While I have some philosophically pessimistic tendencies, in practical terms I am more of a realist. While I enjoyed watching the NY Metropolitans phenomenal post All Star Break run, and was excited to hear all the Wild Card talk, deep down I knew the easy schedule coming out of the break was helping make it happen. The boys were playing well and I won’t take that away from them, but the real test of their mettle was ahead: a batch of series against contending teams that would show whether the Mets were able to stand amongst those contending teams.
But when the Mets swept the first of those series against the Indians of the Cleve, I admit I became a believer. They were pitching great, had a real lineup that could put up some offense, and had just enough youthful enthusiasm to make every game exciting. But then, they hit the buzzsaw that is the Atlanta Braves. The Bravos are a long way from their glory days of a shit ton of straight NL East pennants, but they have built a helluva ball club. Fast, slick fielding, hard hitting young talent combined with quality veterans and these guys show why they’re leading the East again.
It was a hard fought series, with the 14-inning opener a tight 1-run affair. Game 2 was a bit more offense oriented, but Game 3 was another 1-run nailbiter that the Braves finished on top. A damn sweep of the home team and suddenly the Mets don’t look like a team anyone should be seriously talking postseason about. But, baseball has that way about making even realistic pessimists keep coming back hopeful because every game is a new start. With teams beating up on each other every day, any team can win a few while the teams they’re chasing lose a few and the next thing you know, they’re back in the race.
So it was with a modest amount of hope that I sat down to watch the next contending team come into the Big Apple from the Windy City and for the first few innings, things were looking good. The Mets’ trade deadline acquisition Marcus Stroman was pitching well and rookie phenom Pete Alonso gave the Mets the early lead with a mighty blast to right center field to set the Mets all time single season HR record. It didn’t last long though as the Cubs doubled and homered to take a 2-1 lead, and the very next inning experienced deja vu all over again and doubled and homered again to build a 4-1 lead.
The Mets’ offense has picked a bad time to cool off as they scored a total of 7 runs in the 3-game set against the Braves, and have only the 1 run from Alonso’s solo blast through 7 innings tonight, so the 3-run deficit in the 7th inning as I write this seems insurmountable. The Mets, so recently my surprise postseason hopefuls, are on the verge of losing 4 in a row at home and descending from the lofty perch they were clinging to, back to the .500 or below team they were the majority of the season.
Of course they still get to play tomorrow….
Joe's Blog 