A Familiar Refrain

The Mets had a golden opportunity to steal a second game of the NLDS in Los Angeles last night, but as we're all well aware now, a series of horrible events conspired to prevent that from happening. In spite of Noah Syndergaard pitching well into the 7th inning, the Dodgers were the recipient of some advantageous umpiring and clutch hitting, grabbed the lead and rolled home for a 5-2 win to even up the NLDS at 1 game each.

Things actually started out wonderfully for the Mets. Noah Syndergaard hit the mound about as amped up as deGrom was on Friday night, touching 101mph on the radar and blowing the Dodgers out of the box. The Mets jumped on Zack Greinke for a pair of 2nd inning Home Runs, the first from Yoenis Cespedes, because you knew that was coming, and the second from Michael Conforto, who showed he was ready for Prime Time right away. Mets lead 2-0, and all is right with the world.

Unfortunately, though they had some opportunities, the Mets never built on this lead. Greinke, who's equally as tough as Kershaw, bounced back from this and stopped the Mets cold the remainder of his 7 innings of work. On the other side, the Dodgers reached Syndergaard for a run in the 4th inning, when Justin Turner, who officially looks like a birthday party decoration, doubled to lead off the inning, and Andre Ethier hit one of his own. But, Syndergaard rebounded, got out of a jam and worked through the 5th and 6th innings without much trouble.

Then, of course, the 7th, which is the cause of all the trouble.

Syndergaard started the inning and struck out Yasmani Grandal, and looked just fine in doing so. But then he was too fine to Enrique Hernandez and walked him. The carcass of Chase Utley followed and although he barely got his bat on the ball, he got just enough to flick it over the head of Daniel Murphy for a single. At over 110 pitches, this was it for Syndergaard, who was removed from the game in favor of Bartolo Colon. This move was questioned, but after 6+ innings of Syndergaard's heat, Colon's craftiness was probably the right idea. I'm all in favor of giving Colon work here so long as he can get guys out. And he did what he needed to do against Howie Kendrick, who hit a screamer up the middle. A DP would have probably been tough even on a clean play since Kendrick runs well, and Daniel Murphy made what could basically be described as a Daniel Murphy toss to 2nd base, leading Tejada to the far side of the bag and forcing him to spin around in order to wind and try to throw to 1st. But, of course, that throw never came off, because just to make sure the Mets didn't turn the DP, Utley basically decided he was Clay Matthews, III and went for the takeout instead of the base. Tejada was completely upended and Utley was assumedly out. Fielder's Choice, run scores, tie game.

Then, of course, everything went haywire. Utley not only slid late and not particularly close to 2nd base, he actually missed 2nd base completely in his attempt to take out Tejada. And, of course, in the process, he not only upended Tejada, but broke the Shortstop's leg in the process. I mean, we already knew what a jackass Utley was before this play, so we didn't need to be reminded. And the ensuing replay was totally botched because whether Tejada touched the bag or not is immaterial. How interference wasn't called on Utley on this play is totally beyond me. We have a case history of plays like this where it took far less to draw an interference call, which would have resulted in an automatic and inning-ending DP. But it wasn't called. I mean, I don't know, I dumb as a post, but it seems to me that when a runner is so aggressive in trying to take out a fielder with a slide he not only misses the base but injures the fielder, wouldn't that kind of be a clue?

So, yeah. Just to turn the knife, the Dodgers end up challenging the call based on some weird technicality involving the neighborhood play, which should have been in play if they weren't going to call interference, and after all that crotch-grabbing and posturing, Utley was deemed safe. Safe! I'm not sure what sort of message the umpires were trying to sell at that point—perhaps martial law—but that basically turned the entire game upside down. The Mets got rooked on the call and you could basically tell Adrian Gonzalez was going to get the big hit before he even stepped to the plate. Whether Colon or Addison Reed were in to face him wouldn't have mattered. Just to make sure, Turner followed by driving in Gonzalez, the Dodgers went ahead 5-2, and that was pretty much that.

It's very easy to be frustrated over a game like this and a call (or in this case non-call) that totally changes the game and screws the Mets over. But let's not lose perspective here. The Mets needed to do one thing, and that was not come back to New York down 0-2. They did that. They won a game and they're coming back home with the series tied 1-1, and on Monday night, they'll have Matt Harvey on the mound and a stadium full of fans that are going to be absolutely roaring. The Dodgers, on the other hand, counter with Brett Anderson, who's not Greinke and not Kershaw. Sure, they had a chance to get greedy and win both games out there but the chances of that happening were, logically, unlikely. That being said, it's now on Harvey to come out on Monday night and pitch like he means it.

More importantly, though, the team needs to forget about this and move on. I know a lot of guys were pretty upset about it, and rightfully so. Whether Utley meant to hurt Tejada or not, he still did and that's going to piss a lot of guys off, and even guys that weren't playing in the game. Again, Utley's an abrasive prick and he's built a career around that, and it's not as though Mets fans liked him anyway. With crisis there is always opportunity and yes, the Mets lost their best defensive infielder, but they still have Wilmer Flores there, who has the potential to make up in offense what he loses in defense. But the worst thing the Mets can do right now is dwell on it and come out on Monday feeling tight and frustrated. This is something that this team has done really well all season long. They've consistently bounced back from tough losses and come back and played strong. This is a testament to Terry Collins, of course, but also to the way the team plays; together and without fear. Resiliency has been a key trait for this team.

It has to be, otherwise we're in a lot of trouble.

Run Out Of Town

Wednesday night was my 18th game of the year at Citi Field and at my current pace, I stand to top 20 games for the first time since the majestic 1999 season. That I've made it to a healthy number of games this year shouldn't be much of a surprise. But the way things have worked out, Wednesday night was the 5th Mets/Phillies game I attended, which is the most I've seen the Mets play one opponent in one season. Happily, the Mets won all 5 games. So think about that for a second, as the Mets continue to sit in 1st place on September 3rd. The Mets are now 11-7 in games I've attended in 2015, and 5 of the 11 were at the expense of the Phillies. This is an excellent example of the things the Mets have needed to do, specifically beat up on the lousy teams in their own division. On the year, the Mets are now 13-2 against the Phillies and went 8-1 in their matchups at Citi Field.

The Mets shook off the dismal performance they had on Tuesday and went out on Wednesday with Matt Harvey on the mound, and although Harvey sort of slogged through his 6+ innings of work, allowing 4 runs and not looking his best (and later, we found out, dehydrated), the Mets offense backed him with 16 hits and 9 runs, rallying early and often and ultimately overwhelming the Phillies and running them right out of Citi Field.

