Results tagged “thephillies”

A few months ago, a more unlikely scenario could not be imagined. The Yankees are barreling into the playoffs after recovering from one of the team's worst season starts in franchise history. The Mets, on the other hand, are staggering towards the end of the season having lost five straight and 11 of their last 15 games. A seemingly insurmountable lead in their division has been whittled to second place behind the Phillies, and the Mets have let a playoffs appearance escape from their control. Last night's game was almost emblematic of the horror show that has aired early before Halloween. Superstar David Wright couldn't locate third base for a force out. Faced with loaded bases, pitcher Oliver Perez hit two batters with errant throws.

It took the Mets a little more than two weeks, but they've somehow managed to squander a seven-game lead in the National League East. Since September 12th, the lead has slowly gotten smaller and is now zero, zilch, zip, nadda, nil. With three games left in the regular season, the Mets are tied with the Phillies for first in the NL East. The last time the Mets weren't in sole possession of first place - May 15th! How did they get to where they are now? Starting on Sept. 14th, the Mets went 4-10, including a 5-game losing streak and a 4-game losing streak. It didn't help that the Phillies went on a tear during the same stretch of games, including a three-game sweep of the Mets.

You probably won't catch any Mets fans or anyone associated with the club purchasing these yet, but MLB.com already has the New York Mets 2007 NL East Division Champions Roster T-Shirt up for sale on its website. Talk about counting your eggs way before they're hatched. The shirts aren't even available for pre-sale only, but are "in stock and ready to leave the warehouse" in 4-6 business days! Hmm...in 4-6 days, the NL East will have been decided. Does this mean MLB.com can cancel your order if the Mets fail to win their division?

With their future stadium as the backdrop, the Mets took on the "team to beat in the NL East." Those were the words of Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins in January, words that he would eat in the Mets 11-5 win Monday afternoon. John Maine lacked control in his second start of the season, loading the bases in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th innings. Maine was removed after 4 2/3 innings of work. The Phillies left 9 runners on base in the game, but in the 6th inning Ryan Howard, the reigning NL MVP, hit his first home run of the season. The two-out, three-run home run came off Ambiorix Burgos, giving the Phillies a 5-3 lead.

- Yankees 5, Orioles 4: The Yankees won their fifth game in a row Friday night with a 9th inning victory over the Orioles. Randy Johnson allowed four runs over his six inning outing, but didn't strike out a single batter for the second game in a row - only the second time that has happened in his career. The Yankees jumped to an early lead on a solo home run by Johnny Damon in the 1st and added to their lead with two runs in the 2nd. After the Orioles took the lead in the 5th, the Yankees tied it in the 7th. The score remained tied until Jorge Posada hit his 14th home run of the season. Before the game, the Yankees optioned designated Bubba Crosby for assignment and added another arm to the bullpen. The win keeps the Yankees a game ahead of the Red Sox for the AL East lead.

The best the Mets can now do at the end of this series is come to a half game of the Wild Card. With a tough road trip ahead, one has to wonder if this will be the closest they come the rest of the season. While last week's trip west was encouraging, the competition will be harder on the coming trip. Florida, Atlanta and St. Louis all have better winning percentages than the Mets.

Now, the Mets are two games out of first place and tied for second place with the hated Atlanta Braves. The Mets take on the Florida Marlins this weekend in Miami before the break. The Phillies play the aforementioned Braves, with first place at steak. The best the Mets can hope for before the break is a tie for first with the Braves. After the All Star break, the Mets return home to play four against the Phillies. With games against the top teams in the NL East, there is a chance the Amazins could be in first very soon. Of course, there is also a chance they could be in fourth, a few games out of first.

The problem for Glavine in Monday's game was that he didn't get the corners of the plate in his favor. Glavine freely admits his inability to overpower batters, so he uses finesse to win games. With the corners gone, there was little he could do but throw the ball directly over the plate. Unfortunately for him and the Mets, that spelled disaster.