1 1/2 Games

With 7 games left in the regular season, 1 1/2 games is the key to the Mets fate. The Mets are 1 1/2 games behind the Phillies for the NL East. The Mets are 1 1/2 games ahead of the Brewers for the wild card.

Welcome to a painstaking final week of the season.

In my estimation, the Mets will have to go 7-0 and the Phillies will have to go 4-2 in order for the Mets to win the NL East. Now I don't know which is more unlikely that the Mets won't lose a game this week or that the Phillies will lose 2 games.

The Mets chances are better for the Wild Card where the struggling Brewers are almost as inconsistent as the Mets of late.

At this point, I'm with Bryan when he said that he doesn't care how the Mets get in the playoffs as long as they get in. I couldn't agree more. The real key to this week is being able to win that extra game the Mets have to play. Their competition have 6 games remaining where the Mets have 7.

I've been asked this morning if I'm nervous, anxious, and even depressed about the current Mets state. My reply is that my emotion is more anger than anything else. I haven't given up hope yet, but that's just one Aaron Heilman appearance from changing.

This is a week for the Mets to win back their faithful fans. A week for David Wright to prove that he's not our version of A-Rod. A week for Delgado to cement his status as the NL MVP. A week for Carlos Beltran to make everyone remember what he did in the '04 playoffs. A week for one bullpen pitcher to take silence the critics.

One week. One and a half games. Or it could end up just as one big disappointment.