The Mets had already plated a run against Aaron Nola, the other highly-touted Phillies pitching prospect the Mets saw in this series, when Kelly Johnson doubled home David Wright. Ruben Tejada followed by hitting a bit of a bloop, a jam shot that didn't look like it would amount to much as it sailed out into Right Field. But it was falling quickly and Domonic Brown ran in to try to make a backhanded grab, and ultimately he couldn't catch the ball. This in and of itself wasn't quite so noteworthy, except that the ball bounced past Brown and down towards the corner. I was following the ball and when I saw it start to rattle around in the Right Field corner with nobody making any sort of attempt to pick it up, I realized that this could very well be one of "Those Plays." I'd lost track of Brown and thought he might have dove and hurt himself, because Cesar Hernandez, the 2nd baseman, was running into the Outfield to get the ball. By time he got it, he was chasing a fruitless play; Tejada had already rounded 3rd base and easily made it home for the Inside-The-Park Home Run.

What I didn't see, and what I didn't realize had happened until I saw a replay, was that Brown, after missing the ball, ended up running into the low wall and flipping over and into the seats altogether, which kind of explained why the ball kept rolling and nobody was there to pick it up. Sometimes, you get one of those rare plays that's the perfect storm of flukishness, and this certainly qualified. And, of course, after 28 seasons of going to games and never seeing an Inside-The-Park Home Run, I've now seen two in the past week, although Swihart's hit last Friday deserves an asterisk because that was a legitimate Home Run and if a replay was necessary, it would have been called as such. What Tejada did last night—now THAT was a real Inside-The-Parker.

It was 3-0 as the game moved to the 3rd and the Mets continued to pile on Nola, who just needed to take his lumps, I suppose. Daniel Murphy doubled home Granderson with 1 out, and with 2 out, Michael Conforto came up and hit a more conventional Home Run, this one a clean shot down the Left Field line for his 2nd Home Run of the series, and his 2nd such to the opposite field to give the Mets a 6-0 lead.

It wasn't until the 5th that the Phillies finally reached Harvey, as once his energy level dropped, he really started to become hittable. He seemed to be throwing fine but didn't have that extra little bit of oomph he usually does, and so he was giving up run-scoring hits to guys like Erik Kratz and all of a sudden 6-0 got a little hairy at 6-3. But the Phillies didn't make any legitimate threat to get much closer. In the last of the 5th, Nola was gone and replaced by a fellow named Dalier Hinojosa, who was wearing uniform #94. This, then, would be another rarity, because I don't think you're supposed to see guys wearing #94 unless it's Spring Training. Or they're really eccentric. I don't know what Hinojosa's story is but I surmised that if he was wearing #94, the Mets ought to eat him for breakfast, and although for a hot second it looked like they might, Hinojosa actually did a good job of getting out of a jam only allowing 1 run. In the 6th, Hinojosa looked even better. But, as most middle relievers go, 2 innings tends to be their limit. Adam Loewen entered the game in the 7th inning and gave up an RBI single to Tejada, which turned out to be Tejada's 4th RBI of the night, and in the 8th, Colton Murray came in and gave up a rocket of a Home Run to Yoenis Cespedes, who knew it was gone the moment he hit it and took his sweet time going around the bases.

In the meantime, Harvey departed in the 7th after allowing his own rocket Home Run, this one to Darnell Sweeney, but behind him, Sean Gilmartin, Tyler Clippard and Addison Reed did a fine job keeping the game where it was and ensuring that there would be no further drama on this night, which was just fine by me. After the way the Mets lit into Nola in the early going, it would have been rather poor form, and a poor indictment of an already-beleaguered Mets bullpen, if the Phillies had drawn any closer.

So, now, the Mets go back off on the road for 10 games, visiting some of my most favorite places, Miami, Washington and Atlanta. This is, of course, their second-to-last road trip of the season and it seems like it's snuck up on me once again. Of course, this year, it feels a little different. They have to keep their pace, yes, and hope Washington continues on theirs. It sort of seems like Washington is investing everything in this series next week and as loath as I am to sound too confident, the Mets have an excellent chance to wipe them out completely. We'll see.

Lucky 11th

Some Mets games I've been to have more twists and turns than I'm able to adequately describe. Monday Night's game at Citi Field most definitely can be classified as one of those games. On the heels of seeing the Mets get No-hit last week, this game got off to an eerily similar start. Things turned in the Mets favor in the middle innings when they finally got a hit and some runs, only to slip away at the hands of an overused Closer. Things appeared lost in the 11th inning, but the Mets managed to take advantage of some bizarrely specific circumstances to come back from the dead and win the damn thing, 4-3, stopping the Blue Jays' 11 game winning streak and keeping their perfect Home record against Toronto intact.

My 10th game of the season came a mere 6 days after the ignominy of last week, which I'd prefer to never mention again except that sometimes I have to. The Mets were playing the Blue Jays, a team I'd hadn't seen the Mets play since 2001—because they hadn't played the Mets in New York since 2001. The Blue Jays had also never won a game against the Mets in New York. But, 14 years later, who would pay attention to that? This meant the return of several things to New York, among them Jose Reyes, who received a warm welcome, in stark contrast to when he appeared with the Mickey Mouse Marlins 3 years ago, R.A. Dickey, who was lost in a sea of blue sweatshirts in the Toronto dugout, and the Canadian National Anthem, which I feel squashes the Star Spangled Banner like a grape, and has never been performed at Citi Field—because this was the first time a Canadian team had ever played at Citi Field. As such, they had to get a professional to sing O Canada, because nobody here probably knows it; certainly the school group that sang the Star Spangled Banner didn't.

Then, there was a game to be played, and after striking out Reyes and getting Josh Donaldson to fly out, Noah Syndergaard faced Jose Bautista, and Bautista greeted Syndergaard by clobbering a pitch so far up the 2nd deck in Left Field that Michael Cuddyer didn't even give it a courtesy run. This seemed to unnerve Syndergaard, who then gave walked Edwin Encarnacion and allowed a bloop hit to Chris Colabello (and his .345 batting average) before finally getting Dioner Navarro to end the inning, after having thrown about 15 pitches more than he needed to. However, Syndergaard settled down, and more importantly settled in, and looked every bit like the dominant pitcher we were looking for. Against a lineup that's been bombarding pitchers for double-digit runs over the past few weeks, this was a particularly impressive effort. Though he only managed to make it through 6 innings, Syndergaard allowed only the 1 run, 2 hits and 1 walk in the 1st inning and supplemented that with 11 strikeouts.

