Amazin, or is it. I wrote on Friday how it didn’t matter what the Mets did this weekend against the Braves because they still would be in first place by a very large lead come Monday. I wrote how this series with the Braves was all about psychology. I said things like the Mets would rise to the occasion because they had done so many times this year when it looked like things might be going sour. I’ll admit to you now that I was a bit worried. The Mets have been playing around .500 ball for almost 40 games and couldn’t get passed 19 games over .500. The Braves recently were on a tear scoring runs in bunches and getting good pitching. And even though they remained far behind, thoughts of the 1978 Red Sox started dancing in my head. Maybe it’s because I have been a fan of this team for over 40 years that I just expect bad things to happen. Let’s face it, in the Mets 44 year history (this is their 45th season) they have only made the post season six times. I’m not use to the winning. But winning is what this Mets team is all about.

The Mets this weekend made a huge statement to the Atlanta Braves. The Braves players talked quite a bit last week about how the Mets were looking over their shoulders at the Atlanta team. It turns out the only players looking over their shoulders were the Braves outfielders as balls batted by the Mets kept leaving the yard. The Mets didn’t only sweep the Braves, they destroyed them. The Mets scored 27 runs in the three games winning 6 to 4 Friday night, 11 to 3 on Saturday and 10 to 6 yesterday. They left Atlanta with a 15 game lead over the Braves pushing them down in the standings in a tie with the Marlins for third place. The Phillies take over second having won three in a row from Florida. The Mets lead in the division is now 13.5 games over Philadelphia. If the Mets were to go 29 and 29 the rest of the season, they would finish the season with a record of 92 wins and 70 losses. By contrast, the Braves would have to go 44 and 14, 30 games over .500 the rest of the schedule just to tie (the same is true of the Marlins). The Phillies have it slightly easier having to win 43 of their last 59 games to tie the Mets. You know me, I’ve watched this crazy game long enough to know that anything can happen but as a Mets fan you have to feel pretty good right now regarding the Mets chances of clinching the division. Again, the numbers I’ve shown here are if the Mets play .500 the rest of the way. What if the Mets play five to ten games over in their remaining 58 games?

Here’s another piece of good news for the Mets. With 58 games left on their schedule, the Mets play, get this, just six games against teams currently with records above .500. What an indictment on the National League. The Mets play the Padres next week at Shea Stadium. Currently, San Diego leads the NL West with a 55 and 50 record. Later in the month the Mets play three games against the Cardinals at Shea. That series may be of interest since the Mets would like to have home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Cardinals look to be the only team to possibly challenge the Mets for the best record. Currently the Mets lead the entire league by 5 games over the Cardinals. The remaining 52 games of the 58 total are against teams whose records are currently under .500. It’s possible that the Dodgers, Rockies, and even the Marlins with their outstanding pitching could pop above the .500 mark prior to the end of the season. Never the less, except for St. Louis and perhaps San Diego, the competition the rest of the way does not look too threatening. The challenge for the Mets is to not let down. They must remain focused and continue their winning ways to help insure a mid September clinching. Also Willie Randolph must manage in a way to keep the team lose and get rest for his players so they are sharp for October baseball.

It couldn’t last forever, the Braves dominance over the Mets that is. Eventually the tide would have to turn. In the eighties, the Mets routinely took it out on the lowly Braves. Then, the Braves were a bad team until ’91. When the Braves finally started to win and dominate the division, they killed the Mets at every opportunity. Even during the Mets wild card period, the Braves still had the advantage always winning the season series. Turner field, ever since it opened, had been a house of horrors for the Mets. Who can ever forget the John Franco, Armando Benitez breakdown of 2001? Since 1997, the year Turner field opened, the Mets had only won three series in Atlanta. Ironically the Mets won three out of four the very first time they played there. They also won a series there in 2001, 2002, and 2003. The Mets lost or were swept in every other series played at Turner Field until this year. This season, the Mets have won both series at the “Ted”, a Mets first. In April, the Mets won two out of three games in Atlanta before dropping the last one, and of course the sweet sweep this weekend. The Mets next go to Turner field on Tuesday, September 26th. As long as the Mets continue to play the way they have so far this season, those games won’t even matter, except maybe for the Braves so they can get a look at some of their young players for next year.

Extra Innings: The Mets now hold a season’s series lead of 8 wins and 4 losses over the Braves.

The Mets defeated the Braves on Saturday in front of the largest regular season crowd in Turner Field history. You must assume there were a lot of Mets fans in attendance hoping to see exactly what they saw.

Don’t expect any major deals today involving the Mets. Don’t fix what ain’t broken.