Lost Weekend

It really was about as bad as it could have been. Three straight losses to a team that entered the weekend 7 games under .500.

And we're supposed to be a playoff team? If we can't beat the Houston Astros once with Pedro, John, and Ollie on the hill... honestly, what can we expect?

What can we expect when we blow seemingly a million bases loaded opportunities?

What can we expect with Nick Evans patrolling left field? Look, ever since Mike Pelfrey turned into Cy Young, I'm all for giving prospects time to develop. But let's be real, could Nick Evans look less comfortable in the batters box (to say nothing of how he looks out in left)?

It's wrong to pin it on Evans, even if he did slip out in left and even if he did strike out with the bases juiced. This weekend is on everyone.

The Mets are 3 games out and in third place. We're 5 games over .500. If we're going to make playoffs, we've got to start playing much better ball.

But as I wrote Saturday night, is there any reason to think we're capable of much better ball? Is there reason to think we're anything more than the team that's gone 48-53, aside from one 10-game winning streak?

It's like the old adage. No team is ever as good as it looks during a hot streak and ever as bad as it looks during a cold streak. We were never as good as we looked during that 10-game winning streak, we all knew that. We're not as bad as we look right now during this 4-game losing streak.

There's another, what, 97 games out there, and in those we're 48-49. That's what we look like when we're not hot and not cold.

Not a pretty picture. Is it just a bad weekend talking? Let's hope so.

- A.F.O.M.G.