Don't Stop

This weekend has all the makings of a disaster for our Metsies.

Mets riding high entering the weekend? Check.

Mets facing a second division club with no hope of the playoffs? Check.

Johan Santana pitching? Check.

Indeed, few scenarios are as fearsome as a weekend set in Pittsburgh for this bunch. But as we enter the weekend, I feel at least some measure of my faith has been restored.

After the disaster that was Monday, the Mets responded by doing what they had to do in Washington. They made a statement that they could play intense, purposeful baseball against a bottom feeding team.

In an ideal world you wouldn't have to make statements against last-place teams like the Nationals, but this is 2008, up is down, right is wrong, and Mike Pelfrey toes the rubber tonight trying to take the staff lead in victories. The takeaway? Just GO with it.

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It occurred to me the other day that the funk the Phillies are in now is, in a lot of ways, similar to the one the Mets were in last year.

The Phils were 39-26 on June 9. They owned a 4-game lead on the Marlins, and a 7.5-game lead on the fourth place Mets.

For you history buffs out there, on June 9, 2007, the Mets were 36-24 (good for a .600 winning percentage, identical to the Phils' on June 9, 2008), and owned a 3.5-game lead over the Braves. The third place Phillies were 5 games out.

What happened afterward, for both teams, was an elongated period of middling play. The Mets did snap out of it for a time, but we all know how that story ended. As for the Phils, they've shown flashes of righting the ship, but haven't done so.

Today, the Phillies find themselves in second place.

* * * * *

As for our Mets, they're ascendent once again. We're in first place, albeit by only one game, with 41 games left on the schedule.

From here on out, the key for the Mets is winnig games against interdivision foes and taking advantage of the soft underbelly of their schedule. They did that in Washington, and tonight they'll take their show on the road to Pittsburgh.

If the Mets are going to win this division, they've got to capitalize on weak opposition. The last week of the season features 4 games against the Cubs and 3 against the Marlins. The Cubs will likely be resting their regulars by then, but they'll be tough either way. As for the Marilns, well, after last season hopefully we've learned not to sleep on that shit.

Come to think of it though, it'd be pretty sweet to win the division against Hanley Ramirez and the Marlins... but somehow I'd live if we won the division a little earlier than that.

- A.F.O.M.G.