The Mets won the series from the Marlins two games to one and the Phillies split a four game set with the Cubs. So what that means is that the Mets head into the month of September with a one game lead over the Phillies and a seven game lead over the Marlins.

That’s a good thing but the Mets now have to travel to Milwaukee for a three game set with the surging Brewers. The Brew Crew leads the wild card 5.5 games over the Phillies. When you throw the Mets record into the wild card mix, they would be 4.5 games back. So these next three games are very important for the Mets. The Brewers are 41-24 at home while the Mets are a game under .500 on the road at 35-36. Johan Santana will face Ben Sheets in tomorrow afternoon’s game. The Mets will not face CC Sabathia in the series.

While the Mets will be battling Milwaukee, the Phillies will travel to Washington for a three game set. The Nationals have been playing better lately but considering the matchups for both the Mets and the Phillies, advantage Philadelphia. The Mets must win two games from Milwaukee to insure they return home to face the Phillies at least even in the standings. This should be an interesting week.  

The Mets cannot win a game by one or two runs. It’s simply impossible. If the Mets have a slim lead going to the late innings, just put it in the books as a loss. Case in point was Saturday night’s game when the combination of Duaner Sanchez and Aaron Heilman could not protect a one run lead.  It’s scary even with a three run lead. Friday night’s great comeback due to Carlos Beltran’s grand slam was almost marred by a nightmarish ninth inning. And today’s win got a little scary with two on and two out in the ninth. Jose Reyes saved the day with a diving catch to end the game.

The Mets are calling up five pitchers from the minors as the rosters expand to forty starting tomorrow, September 1st. The pitchers include Robert Parnell, Ricardo Rincon, Carlos Muniz, Al Reyes (another Reyes?), and Jon Niese who will start Tuesday night’s game. Hopefully some of these guys can help out the Mets beleaguered bullpen. Infielders Argenis Reyes and Ramon Martinez will also be called up. Marlon Anderson is due to come off the disabled list and he is expected to join the Mets in Milwaukee tomorrow.

August is over. Can the Mets make this September something special? Can they make us forget last September? They can but only if the bullpen can get its act together. There are twenty-five games left to the season. The Mets need to win a whole bunch of those games. Hopefully the first one comes tomorrow.

The American Heart Association (AHA) has issued the following announcement:

All Mets fans must take precaution for the risk of heart attack in the month of September. The AHA strongly recommends a brisk walk with heavy breaths daily. Preferable these walks should last 45 minutes or more and be taken during the 8th and 9th inning of Mets games. It is also recommended that an AED (Automated External defibrillator) is kept handy and do not watch Mets games without anyone who knows how to operate the device.

It is strongly recommended that if you have high blood pressure or have had periods of dizziness that you refrain from watching Mets games, period. Have a friend watch the game then carefully break the news to you as to the outcome after the game has concluded.

The AHA has come up with these recommendations as a response to last night's Mets win. With two outs and none on, the Mets loaded the bases and on the first pitch Carlos Beltran saw, he crushed it into the right field stands for a grand slam giving the Mets a come back three run lead. With the Phillies having lost earlier in the day to Chicago, the Mets were poised to go two games up in the NL East. During the bottom of the ninth inning, there was a spike in 911 calls related to heart symptoms in the New York Metropolitan area. Analysis revealed that the performance by Luis Ayala who almost gave back the lead and the game was the cause.

Again, watching Mets games may be hazardous to your health. These symptoms may persist for a month or more. Please follow the advice of the American Heart Association and take the proper precautions.

Thanks to the Chicago Cubs, the Mets find themselves in sole possession of first place today. The Phillies led the Cubs into the late innings last evening at Wrigley Field. But a five run outburst in the eighth inning including a grand slam homerun by Aramis Ramirez off of Chad Durbin was enough to defeat the Phillies who now trail the Mets in the NL East by one full game.

Both clubs have 28 games remaining. The Phillies have three more with the Cubs this weekend while the Mets play the Marlins in Florida. So far this season, the Mets are 3-3 in Dolphin Stadium. Oliver Perez takes the hill tonight for the Mets. This is another crucial series for New York. The Marlins will be looking to get back into the race this week.

