Hanging On

The Mets have lost three straight series, and two of those were against teams that were ahead of us in those Wild Card standings. The only good thing is, we didn't get swept in either series, and by pulling out those single wins against the Phillies and the Marlins, the Mets have been able to just hold on to a chance at the Wild Card.

Friday, the Mets ran into Dontrelle Willis. They only managed eight hits and only one of those was for extra bases (a double by David Wright). Victor Zambrano got roughed up for twelve hits in five innings of work. Only four Marlins crossed the plate though, so it's not like he pitched the Mets out of the win. Willis won his nineteenth game.

Saturday's game was the tough. The Mets jumped out to a 4-2 lead which included a two run Cliff Floyd homer. Kris Benson was awesome through six innings, but he got roughed up in the seventh inning. The killer was a bases loaded/clearing double by Miguel Cabrera that put the Marlins up by a run (at this point, the pen, i.e. Juan Padilla, was in the game). The Mets got nothing in the final innings and walked away with a loss.

Yesterday, Jae Seo saved the day. He's been the best Mets pitcher over the last few weeks, and that's with some tough competition in Pedro Martinez. Seo went seven innings and gave up only one run on five hits and he struck out six. Carlos Beltran, Cliff Floyd, and David Wright all drove in two runs in the rout.

Today, the Mets lost to the Braves, so we're now three games out of the Wild Card spot. The Nationals passed us, so we once again we have four teams in front of us. The Astros are up 4-1 against the Phillies, and if that stands, the two teams will flip flop in the standings (right now, the Phillies are a half game ahead of the Astros). If the Phillies come from behind, we'll then be 3 1/2 games back, so I'm rooting for the Astros (today).

Still no Mike Piazza. Ramon Castro has done his best, but we need our big bat back. Will Carroll hasn't mentioned anything about Piazza, although he did say that Trachsel is being inserted into the rotation to give Pedro an extra days rest.