Syndergaard's counterpart, Mark Buehrle, had no such pitch count issues, as he set down the Mets in order in the 1st, and then did so again in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th, as I began to get more and more apoplectic. It wasn't lost on me that I'd just seen this happen, and that personal hitless inning streak was stretching much longer than I was comfortable with. After 12 innings, I'd had enough of that. After 13 innings, I was really starting to get frustrated. In the 5th, Lucas Duda hit a shot that sort of handcuffed Encarnacion (who clearly plays 1st Base like a DH) and went down the line. I had to wait a few seconds just to make sure it was actually scored a hit. Fortunately it was, so I could finally breathe easier.

Still, for the great work Syndergaard had done keeping the Blue Jays in check, the Mets hadn't cracked the scoreboard. But in the 6th, they broke through for a pair of runs, started when Kevin Plawecki used the often-reviled head-first slide into 1st base to beat an errant throw from Reyes, aided when Syndergaard stayed in the game to lay down a bunt, and finished off by back-to-back RBI Doubles from Juan Lagares and Ruben Tejada.

The Mets turned this lead over to the bullpen. First, Carlos Torres came in and got the lower half of the Toronto lineup in order. This was just fine. Jack Leathersich came in the game in the 8th and got one out, but then walked Justin Smoak, the failed Rangers/Mariners prospect who's mysteriously resurfaced with Toronto. Jose Reyes followed by grounding hard to 3rd, a ball that might have been hit hard enough to double up Reyes, but Tejada double clutched the ball and only got one of the two outs. In Tejada's defense, that was Jose Reyes running to 1st, so it's just as well he assured himself of one out. This, then, brought the meaty part of the Toronto lineup up, beginning with Josh Donaldson. There was no way in hell Leathersich was going to be left in. The only question was who would come in the game. After doing some heavy lifting on Sunday, the Mets bullpen was somewhat limited, to the point where Akeel Morris, a guy you've never heard of unless you watch Spring Training games or collect Bowman Baseball Cards, was summoned from A-ball to fill some holes.

Oddly, Jeurys Familia was summoned for a 4-out Save, one day after he converted a 4-out Save. This wasn't odd in the sense that Terry Collins wanted his best pitcher to go after Toronto's best hitters. But it was sort of irritating because Collins has been working Familia pretty hard all season, and 4-out Saves on Back-to-back days is a tall order, plus the fact that there was no other arm he could trust in that situation isn't really good. George agreed with the move, at least until I mentioned that Familia had picked up a 4-out Save the day before. Then, he thought the move completely asinine. Regardless, Familia came in, struck out Donaldson and got 25% of the way to a victory.

Unfortunately, that's as far as he got. Steve Delabar stopped the Mets in the 8th, so Familia returned still nursing a 1-run lead, which lasted the duration of one pitch in the top of the 9th. That pitch was sent screaming down the Left Field line by Jose Bautista, towards the corner. Were the Left Field foul pole 340' away from Home Plate, the ball might have hooked foul. Unfortunately, the line is only 335' and thus the ball landed a few feet fair for Bautista's second home run of the night, lead gone, 4-out save blown, good vibes gone. Things could potentially have gotten much worse, as Encarnacion followed with a jam shot double. Familia, who was clearly working on fumes at this point, got Colabello to pop out to Duda, but then walked Dioner Navarro. He wasn't putting batters away like he normally does, and Kevin Pillar battled him gamely, but fortunately bounced into a Fielder's Choice, and then Danny Valencia struck out and the Mets emerged from the inning tied.

Roberto Osuna set the Mets down in order in the last of the 9th, and so, after 8 innings of holding the hottest team in Baseball in check, the Mets now found themselves heading to extra innings. Fortunately, the game had been relatively quick to this point, not quite past the three hour mark. This was primarily because Mark Buehrle had spent the first 7 innings working at his usual metronomic pace, averaging :08 between pitches and keeping things moving along. Plus, there wasn't a lot of cocking around with pitching changes, and even a lengthy 3rd inning delay when Home Plate umpire Marty Foster was injured after getting clocked with a foul ball didn't slow things down much.

Hansel Robles, who really hadn't had a chance to calm down after his 9th inning misadventure on Saturday, entered the game and worked a clean inning, even getting through Russell Martin, who I still insist is a low-rent Paul LoDuca. Aaron Loup, a stringy lefthander, came in for Toronto in the last of the 10th, and in spite of facing a pair of righthanded hitters also allowed the Mets nothing.

By the 11th, George was beginning to wind down. I felt I still had a couple of innings left in me, but George, who has to work earlier than I do, said that this would be his last inning. The discussion then turned to the longest games I'd attended, in terms of innings. We'd attended a couple of 13-inning affairs over the years, but 14 innings remains my personal record, something I've been subjected to 5 times. I noted that by time the game gets that long, I start to root for someone to score period, not necessarily the Mets. This, of course, led to the inevitable mention of the fabled Bobby Valentine Moustache game, which took place against the Blue Jays and featured a walk-off hit by none other than Rey Ordonez.

The hope was that this particular game wouldn't follow suit, and when Robles walked Ezequiel Carrera and then gave up a hit & run single to Colabello, the Jays were in business. Robles then got ahead of Navarro 0-2, but Navarro hacked at the 2-strike pitch and hit a fly ball out to Granderson in right, and any fly ball to Granderson in right is likely deep enough to plate a run, and that's exactly what happened as the Jays grabbed a lead, and suddenly found themselves 3 outs from stealing a win and extending their winning streak to 12.

This put me and every other Mets fan in a rather foul mood as Brett Cecil, who somehow is the Jays closer, came in for the last of the 11th. I've always operated under the assumption that Brett Cecil was a former Yankees "prospect," and as such wasn't any good, but it seems that was never the case. He's always been a Blue Jay. So, he retired Lagares to start the inning, but then walked Tejada.

This, then, is when the circumstance and brilliance of Baseball took over.

