replace Redding, and managed to strand Redding’s runner on second, recording two consecutive groundball outs for the Mets.
• Misch was followed by Elmer Dessens who managed to skirt trouble and pitch a scoreless fourth. Other than one rough outing against the Yankees, Dessens has been fantastic for the Mets. Of his five appearances this year, four were hitless and scoreless. He has walked four hitters though, which is a slight matter of concern.
• Brian Stokes had a great outing, giving up just one hit in his two innings of work. Stokes has been excellent all season except for a few really rough outings. Of his 30 appearances this year, 26 have been scoreless. But when he does give up runs, he tends to give up a lot of runs. Four earned against the Brewers. Four earned against the Yankees. Five earned versus the Red Sox. Apparently, either he’s got it or he doesn’t. There’s no middle ground.
• Pedro Feliciano gave up one run in two innings of work. He was somewhat wild, but managed to hold the lead for the Mets.
• Francisco Rodriguez, on the other hand, had a terrible ninth. He gave up hits to the first two hitters, including a game-tying two-run home run to Adam LaRoche. Then, with two outs, he gave up two more singles before finally recording the third out. But he recovered to pitch a perfect tenth to get the win. Bad appearance but a fairly impressive recovery from K-Rod.
• On offense, the Mets simply exploded against Paul Maholm, usually a fairly decent starter for the Pirates. In Maholm’s four and a third innings of work, the Mets scored 6 runs on 11 hits. They faded a bit in the later innings, but still, an impressive outburst from this Mets offense.
• Daniel Murphy may’ve had the biggest hit of the game. With his team trailing 5 – 0, he had a pinch-hit 2-RBI single, putting the Mets back in the game.
• Most of the offense, however, came from Fernando Tatis, Nick Evans, and Ryan Church.
• Tatis went 3 for 4, scoring four times and knocking in two runs. His big blow was a two-run homerun in the sixth that put the Mets up by a score of 8 to 5.
• Evans went 2 for 6, including an RBI single in the big fifth inning, when the Mets scored three runs to tie the game at five. Evans is hitting an impressive .333 (8 for 24).
• Meanwhile, Ryan Church went 3 for 6 with 2 RBIs, including the go-ahead RBI single in the tenth. Church is 10 for his last 18. Clearly, bringing in Church was one of Omar Minaya’s best moves. Church is hitting .292 for the Mets, while Lastings Milledge never did anything for Washington and is now in the Pirates minor league system.
• The Philadelphia Phillies had better get their act together, because the teams behind them are finally chasing them. The Florida Marlins have won three straight, seven out of ten, and are now tied with the Phillies for first place in the NL East. The Mets have won two straight and are just a game back. And the Atlanta Braves have won four straight and are just two games back.
• The Mets are now three games back in the NL Wild Card race.