Florida is currently six games behind the Mets and they are nine games back in the wild card standings. With 28 games to go, the Marlins have a tough road ahead. The Mets have a similar schedule than they had last year. On paper it looks like the Mets should have an easy time of it. But we know different now. We know that nothing is safe even with a seven game lead and seventeen to play.

Hopefully the Mets will have a different approach this September. Hopefully the players that were here last year learned a valuable lesson from last year’s demise. Once the Mets get through the next nine games against Florida, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia, they will have twelve consecutive games against Washington and Atlanta. Those games certainly look tempting but recall that it was Washington and Florida, the two worst teams in the division last year, who did the Mets in. Or should I say who the Mets allowed to do them in. The Mets may have let up against those teams. Perhaps unconsciously, but never the less, it happened.

With a bullpen that is anything but a sure thing, this September looks to be one that will give Mets fans lots of indigestion. It will be a tough four plus weeks. Let’s face it. The experience of last season’s collapse can only be exorcised if the Mets can pull it off and win the division. Both the Phillies and the Mets are capable of doing it. The two clubs are equally balanced when all is said and done. The difference is the Mets have a monkey on their back and they are going to have to deal with that in order to move forward.  

The wild card is likely not an option for either team. At the moment the Mets are 3.5 games behind the Brewers for the wild card so the series in Milwaukee starting on Labor Day is very important to the Mets. The wild card could be an insurance policy but to cash it in they will have to do some damage to a very good team in the Brewers.

The Phillies have a similar schedule to the Mets. While the Phillies play the hot Cubs the Mets will play the Marlins who have struggled of late. However on Monday when the Mets head to Milwaukee, the Phillies head home to play the Nationals. The Phillies then host the Brewers for four games before heading on the road to play Atlanta and Florida. Like the Mets the Phillies end the season at home. They play Atlanta and Washington to end the season while the Mets host the Cubs and the Marlins.

Personally I think the schedules for both teams are a wash. This division will be won by which ever team gets hot. If the Mets are hoping that other teams will help their cause by beating up the Phillies then I think we will witness another year of no post season in Flushing. The Mets need to take care of their own business and start doing so tonight. Sorry I do not feel more confident but I have the scars to prove my point. And so do you.

Notes - The New York Daily News reports that the Mets will open Citi Field next April 14 against the San Diego Padres. However the first games played at the new park will be the last weekend of spring training with a pair against the Boston Red Sox.

So am I suppose to get all excited because of the Mets inspired comeback win last night? Sorry, but I am still smarting from Tuesday night’s debacle. Do you realize the Mets would be 2.5 games up now if it wasn’t for another blown game?

Last night’s win demonstrated one thing. The Mets are a very resilient bunch. They have, unfortunately, had many opportunities this year to prove they can shake off a bad loss. If anything they have shown that bad things do roll off their back. A different team might go into a prolonged tail spin after blowing a 7-0 lead. Not the Mets. They always seem to bounce right back and that’s a good thing. Unfortunately however, their uncanny ability to bounce back does not prevent the next bullpen melt down which will undoubtedly occur in the final 28 games. At some point, the Mets are bound to blow another game and with time dwindling on the season, the next one may come at the most inopportune time.

After the Mets play the Marlins this weekend, September arrives. This will be the biggest test for the Mets this season. While the Mets at times, like last night, may appear to be super-human, they are not. The collapse of September 2007 will weigh on their minds, it has to. And unfortunately, the biggest culprit that contributed to the Mets demise last season is still there—the bullpen. At least this time the Mets can not collapse. A half game lead hardly lends itself to a catastrophic failure. But on the other hand, I can’t get excited thinking the Mets will somehow correct their bullpen problems in time to make the playoffs.