Michael Cuddyer, who was certainly capable of popping one into the seats, came to bat. He didn't pop one anywhere, instead he hit a ground ball to 2nd base, horrifyingly destined to be a game-ending Double Play. Ryan Goins fielded the ball, and all he had to do was just slap a tag on Tejada, toss to Colabello and finish off the Mets. Tejada, however, broke to a stop rather than running into a tag. He then wisely backpedaled towards 1st, forcing Goins to chase him down in order to make the tag. Goins might have been wiser to try to get the force at 2nd, except that he'd committed to the play and instead chased, and eventually tagged Tejada, but by that point Cuddyer was well safe at 1st, and Tejada had managed to keep the Mets alive for one more batter. This was Lucas Duda, certainly one capable of blasting a pitch into the seats, even against a Lefty. The Jays went into their overshift, as teams usually do against Duda, pulling the infielders over to the right side, and shifting their outfielders over as well, and deep, to the point where Carrera was playing somewhere in front of the Apple, Pillar was in Arthur Ashe Stadium, and Bautista was playing somewhere in Forest Hills. Essentially, they were daring Duda to try and hit one the other way. Duda worked the count full, which meant Cuddyer would at least have a running start as Cecil delivered the pitch. Duda swung and did exactly what was necessary at that particular moment: he lofted a pop fly into shallow left field. With Carrera so deep and the infielders swung to the right, it was easy to see off the bat that nobody was going to catch the ball, and Cuddyer was steaming around the bases. Carrera picked up the ball and perhaps a good throw had a chance to get Cuddyer, but Donaldson for some reason cut the throw off and then fumbled the ball, allowing Cuddyer to slide home with the tying run uncontested. The Mets had staved off defeat, and now had an opportunity to win. Cecil was removed in favor of Liam Hendriks, who came in to face Wilmer Flores. Hendriks only needed one pitch, which Flores grounded straight up the middle for a hit. Pillar made a desperate throw towards home but it was nowhere near close enough to get Duda and the Mets escaped with the 4-3 win.

So, it took longer than expected, but the Mets stopped the hottest team in Baseball and kept their home record against the Toronto Blue Jays undefeated in one of the more rousing games the Mets have played at Citi Field in general, never mind rousing for this season. Duda and Flores will get the bulk of the credit, and they should, because Duda's hit was perfectly placed and Flores earned himself getting bum rushed by the entire team and getting the Juan Lagares Sunflower Seed shower, but this whole inning was made possible because of Ruben Tejada not running into the tag on Cuddyer's ground ball. His keeping the game alive made everything after that possible, but of course, that particular play is basically lost in the box score. The sort of little things that make a game like this memorable. Now, hopefully SNY will show replays of this game in their Mets Classics rotation instead of continually showing that game against the Cubs from 2007.

Faith Rewarded

I found myself home on a Saturday night, something that seems to be a moderately rare occurrence of late, and happily, my quiet evening was accompanied by Mets baseball. More appropriately, winning Mets Baseball, because a Mets loss wouldn't have been much fun at all, considering a) they were playing the awful Phillies, b) the Phillies seemed all too happy to hand the game to the Mets by throwing their D-lineup out there, and c) They'd already lost on Friday night to the awful Phillies, and come on.

Jon Niese took the start for the Mets and continued what for him might almost be considered the Golden Age of Jon Niese. Quietly, Niese has held serve on the back end of the rotation, while sort of getting a little lost amidst Harvey/deGrom/Colon to very quietly place himself among the ranks of the best lefties in the NL. You know, where we thought he might be heading three seasons ago. I suppose it remains to be seen where this goes because Niese has been known for being mercurial and pissy, but to this point, now 6 times through the rotation, he's had, what, one bad start? For Niese, that's pretty good, particularly for a guy I've been ready to place on The Ballclub's Shitlist.

So Niese hummed along through the early part of the game, getting the same amount of run support that the Mets offense has been providing its starting pitchers lately, which hasn't been much. There was a run scoring error in the 5th inning, I want to say Lucas Duda hit the ball and Cesar Hernandez, playing in the stead of Chase Utley, who's 9-for-91 start to the season has landed him on the bench, pulled a Daniel Murphy and the Mets had a lead. But Niese ran into trouble in the 6th, where a Dilson Herrera error set up a Jon Niese inning, in which he got dinked and dunked to death by his opponent and started moping around the mound. 2 runs crossed the plate for Philadelphia, and it appeared Niese was done for the night in line for a loss.

But for whatever reason, Terry Collins let Niese hit leading off the 7th inning. Niese responded to this particular windmill by singling to center for his first hit of the season. This seemed to set off a chain reaction of general positivity across the Mets roster. Two batters later, Juan Lagares slammed a Home Run into the seats in Left to give the Mets a 3-2 lead. Niese cruised through the 7th, but after a Multiple-Torres-Induced bases loaded situation in the last of the 8th inning seemed certain to end in instant disaster, Buddy Carlyle came in the game and got Carlos Ruiz to ground into a Double Play. In and of itself, that's just fine, but it took a fine play in the hole by Ruben Tejada to start things off, and an even finer play by Dilson Herrera, who atoned for his error by hanging in to catch the relay throw, avoid a sliding runner and fire a throw off to 1st to get Ruiz by a step and end the inning. Jeurys Familia survived Utley's 10th hit of the season and a cameo appearance by Ryan Howard's carcass to lock down his 12th Save and a 3-2 Mets win that made my night that much better.

It comes back to Niese and Lagares who get the attention, but let's give Tejada and Herrera some credit here too. Herrera, after a throwing error pretty much nuked the 6th inning, shook it off and made a key play on the DP in the 8th. Tejada, on the other hand, had one of the best games he's had in probably the better part of a year, because, given a spot start for the struggling Wilmer Flores, Tejada played a flawless game in the field and even chipped in with a pair of hits and scored the Mets' first run of the night. Granted, this is one game and he's been known to have decent games amidst the general dreck he puts out, but it's at least a positive sign that he's got a pulse and wants to take advantage of whatever opportunities he has left with the team. He's apparently going to get a start today as well, or at least that's what Gary Cohen said at the end of the night, spelling Herrera at 2nd Base, so maybe he'll make something of it. Maybe.

Amazing?!

The Mets won last night in a game that really had all the trappings of a classic Mets loss. Think about it for a second. The Mets played a game in which Daisuke Matsuzaka weaseled his way in and out of continuous trouble through 7 innings against a Braves lineup that tends to look their best against the Mets (but in reality is kind of middling) only to have the entire game implode in the span of about 10 minutes in a disastrous top of the 8th inning where the Braves basically made the Mets look like Mets. A tenuous 2-0 lead that had been nursed into the late innings was gone, and now the Mets were staring yet another 1-run loss in the face.

