Mets Sweep Nationals

I'm not sure what's worse, having this late season surge when things obviously don't matter, or if we'd played this way earlier in the month only to see the bottom fall out at the end. Either way, the Mets have put together an impressive run. They've won seven of their last nine games, they're once again above .500 (barely), and they actually have a chance to pass the Marlins and finish in third place. All of these mean little though, because even if we win our last seven games, the Mets will still have underachieved this season.

Friday night's game was a tight affair. The Mets jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the sixth on a two run single by Cliff Floyd. The score would remain 2-0 until the bottom of the ninth when Ramon Hernandez gave up a two run shot to Carlos Baerga to send the game into extra frames. Steve Trachsel saw his six solid innings go to waste (five hits, seven strikeouts).

The Mets wouldn't take too long to answer. In the top of the tenth, Carlos Beltran hit a three run shot into the seats in rightfield and the Mets walked away with a 5-2 win. Aaron Heilman closed the game out and earned his second save of the season.

Yesterday, the score was the same (5-2) but without the drama. The Mets jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the first inning mostly due to a David Wright grand slam. That cushion allowed Tom Glavine to coast to his twelth win of the season as he gave up two runs through eight innings of work.

This afternoon's game provided some drama. With the game tied 3-3, the Mets took a one run lead in the top of the sixth on an RBI double by David Wright. The Nationals answered with two runs in the bottom of the seventh and once again, the Mets were down. It was David Wright again in the top of the eighth. He homered to tie the game, and Mike Jabobs followed it up with a solo shot of his own as the Mets took the lead. Mike Piazza homered two times earlier in the game to account for the Mets first three runs.

Kris Benson was roughed up, but for once, the bats were there. Aaron Heilman got into trouble in the ninth by walking two batters, but he escaped the jam and earned his third save of the season.

The Phillies are on deck this week as the Mets play their final seven games of the season. The Phillies won today, and the Astros are down so if that score holds, the Phillies will be a game back of the Astros for the wild card. Looks like we can play spoiler once again.