Once again, the Mets fell behind in last night's game, and once again, I didn't seem bothered by it. Dillon Gee unraveled in the 6th inning and the Phillies went ahead for the 3rd time in the game. But after the way the last two games had gone, my thought process was something like, "Well, I guess we have them right where we want them."
And, of course, the Mets went out and lit Philly's bullpen on fire several times over. It's truly bizarre, the way these things work sometimes. The Phillies are still probably the best team in the division, and it probably shouldn't matter if Howard and Utley are out. There are still guys in their lineup that pack a punch. And with Halladay and Lee, they're still going to throw a starter who can shut their opponent down more often than not. The problem, however, is that once that starter is done, they have to rely on a bullpen that appears to rival the quality of the 2008 Mets. Every time they trotted out a reliever this week, the Mets blasted him. But without Utley and Howard in the lineup being annoying, this problem seems to be masked. It's too easy an excuse to say that the Phillies are 14-18 because they don't have those two players. Granted, it doesn't help, but this as an excuse is basically a mask for the fact that the Phillies just don't have much in the bullpen.
But, of course, you still have to take advantage of the other teams bad bullpen. Fortunately, the Mets were able to do this; a primary reason they were able to sweep this series. Ike Davis woke up, Andres Torres and Justin Turner got big hits, and everyone else filled in from there. Even Manny Acosta pitched well this series.
They could be overachieving, and this hot streak could simply be a mirage when everything shakes out. But for now, this has been a fun season for the Mets.
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