But somehow, the Mets didn't lose the game. Instead of folding against Luis Avilan and the specter of Chokemaster Kimbrel in the 9th inning, the Mets, or more appropriately, Curtis Granderson stoned up and belted a tying Home Run that kind of came out of nowhere in the last of the 8th.

Still this seemed like more setup for disaster. Instead of simply blowing the lead, they were just going to tie the game only to extend things into extra innings so they could lose. The Mets had a golden opportunity to finish things off in the 9th after a controversial Instant Replay ruling resulted in Andrelton Simmons getting exposed for being too nonchalant and resulted in a) the Mets having 2 men on and none out in the 9th inning and b) Fredi Gonzalez doing his best Charlie Manuel "Indignant Fat Manager" argument routine until he was ejected. But instead of bunting in a situation that screamed for it, Terry Collins instead sent up Lucas Duda, which is tantamount to screaming that the bunt is off. Duda hit into a Fielder's choice, forcing the lead runner at 3rd and pretty much screwing up the entire inning so that the Mets didn't score and the game was headed into extra innings, where disaster generally seems imminent for the Mets.

But, again, there was no disaster, Carlos Torres came in and pitched just splendidly for two innings, while the Mets went down quietly against Shae Simmons (not Shea, more appropriate in these parts) in the 10th, but eventually rallied in the 11th, thanks to a Juan Lagares double and a 2-out RBI single from Ruben Tejada to win the game and send Tejada scampering across the Outfield while his towel-waving teammates chased him around. Yes, for all his foibles, Ruben Tejada now has authored the last two Mets walkoff wins with 2-out, Extra inning RBI hits. In both cases, Tejada ended up being the crowning hero in a game where the Mets were right on the verge of losing. In this particular instance, it's a big hit because the Mets were playing a team that swept them and really made them look silly last week, and now the Mets have the opportunity to punch back a little bit. I've said it before, but the Barves aren't exactly a team of world-beaters. The Mets just have had a bit of poor fortune to play some of their idiot games against them. But for a team that's in 1st place, they're eminently beatable. It's just a matter of time before they get exposed. That the Mets beat them Monday night isn't going to salvage the season for the Mets, but if nothing else, it shows that they have a pulse and aren't just going to continue to bow down to a bunch of paper tigers.

Escapism

The Mets were a half-inning away from a 3-day debacle of games that took way too long to arrive at the same miserable result. Friday night's slog was followed up by a Saturday night affair that saw the Mets finally awaken after a week's worth of offensive no-shows and score all of 4 runs, but that wasn't enough as the Phillies stifled a trio of Mets rallies in the late innings and eventually scored the winning run in the 9th. Sunday seemed to be going no better; the Mets fell behind and did little in response, and so going to the bottom of the 9th, there was little reason to believe that the Mets would somehow manage to escape from this mess they'd created.

So, of course, the Mets came back, tied the game in the 9th and won it in the 11th. Of course they did.

As a team, the Mets haven't pitched especially poorly, but it's been one particular pitcher having a bad day that seems to have submarined their particular efforts in this recent poor stretch. Friday night, Jenrry Mejia had a bad game. Saturday, Kyle Farnsworth had a bad inning and it resulted in a loss. Sunday, Jose Valverde gave up a run in the 9th that appeared to be windowdressing for the Phillies, but instead wound up being a huge run when the dust cleared.

The run Valverde allowed made the score 4-1, and it seemed quite certain that Jon Niese would take the loss despite not pitching especially poorly and the loathsome Cole Hamels would pick up his 100th career win in a rare solid performance against the Mets. But rather than Jonathan Papelbon in to finish things off, it was Antonio Bastardo, and Bastardo instead let the Mets back into the game rather quickly. After an Eric Young double, Daniel Murphy launched a Home Run into the Bullpen, putting some juice back into the few fans that remained at the tail end of a game well over 3 1/2 hours long. David Wright struck out, but Chris Young followed with a double. Bastardo clearly wasn't getting it done, so out he went in favor of Friday night's starter, Fausto Carmona Roberto Hernandez, but he couldn't get things done either, allowing a single to Bobby Abreu that, once it ticked off Chase Utley's glove, gave you the impression that somehow the Mets would find a way, and then an RBI groundout to Juan Lagares that tied the game.

But, of course, what Mets game would be complete without some extra innings, and when Anthony Recker didn't finish the job in the 9th, the game continued until the Mets mounted their winning rally in the 11th, behind a pair of well-placed infield hits by Young and Recker, a cameo appearance by Zack Wheeler to lay down a bunt, and an intentional walk by Lagares that set the stage for the much-maligned Ruben Tejada. I surmised that this might be a good spot for Tejada to lay down a squeeze bunt, since Chris Young at 3rd has reasonably good speed and the Phillies were gearing up for a hot shot at somebody, but Tejada thought otherwise and spared the drama by lining the first pitch into Left Field for the winning hit that would have been a hit no matter where the fielders were playing, and the Mets picked up a sorely needed 5-4 win.

Next, it's everyone's favorite, the Subway Series, as the Mets engage in their annual fan-crotch-grabbing festival with their crosstown rivals for 4 games that will be talked about for years no matter what happens. Here's hoping for results much more like the ones we saw last season.

Party Crashers

It's easy to forget that for all their foibles, the Mets were actually above .500 on the road last season, and even split the season series in Atlanty, perhaps the single most nauseating place in the National League for any Mets fan. Given that in the 18 year existence of Turner Field, the Mets had found innumerable frustrating ways to lose games in front of a piddling crowd of foam tomahawk-toting yahoos, finishing .500 there for a season feels like more of an accomplishment than it actually might be. But when you're the Mets and given the way the past five years have gone, you take whatever little victory you can get.

Tonight's game was another one of those little victories. It came at a fairly opportune moment, since it not only got the first road trip of the season off on a positive note, but it also spoiled the Braves' home opening pizza party. It's always nice to go into an opposing team's stadium and kick them in the nuts in front of a packed house, and that's more or less what the Mets did tonight, beating the Barves 4-0 behind a first-rate effort by Bartolo Colon and some opportunistic play from Ruben Tejada. That's not exactly the duo that you would think might lead the Mets to victory, but that's how it played out tonight.

