Santana came to the rescue and the Mets got some timely hitting. At least for one more day the Mets remain in sole possession of the wild card lead. And around the league, other teams were helping out too.

With the Mets win, Florida and St. Louis have been officially eliminated from the wild card race leaving only the Mets, Brewers and Astros. Houston has a magic number of two for elimination. What this means for the Mets is that this weekend’s series will mean little to the Marlins. There motivation will simply be their hatred for the Mets.

But before the Marlin’s series, the Mets must play two more games against the Chicago Cubs, not an easy task. The Phillies lead the Mets for the division by one game in the loss column. Realistically however, I cannot see the Mets overtaking the Phillies for the division. Philadelphia has been just too hot lately.

Some other highlights last evening were Wright and Reyes who came through with huge hits with runners in scoring position. Reyes has put to rest his September problems from a year ago and Wright has been awesome lately. But as you could predict, when asked to close out the game, Pedro Feliciano could not get more than one out. He gave up two singles in a row which prompted Manuel to sprint to the mound and bring in Ayala who got the save. Exhale.

In other news, the New York Yankees were officially eliminated from post season play with Boston’s win against Cleveland. You’ll pardon me if I don’t get all teary eyed. The shame of it is I would be enjoying the Bombers down fall much more if the Mets were closer to locking up a post season berth themselves. I mean how comfortable do you feel sticking it to Yankee fans when the Mets are hanging by a thread as it is.

But seriously I don’t want to hear about what the Yankees need to do to correct this travesty. Give me a break. Isn’t it high time that Yankee fans got a taste of what it’s like for their team to not reach the playoffs?

Since 1995 through 2007 the Yankees were in the post season. Take a look at the following table –

The table shows the number of times a team has reached the playoffs (not consecutively).

As you can see, the only team that comes close to the Yankees is the Braves. During the same years, Atlanta had a streak of eleven games. Realize if you expand the range to 1991, the Braves have a longer streak of 14.

The point is I don’t want to hear Yankee fans whining about their team not being in the post season. You know who should be whining? The Blue Jay, Brewers, Nationals (Expos), Pirates, and Royals fans, there teams did not make the post season one time during this period. That was also true of the Rays but that has changed this season.

Yankee fans, if you like, you can borrow a phrase uttered many times in Brooklyn and then Queens—Just wait until next year…