Everybody Loves Batlimore

The Mets have been awful on the road this year, but this particular road trip couldn't have come at a better time. The Mets are coming off a 5-1 home stand and are on a nice run. Instead of having this run end quickly with a trip to the West coast or perhaps a trek to Atlanta, St. Louis or Philadelphia, the Mets have the luxury of heading to Baltimore and Cleveland before a trip to the Bronx.

This is the best scheduled road trip of the season. The Mets need to pile up some road wins to boost their confidence and maintain their above .500 play. Baltimore has just been demolished by the Yankees and have a lineup of underachievers and lifelong role players. Cleveland is struggling as well due to injuries and a vacant starting rotation.

The Mets need this road trip. If the Mets go 4-2 on this road trip they will find themselves 6 games over .500 when they return to New York to play the Yankees. That's a position I would love to see this team in especially with the makeshift rotation, the slumping Jason Bay and the always questionable bullpen.

This is the opportunity the Mets need to make an early season run in the NL East. If they flop on this trip, there's little hope that they'll be able to have a winning road trip against more competitive teams.