Mostly, Colon will earn the accolades for this game, and rightfully so. Though it's borderline comical watching someone of his height and girth actually go out and play Major League Baseball, he's enough of a competitor that it works for him. His late-career resurgence has been aided by excellent control and in-game longevity, which was certainly on display this evening. In 7 innings, he kept the Braves lineup in check. Given all the brown-nosing this Braves team seems to get, it might seem like an accomplishment, but a closer look at Atlanty's lineup reveals that outside of Freddie Freeman, the majority of the Braves lineup is struggling to bat the Mendoza Line. B.J. Upton and Stone Hands Uggla both got booed off the field at one point or another through the game and others like Jason Heyward failed to produce in key spots. Nonetheless, Colon certainly deserves credit for laying down the hammer on a struggling team and coming up with the kind of effort that we hoped to see out of him. He kept the Braves completely off-balance, allowing all of 6 hits, a majority of which were 2-out singles, and 5 strikeouts, with nary a walk allowed. No walks=fewer pitches=7 inning effort=game bridged directly to Kyle Farnsworth for an inning and Jose Valverde for a cringe-worthy 9th inning.

As I mentioned earlier, Ruben Tejada was the offensive star for the Mets, with 2 hits and 2 RBI, which helped to draw attention away from the First Base Follies for a night (the starter du jour, Duda, had a hit in 4 ABs, and ended up one of Tejada's RBI). His hits weren't things of beauty, but they were effective. In the 7th inning of a 1-0 game, Tejada followed Travis d'Arnaud's flair double with a flair of his own, placed just well enough that d'Arnaud was able to get a good jump and score easily. In the 8th, Tejada got another flair hit, this one one of those "I'll take it" swings that produced a blooper into no-man's land in Right Field, scoring Duda (and preceded by Terry Collins' second successful Challenge on a Juan Lagares infield hit) with the night's final run.

A few more games like this out of the involved parties would be more than welcome by me, particularly when it involves the Barves and humbling a team that really needs to be knocked down a few pegs.

To The Rescue!

I was feeling rather frustrated with 1 out in the 9th on Sunday. I didn't go to the game, and at that point I was pretty glad I didn't, because to that point, the Mets had more or less slogged through a game with the miserable Marlins that did nothing to inspire anyone, and had also lasted well over 3 hours and 30 minutes despite only 5 runs being scored. The game itself was far from notable, outside of the fact that the stories were sure to read that the Mets were just the first to fall victim to future White Sox Phenom Jose Fernandez. In fact, it was really one of those games that was just sort of "on TV" for me, much like the games I have "On the radio" in my office. It's sort of background noise while I'm doing something else; in this instance it was cleaning the bathroom. Then the kitchen. Then the living room floors. And so forth. Finally, I'd finished my cleaning and I figured I'd wait until the end of the game to go grocery shopping.

I didn't realize that it was already 4pm and the game was only in the 7th inning.

Jose Fernandez was long gone by this point, which I suppose was fortunate for the Mets. Given the hype and the incessant Dwight Gooden comparisons, I suppose I expected a little more flash from the 20-year old, but when you rack up 1 run, 3 hits and 8 strikeouts in 5 innings, that's all the flash you need. Fernandez was staked to a 3-run lead courtesy of Aaron Laffey, who I believe was about the 8th man down on the depth chart as far as Starting Pitching options go, but with Santana out and Marcum out and the other options being Chris Schwinden and Collin McHugh, I suppose, Laffeyable as it may be, that Laffey was the best available option to take the ball on this day. That speaks volumes. The best thing I can say about Aaron Laffey is that he is a Pitcher who has pitched in the Major Leagues. Against the Marlins, Laffey managed to allow the first 2 runners on base in every inning (and if he didn't, he made it seem like he did), and only managed to escape down by 3 runs because he was pitching against the Marlins. Against a better team, the 10 hits he allowed likely would have led to more runs. I can't say I feel especially inspired by that performance.

So, all that being said, when I finally sat down and really started paying attention, the Marlins, behind Adeiny Hechaverria, Chris Tumbalalaika, Donovan Solano and Greg Dobbs (who, I believe, reached base every time he came to the plate this weekend) appeared primed to come away with a head-scratching series victory against the Mets. Sure, the Mets bullpen kept the game close (even LaTroy Hawkins), and sure, a nice bit of clutch hitting from Anthony Recker and another Home Run from Daniel Murphy made the game close, but it seemed to be somewhat cosmetic. This just seemed like a dead ballgame. Steve Cishek was going to come in, sling his sidearmed slider around and make the Mets look foolish in front of what appeared to be a Late September-sized crowd on a reasonably pleasant April Sunday.

Which is why the winning comeback seemed so jarring. It really came out of nowhere. Marlon Byrd can take the credit for the winning hit, but Ruben Tejada set everything up. With 1 out, Tejada came up and did what he usually does: work the count and foul off pitches, and finally reached base thanks to a Cishek pitch just grazing his jersey. Sometimes, that's all it takes. Tejada had already tried to jump-start a rally 2 innings earlier, stealing a base that ultimately went nowhere. In the 9th, he used his head and his legs again, going from 1st to 3rd when Kirk Nieuwenhuis' flare hit dropped in front of Cool Papa Pierre. The Mets had been taking advantage of Pierre's pop-gun arm all weekend, and Tejada played this to perfection, forcing Pierre into a lousy, off-line throw that not only wasn't close to getting Tejada, but also allowed Kirk to move up to 2nd base. With the dirty work done, Marlon Byrd was then able to ping a shot down the 3rd base line, past Tumbalalaika to easily score both runs and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in every sense of the phrase. This really seemed like a game that the Mets had no business winning, because the Marlins were just getting men on base and threatening incessantly. They just couldn't put it out of reach, which is telling of the quality of their team, and ultimately, the Mets made them pay for it.

More importantly, however, Tejada, Nieuwenhuis and Byrd saved the Mets from what would certainly be the embarrassing indignity of losing a series to the Miserable Marlins. It's bad enough that they had to lose one game altogether, giving the Marlins their lone win of the season, but I suppose the Marlins weren't going to go 0-162, no matter how much they deserve it.

The Gleaning

I didn't see any part of last night's game, but based on what I heard about it afterward, this is basically what I figure happened:

1) The Mets made every good effort to try to hand the Giants the game, but the Giants just wouldn't take it.

2) Jonathon Niese made a very good rebound start after his putrid outing in Arizona.

3) Bobby Parnell actually pitched a reasonably calm, 1-2-3 9th inning, shocking everyone, and maybe even himself.

Ruben Tejada fired the keynote, hitting his first HR in nearly two years on Matt Cain's 2nd pitch of the game, and this started a pretty good slogfest for the Mets. They won, I'll give them that, and they're a win away from winning this 4-game series against a very good Giants team, but man, these have been some ugly, Ugly victories. Usually, when the Mets stranded 13 men on base, it was back in the days when they would also hit into about 6 double plays a game and lose games by the score of 4-2 or 3-1. Well, this time, they generated the 2, but the pitching, particularly Niese, was able to keep the Giants off the board.