If the Mets are to win this thing, they will need to pummel their opponents into submission. Carlos Delgado is doing his part. However, Carlos Beltran will have to step it up big time. Now is the time for Carlos Beltran to go on one of his patented hot streaks. He has been hitting of late but his power stroke needs to get hot. If the Mets hitters can give their pitching big leads, you have to feel comfortable they will win consistently. The bullpen simply cannot protect small leads. Last night was the exception. Following the Mets four run eighth, Mets pitchers shut down the Phillies. It didn’t hurt that David Wright made a spectacular gold glove play for the second out in the eighth inning either. No question last night’s game was a big win but the Mets are going to have to keep getting big wins. The bullpen will remain the weak link to that goal. That’s a very scary reality.

Notes - The Phillies head to Chicago for a four game series with the best team in the NL, the Cubs. That should favor the Mets but I thought last weekend’s Dodgers-Phillies matchup would have favored the Mets too. It didn’t as the Phillies swept four from the Dodgers.

The Mets will have their own hands full this weekend with the Marlins. The Mets ended July in Miami as they will end August, with a three game set in Florida. This is a big opportunity for the Marlins to get back in the race so the Mets must be very careful. When the Mets were at Dolphin’s Stadium back in July, they lost two of three. Pelfrey has struggled against the Marlins this year. He has three losses and no wins against the Marlins this year. Mike is scheduled to pitch on Saturday.

The Mets continue to handle the Phillies well in spite of Tuesday night’s collapse. New York has yet to lose a series to Philadelphia with the split of this brief two game set. With last night’s win the Mets complete their 2008 games at Citizen’s Bank Park. The Mets finished the road series with the Phillies with a 6-3 mark. The Mets are 4-2 at Shea vs. the Phils with one more series the weekend of September 5th.

Could this be the year the Yankees do not make the playoffs. I’ll believe it when the math proves it. But for now, it does not look good for the Mets cross town rivals who have fallen to seven games back from the Red Sox. With 30 games remaining for both the Sox and Yanks, the former would have to win 23 of 30 if the Sox simply go .500 the rest of the year. That’s a tall order but as we Mets fans know from last year, anything can happen. The Yankees have been in the post season for 13 consecutive years. Derek Jeter has never played a Major League season in which he did not go to the post season. Come on, what Mets fans do not keep an eye on what the Yankee machine is up to.

With the conclusion of the Olympics, baseball on the world stage only needs to wait till March for the next big tournament. In 2009, the World Baseball Classic will return for the second time. Although there was much criticism from purists, the Classic turned out to be a huge success. And while American players did not show much enthusiasm at the outset, by the end of the tournament, the players were really into it.

In case you are not familiar with the World Baseball Classic, the idea was developed by Major League Baseball for the purpose of growing the game globally. Foreign countries have developed baseball programs and have spurred interest among their country’s athletes. As it was in 2006, there will be 16 nations competing in next spring’s Classic. That will likely grow to 24 teams in the years to come.

Japan won the inaugural WBC in ’06. The United States did not qualify for the semi-finals losing to Mexico in Anaheim.

There will be some changes in the tournament next year. Like the first tournament, sixteen teams will be divided into 4 separate pools in the first round. The first round will be played from March 5th through the 12th. Pool A will take place in Tokyo and be made up of clubs from China, Chinese Taipei, Japan, and Korea. Pool B is made up of Australia, Cuba, Mexico, and South Africa. These teams will compete in Mexico City. Pool C is made up of Canada, Italy, USA, and Venezuela. Pool C’s games will be played in Toronto’s Rodger’s Centre. The final pool, Pool D, will take place in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Dominican Republic, Netherlands, Panama, and Puerto Rico will play in Pool D.

What is different for next year is the first two rounds will be a double elimination instead of the round robin format used in 2006. This will eliminate the unruly tie breaker scenarios that occurred in the last Classic.

Six games will be played within each pool. The two teams that remain standing after the 5thgame will play each other to determine who the winner and runner up team is within the Pool. The winner and runner up from each of the pools will move on to the second round.

Pool A and Pool B’s winners will form Pool 1 in the second round and Pool C and Pool D will form Pool 2 in the second round. The same double elimination format will be used in the second round with each of the two pools determining a winner and a runner up. Pool 1’s games will be played in San Diego’s Petco Park while Dolphin Stadium will be home to Pool 2’s games. The second round will be played from March 14th through the 19th.

