It's Time to Root for the Braves

I know the thought of it is painful, but it's time to root for the Braves. It seems unholy as cheering for the Cowboys or Eagles, but believe me it's necessary.

The Phillies play the Braves 6 times over the next two weeks inbetween series with the Marlins and Nationals. The Braves could hold the Mets playoff chances in the palm of their hand, or they could roll over like the Brewers did this past weekend.

The haunting part about the remaining schedule for the Mets is that they have to make one last trip to Turner Field. That is the one place on earth where Mets hope goes to die. Okay, there are two places: Turner Field & the bullpen.

The remaining schedule for the Mets is not easy. There's a 7 game road trip to Washington & Atlanta. Then it's home against the Cubs for 4 games and you close out the season with the 3 against the Marlins at Shea.

14 games, no off days. In my mind, the Mets need to go 11-3 in order to win the pennant. I'll give them a loss in Atlanta, a loss to the Cubs, and a loss to the Marlins.  I think the Phillies are on a hot streak and will close out their remaining 12 games by going, 10-2. That would give the Mets a one-game lead to win the division.

It's going down to the wire folks. The Mets need to keep winning games. A sweep of the Nationals is a must.

Mets Lifer is now on Twitter

For those of you that don't know what Twitter is, watch this highly informative and entertaining video.

For those of you that do know, you can now follow Mets Lifer on Twitter as well by visiting twitter.com/metslifer. This is a new foray so we'll be testing it out, but at the very least I do think we have a pretty sweet design for our Twitter page.

They'll be constant updates as we head down the final stretch of the season. If for any reason you aren't getting Twitter updates and don't see any new blog posts for an extended period of time it's because the Mets bullpen has driven Bryan and I to the brink and we've finally decided we've had enough.

Nothing like a series with the Washington Nationals to provide hope.

Check out our new Twitter page here.

BLOWpen Strikes Again

The Mets have done such a good job at handling the pressure so far in September even with all the chatter surrounding last year's collapse. In fact, they've been so resilient, that the only reminder of any such demise this year lies really within the amount of people covering the games and the number of questions about it.

Oh, yeah, actually, there is one dark, ominous factor looming from last year and that is...ladies and gentlemen?...(drum roll)...the BLOWpen! Yes, of course, the infamous BLOWpen.
Folks, there is nothing worse for a team than a bad bullpen and man, do the Mets have an awful one. For the second straight year, the Mets' season will come down to whether or not their BLOWpen can hang on. Everyone else is stepping up and doing anything they can to help get this team into the post season. Carlos Delgado? Check. Carlos Beltran? Check. David Wright? Check. Johann Santana? Check. Mike Pelfrey? Check? Ollie Perez? Check. Mets BLOWpen? "X".

I swear these kinds of losses are ripping me up. I can only imagine what it must be like to walk around in that clubhouse as a member of that BLOWpen. If I'm a beat writer covering this team, I'm observing that vibe - the interaction, if any - and writing about that. Players will say all the right things, but you know deep down, it's killing them. It seems like any loss the Mets have, it's because of this BLOWpen. Today was the 27th BLOWN save of the year, holding true to their name, BLOWpen.

Sure, as Dave wrote below, everyone will talk about missed opportunities to tack on runs, and no doubt, it hurts. Jerry Manuel obsesses on this, it seems, after every game. Fact is, he knows it and every other baseball fan on the planet knows it, the BLOWpen just cannot get the job done. Period! That's why there is such an emphasis on this club to score any chance they get. Unfortunately, that's not the way baseball works. If teams get a hit JUST 4 times out of ten with RISP, those teams would be making history. Hitters get out 72% of the time, even less with runners on. The law of averages will tell you that pitchers win the battle more often than not. Unless, of course, you're the NY Mets' BLOWpen. Then, everybody gets a hit.

If Brewers can get just one game tonight, the Mets will have a 3 game lead in the loss column, which is huge. And while the BLOWpen continues to lose the battles, there's still a chance for the real gamers on this club - Murphy, Tatis, Church and of course, the guys mentioned before -to win the war.

Only time will tell...May the force be with us.

Implode

Kids are back in school. Weather is getting a little less humid. It must be time to implode.

Luis Ayala ruined a beautiful afternoon by giving up a 3 run home run in the top of the 9th inning to ultimately give the Braves a win and deal the Mets a crushing loss as the Phillies came back to win their game.

I'm sure we'll hear talk tomorrow about how the Mets batters didn't add on additional runs and that's why they lost, but I say that's a bunch of bologna. Sure additional runs would be nice, but when you have a 4-2 lead in the top of the 9th inning against a weak hitting team you should be able to close it out.

But this is the curse of the Mets BLOWpen. Or should I say curse the Mets BLOWpen? Either way it's another disaster that will leave the lingering feeling of the 2007 collapse on the shoulders of every Mets player, manager and fan for another week.

There are no guarantees with this team. No lead is too great. No team is too horrible. The Mets bullpen will find a way to implode. There are now 14 games left and only a one game lead.

Buckle your seat belts. This is guaranteed to be a bumpy ride.

Niese is Nice

Proving yet again that this year isn't last year, the Mets bounced back from a bitter defeat in Game 1 and defeated the Braves in game 2 to take the nightcap behind an absolutely stellar performance by rookie, Johnathan Niese. 

Niese, who got roughed up in Milwaukee in his major league debut 10 days ago, pitched 8 scoreless innings to notch his first major league victory and it could not have come at a better time.  This was another one of those big games for the Mets as they blew the first game with their ace Johan Santana on the mound. Coupled with the Phillies win, the second game was a crucial one and the rookie did not disappoint. 

There are all kinds of reasons why the Mets continue to shed the demons - as Jerry Manuel likes to say - from last season, and tonight was no exception. Tonight, Niese pitched a gem. Last year, Philip Humber spit the bit. And with Beltran and Wright starting to go off again, this team will be tough to beat down the stretch. Although, it definitely won't be without it's share of heart pounders...which...of course, is the Mets' way. 

Phillies 2008 NL East Champions Already?

This is bulletin board materials folks. Oh man, this would have me psyched to play tonight.

Apparently you can order this ludicrous shirt online here.

17 to Play

Did you wake up this morning and feel this eery sense that there was something wrong with today? Well, if you did there's good reason for it. Today is officially the day where there are 17 games left to play.

As I'm sure you remember this is the day last year that officially marked the Mets demise. As neurotic and anxious a Mets Lifer as I am, I'm feeling ok about today. You see I honestly believe this team is different than last year. There's a different attitude, a different vibe, and a different sense of confidence in this team.

The lineup is made up of mostly the same players, but one addition and one subtraction has made the difference. The addition is obvious. It's Johan Santana. Every 5th day we have a starting pitcher who will go out there and give us 7+ innings of competitive baseball. He's the guy we were missing last year when Tom Glavine hung us out to dry on the last game of the season. Santana is giving us a Cy Young worthy performance every time he steps on the mound, and is a man able to stop a losing skid in just 9 innings.

The subtraction is also obvious. It's Willie Randolph. No more "my guys" and "we'll laugh about this" type of attitude. Instead we have a straight shooter in Jerry Manuel who appears to have been the steady, calming hand this Mets team needed. He's manager of the year. Lock it up.

So with 17 games to play, I'm feeling much better about a dismal 3 game lead than I did last year with a 7 game lead. Is it crazy to think that? Probably, but that's life as a Mets Lifer.