Niese, who's emerged as a very solid pitcher recently, was great in an important start for him, coming off a lousy outing last weekend. Every start is important for Niese now, because two things he hasn't done in his career are 1) Finish off a season healthy, and 2) Finish off a season effectively. These are crucial things in the development process for Jonathon Niese, so each time he shakes off a 6-run outing and follows it up with a 1-run outing, it's an encouraging sign.

It's also an encouraging sign for the Mets in general when they can actually win a 1-run game. It's never going to feel secure, but at least it's possible. I still don't trust Parnell as closer (I barely trust him in general), but Francisco will be back soon I hear, so that will, hopefully, get things a little closer to normal. Maybe.

3:45 start time today, so it's going to be an afternoon in the office with Howie and Josh. This has generally been a good combination. Hopefully it holds true today.

We Can Be Heroes!

Never a dull moment with this team.

It doesn't seem to matter what the circumstance is, the Mets seem to never panic. I've made some mention in prior years about how the Mets have had players who always keep a cool head in big situations (good examples include Endy Chavez, Damion Easley and Fernando Tatis, at least some of the time). This particular Mets team appears to be comprised almost entirely of Don't Panic guys. So when their best pitcher comes out against a fierce rival without his best stuff, the Mets don't panic. Scott Hairston hits a Home Run, David Wright hits a Home Run, and down by a run in the 9th, the Mets just toyed around with Jonathan Papelbon, doing everything necessary to push across the 2 runs needed to win the game.

Ultimately, David Wright will wear the heroes' mantel, since he not only got the winning hit, but also drove in 3 additional runs prior to that hit. But how about Ike Davis, who took a Papelbon offering and inside-outed it to left field for the leadoff double? How about Jordany Valdespin showing some patience with 2 outs, working the count full before getting hit by a pitch? How about Ruben Tejada, who seems to see upwards of 5 pitches every time he steps in the batters box, working out an 8-pitch walk? And who can forget Daniel Murphy, who fell behind 0-2 before nailing a pitch off Papelbon's leg that managed to bounce just far enough away for him to not be able to do anything with it. Josh Thole laid down a great sacrifice in there as well. Even Kirk Nieuwenhuis, who's been scuffling and injured, battled before striking out.

The point is, just as complacency can be contagious, and can sink a team that's not mentally tough enough, so can remaining calm in high pressure spots spread around a team as well, and in the case of the Mets, it's made them a better, cohesive unit. It helps, and is perhaps the difference between the 2012 Mets and, say, the 2010 Mets that were hovering over .500 at the All Star Break as well, that this is a team comprised less of veterans and reclamation projects, and more of young, heady players trying to make names for themselves. The familiarity they have with each other has made them a more cohesive unit with similar approaches to the game, and to the situation, and to the at-bat. The end result is that you have a 9th inning like we had tonight, where it seemed like everyone went up there determined to do something. And, ultimately, they did.

Circle Back Around

Happy July 4th, everyone! On Independence day, as always, we remind you to take your hat off, and keep out of the aisles during the National Anthem. Don't forget to fist pump and genuflect while you're at it.

Three years ago, I went to a Mets/Phillies game that included a full house, some similar in-game fireworks, and ended with Citi Field covered in a smoky haze, but with a different result, one that resulted in an early exit for Mets fans and in Philly fans strutting around doing Harry Kalas impressions to tell everyone that the Mets season was "OUUUTTA HEEERE!"

Last night, the shoe was on the other foot.

I'd been waiting for that first really great Citi Field game, where it truly seemed like Citi Field was what everyone envisioned it to be before the team went in the tank and everyone stopped showing up. I know that the night of Johan Santana's No Hitter was one of the first truly great moments at Citi Field, but the stadium was only about half full. I could tell that there was going to be a big crowd just by standing outside the stadium. I'd never seen the line to get through the checkpoint at the Rotunda to be un-navigable, but that's what it was. Either I had to go down to Right Field, or risk not getting in until the 3rd inning. Although it may have been a bipartisan crowd, it was as full as I'd seen it since Opening Day (and the postgame boast of an attendance record may have been accurate—it certainly felt more full than I ever remember Citi Field being), possibly due to the lure of fireworks more than the fans actually beginning to believe in the team. You had to have the feeling that the crowd juiced up the Mets, because they came out and absolutely ripped Vance Worley to shreds. Ruben Tejada fired the keynote after dinging several 2-strike pitches foul, working out a 11-pitch at bat that resulted in one of the few outs Worley was able to get. Daniel Murphy followed with a triple, David Wright hit a run-scoring ground out, and the Mets were on their way.

Sure, the Philly fans were out in force, but they had little reason to do much other than slump in their seats and sit on their hands. Outside of Carlos Ruiz's 2nd inning Home Run (inspiring the requisite "CHOOOOOOCH" chants), Jon Niese had probably his best outing of the season, and something he's been building towards of late. He's been getting progressively better and better as the season has progressed, and now the results are starting to gather some notice. He also helped his own cause at the plate; with the score tied and the bases loaded (following Tim Teufel's questionable hold of Lucas Duda on Thole's hit—many were annoyed by this, however it was the right move since Duda likely would have been out by 20 feet), Niese slapped a pitch off Worley's glove and through the infield to plate two runs. He'd later score on Murphy's double, and later on, he'd draw a walk and score again on Wright's monster Home Run.

Though Daniel Murphy was the offensive standout with his 4 hits and 4 RBI, he wasn't without help. Ruben Tejada, of the aforementioned 11-pitch at bat, followed that up with 3 hits, and together, he, Murphy and David Wright served to back their pitcher up with an outstanding all-around defensive effort, taking hits and runs away from the Phillies at every angle, mostly stifling Shane Victorino, who is probably the Phillie most in need of some stifling.

So, if everyone was feeling nice and warm following this 11-1 washout, we all got to sit back and get treated to a fine Fireworks show, which was pleasantly cheesy, well-designed, not too long, not too short, and just enough to satiate me so I don't feel obligated to go watch fireworks tonight. I'd never actually been to a Mets fireworks night before. I usually tended to avoid those games, and in fact, this year would have been no different. I actually ended up at Fireworks Night by accident this year. When I selected the 15 games on my 15-game plan, I had no idea what dates would be promotion dates. I just picked July 3rd because it was a weekday night game, it was against Philly, and I knew I didn't have to work the next day. But, sure enough, they made it fireworks night, and so after 25 years of attending Mets games, I've finally been to a fireworks night. I guess you can have me bronzed and sell me on eBay or something.