The second change to be made is in the semi-finals. The winner of Pool 1 and 2 will play the runner up teams from the opposite pools. In 2006, the top two winners in each pool of round 2 played each other in the semi-finals. The semi-finals will be single elimination. The winner of each semi-final game will play each other in a one game final with the winner crowned the champion of the World Baseball Classic. Both the semi-finals and the finals will be played at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles from March 21st through the 23rd.

Major League players may play on teams of other countries if they are of ethnic background. In 2006, Mike Piazza played for Italy. Johan Santana played for Venezuela, and Luis Ayala pitched for Mexico where he suffered an injury that caused him to miss the entire season. And there is the rub. Many baseball owners are not thrilled that their players are pulled away from spring training and put at risk of injury.

Next spring, the spring training camps will be open longer to help players get ready for the season. This will force the regular season to start later and if the World Series of 2009 were to go seven games, it would end on November 5th, the latest in history.

Regardless of the arguments against, there are too many positives that could derail the Classic. Following next year, the Classic will be played every four years. The hope is that it will someday be as big as the World Cup in Soccer and that ballplayers from other countries will grow to be fodder for the Major Leagues who are always looking for repositories of new talent.

Willie Randolph was fired because the team was under performing. No one really seemed to mind. The Mets had collapsed at the end of last season. Many blamed Randolph although clearly the pitching was to blame.

The bullpen has done it again. In a game the Mets had led 7-0 against the Phillies and were poised to make a statement, the pitching staff once again imploded and the Mets now find themselves trailing the Phillies in the standings.

Pedro gave back 5 runs in 5 innings. Then after Brian Stokes did a fine job of holding the fort, Duaner Sanchez, Pedro Feliciano and Luis Ayala coughed up the lead. Two seasons in a row now we have witnessed this Mets bullpen give up lead after lead after lead. Will Omar be held just as accountable as Willie was earlier this season? If the Mets succumb again as they did last season how can Omar Minaya possible be taken seriously as he attempts to build the 2009 Mets in the off season.

I know no lead is safe in Citizen’s Bank Ballpark but this bullpen is a joke. The Mets bullpen has now given up 22 leads this season. That simply cannot be tolerated on a club with a 140 million dollar payroll. Who ever thought that trading away Matt Lindstrom and Heath Bell last year could have been such a bad move. But they were and now the Mets may pay the price for not making the post season for the second season in a row.

Losing last night is not the end of the world. If Santana pitches a gem tonight, the Mets leave town no worse than when they came in. Even if the Mets lose both games of this series, there still is plenty of time to make up the deficit. Don’t forget the Mets still have three games left with the Phillies at Shea Stadium the first weekend in September. But who are we kidding? Ourselves? We have seen many games like last night's this season. Frankly I think this team, this 2008 team, would become known as the miracle Mets if they ever somehow pulled off the division title.

There is no feeling of security with this bullpen. The pen was handed a two run lead and you knew that the Mets pitchers could not hold it. They did not disappoint. The frustrating thing was that Luis Ayala had gotten two fairly quick outs then could not seal the deal. If it was not for Jose Reyes’s fine play in the 9th, the Mets would have lost it right there. Carlos Delgado saved the day again in the 11th. If that ball got by him the game would have ended but instead they put it off until Schoeneweis could pick up the loss, something he is very good at.

Another big problem was the offense who put up seven runs in the first four innings then went to sleep hitting into three double plays and were not able to muster a single run after. The combination of an offense and a bullpen that fails late in the game will dome this campaign.

These games are excruciating. I wonder sometimes what is wrong with me that I subject myself to such torture. Unfortunately we have last September to keep reminding us that there is a very good chance the Mets will blow it again.

Starting tonight we will find out if it’s 2007 all over again or is it 2008. The Mets after a dominating performance to conclude the home stand against the Astros will move into Philadelphia tonight for a brief two game series. The Mets hold a slim ½ game lead over the Phils but that’s only because the Mets have played one more game than their new found rivals. Realistically they are tied for first because they are even with 59 losses. The Mets have won 73 games while the Phillies have won 72.