Strange Brew?

Tomorrow marks the Mets 81st game (and my 10th of the season at Citi Field). I've made a few observations, some of which I've shared here, others which have just been brewing in my head. Here's what I've noticed.

WHAT'S GONE RIGHT:
Quite a bit, even if there haven't been an overwhelming number of individually stellar seasons, there's a lot here to work with. Terry Collins and Sandy Alderson (and as much as I hate to say it, Omar Minaya) have put together an incredibly cohesive group that plays together, plays for each other, and plays to win, and that's been evident in their 43-37 record. No, it hasn't been pretty and sometimes it's been downright disgusting. But I don't know a single Mets fan who wouldn't have signed for 6 games over .500 and 3 games out of 1st place at the halfway point.

The great performances that we've gotten, particularly out of David Wright and R.A. Dickey don't need much discussion. Each is justifiably rewarded with a trip to the All Star game next week (even though Wright was rooked out of a starting spot either because the Giants fans stuffed the ballot boxes or because the Mets fans didn't), The real MVP this season, however, is probably Johan Santana. Throwing the first No Hitter in Mets History aside, all he's done is come back from major shoulder surgery and look just as good as he did before he got injured, and sometimes even better. It doesn't matter if he can't throw 95 anymore. He knows how to pitch and he can throw whatever pitch he wants, wherever and whenever. More importantly, he hasn't missed a start and he's allowed Dickey and Niese to slide comfortably into their roles as #2 and #3 in the rotation.

The rest of the rotation hasn't been terrible either. Jonathon Niese got over some early inconsistency and has found himself in a real nice groove. Chris Young, when he's healthy, is an excellent pitcher. All he's got to do is stay healthy, however. Dillon Gee has acquitted himself reasonably well as the #5 starter, not consistent, not eye-popping, but he's done what he's needed to do more often than not.

The real question is how long the rotation will hold together. The players themselves aren't the issue here but whether or not they can hold up over the remainder of the season is. Until Young resurfaced, depth had been a bit of an issue, probably because of Alderson's hesitance to rush Matt Harvey up from AAA. It's fine to keep him there, but if there are any more injuries in the rotation, it's probably in the best interest of the team to promote Harvey to the Majors. They can't afford to hand over key starts to more Chris Schwinden types, and while Miguel Batista and Jeremy Hefner are also starter candidates, they can't be trusted over a large string of time.

Other things that have gone right: Ike Davis in June, where he seems to finally have put it together. Lucas Duda's emergence as, if nothing else, a real power threat, complete with the streakiness. Scott Hairston against Lefthanders. Kirk Nieuwenhuis came up early and earned his keep. Frank Francisco didn't throw any chairs. Ruben Tejada has shown incredible polish at the plate and his approach both offensively and defensively will make everyone forget about Jose Reyes before too long. I don't know if the power will develop with time, but his style of play seems awfully reminiscent of Edgardo Alfonzo, and if that's the kind of upside he's got, I'd say he's a keeper.

WHAT'S BEEN SO-SO:
The Jordany Valdespin experiment. He plays with such an infectious degree of energy that it makes him eminently likeable, but he has absolutely no polish and no discipline at the plate, and very little in the field. You could tell this from his first Major League at bat, which came with the bases loaded, and resulted in him swinging out of his shoes at the first pitch and popping up. Better moments would follow, but he's got a lot to learn, and at 24, I wonder if he will.

Scott Hairston playing everyday: I know this is a result of Jason Bay's injury, but the fact is that Scott Hairston isn't good enough to play every day. I know his power surge has been a nice story and he's come up with a lot of clutch hits. But he's the kind of player who kills lefties and is only passable against righties. Play him all the time and he'll get exposed.

Bobby Parnell, Jon Rauch and Frank Francisco: When they're on, they're on. When they're not, watch out. Francisco has often made you want to hide your eyes, and Jon Rauch has incinerated a few leads. Parnell is always a mystery because he doesn't seem to pitch to the level of his stuff. While I'm all for giving Parnell the closer role going forward, I can't say it inspires a ton of confidence. With the back end of the bullpen mostly rotting away and guys like Pedro Beato and Jenrry Mejia sitting in the Minors, I don't think the closer of the future exists on the Mets roster right now.

WHAT'S BEEN BAD:
Jason Bay. Not entirely his fault, but he needs to get out of New York. The sooner the better.

Mike Pelfrey's injury. Not that Pelfrey was going to light anyone ablaze, but he was at least a dependable commodity who could eat innings. His injury resulted in several weeks of the Chris Schwinden Pu-Pu Platter until Chris Young arrived.

Offensive production from Catcher: Though Josh Thole and Mike Nickeas have proven perfectly capable defensively (particularly having to deal with a knuckleball every 5 days), they have been mostly non existent offensively. Thole can handle the bat reasonably well, but he has no power and drives in no runs. Nickeas is even worse and yet mysteriously has driven home 12 runs this season to Thole's 10.

The Back end of the Bullpen: Batista isn't an 8th inning man. He's a mop up man. Ramon Ramirez is woefully inconsistent. I've already mentioned Rauch and Parnell and though they're not the total dregs, they're only a slight step up. Other guys like Robert Carson, Elvin Ramirez and that Egbert fellow, and whoever this Justin Hampson is either aren't ready, aren't capable, or possibly both, otherwise they might have gotten a little more use. Better depth is out there, even though finding a dependable relief pitcher is sort of like throwing horse manure at a wall and hoping it sticks.

IN SUMMATION:
The Mets have managed to overachieve this year without anybody really overachieving (I wouldn't call Dickey overachieving since his numbers were pretty damn good to begin with the last couple of seasons, I think he's learned more consistency which is why he's getting these results). One thing that's helped is that the rest of the NL East, and, in fact, the NL in general, hasn't had any real breakaway great team. The Phillies have come back to earth with a thud and now that they're talking about dealing away Cole Hamels and Shane Victorino who knows what will happen to them. The Marlins, like any "superteam" are having trouble gelling. Washington has won with outstanding pitching. Atlanta is a complete mystery. I don't know how this will play out ultimately, but the Mets are, in reality, a good reliever and probably a right-handed Left Fielder with power away from throwing a major wrench into everyone's plans.