The Mets have handled the Phillies very nicely so far this season having won 9 of the 13 games played. But for the Mets to have a real chance of winning the division it’s this series tonight and the one next weekend at Shea Stadium that will count the most. It will be quite the challenge as the Mets must now deal with another injury.

John Maine has been disabled adding to the list of key Mets players who have been sidelined for extended periods of time this season. Maine was not scheduled to pitch against Philadelphia however. That task falls on Pedro Martinez tonight and Johan Santana tomorrow night. The Mets scored nine runs last evening and hope to bring that clout into Citizen’s Bank Park tonight but it could be a tough evening. Martinez is not the dominant pitcher he used to be and won’t have Shea’s spacious outfield to hold deep fly balls. Sweeping the Phillies would be nice but if the Mets could get out of town with a split, I’d take it.

From this point forward it’s a thirty game season and a two team race. I know I’ll probably regret discounting the Marlins but at five and a half games back, they will really have to step it up to get back into the race. Florida does have six more games with the Mets so anything is possible.

It starts with the Phillies but the road trip gets no easier. The Mets will head to Florida for a weekend set before going to Milwaukee for three next week. This is by far the toughest of the two road trips remaining on the schedule.

The Mets have surprised us a lot this season. They are tied for first having done so with a plethora of injuries and a bullpen full of holes. The next eight games will really test the Mets and show us what this club is made of. There is no question of the character of these players. Since Manuel took over this has become an inspired group, especially Carlos Delgado who launched two 3 run home runs last evening. I like the Mets chances but if the bullpen can get it together in the absence of Billy Wagner and Carlos Beltran can finally get on some kind of a hot streak, I would like their chances even more.

The greatest rivalry in baseball has become the Mets vs. the Phillies. Well, not really but I’m sure most Mets fans feel that way. The Red Sox at Yankee Stadium will get all the national attention but Mets nation will be focused on Philadelphia.

Notes - During last night’s game, Gary Cohen and Ron Darling discussed the future of Shea Stadium. After Shea is torn down, the parking lot will be constructed. Base lines will be painted to show everyone where Shea used to be. Plus the lines will be used for wheel chair baseball games. Nice idea. I would hope the name Shea somehow survives in that area. I believe there is a road near the stadium named Shea. How about naming the parking lot the Shea lot? Just a thought.

Just when we start feeling comfortable with the Mets progress, wham! The Mets have lost two of three from the Astros and the Phillies have won three in a row from the Dodgers. And if you saw any of the Sunday night game last night from Philadelphia, you can see how closely related the Mets are to the Dodgers. LA had many opportunities to help out their descendents last evening but like the Mets could not get a key hit when they needed it. The Phillies won in the 11th with the result leaving the Mets ahead of the Phillies by a half game but more importantly they are even in the loss column.

Did you honestly think the tandem of Heilman and Feliciano would not somehow blow more leads for the Mets this season. As reported on SNY’s Sports Night this morning, the Mets bullpen is responsible for giving up 21 leads this season. That’s unbelievable. Certainly you could not have expected the Mets or any bullpen not to give up a lead once in a while but 21 spells disaster. Had the bullpen been able to hold just 10 of those 21, we would be singing a different tune today. In an era where getting to the post season and surviving in the post season so much depends on a strong bullpen, we must conclude that the chances of the Mets playing in October are slim.

Unlike last year it’s unlikely the Mets will build such a lead to collapse from. Instead the Mets may need a miracle of their own to comeback from a big deficit. Look at the obstacles that await the Mets.

The bullpen continues to be very inconsistent. Billy Wagner is likely done for the year. Now it’s been revealed that perhaps John Maine’s season is over too. The Mets, after tonight’s home stand finale head on the road for a very crucial road trip against the Phillies, Marlins, and Brewers, all contenders. When the Mets return home they face the Phillies again to conclude their season’s series. If the Mets are still surviving at that point they must then continue to beat up the Nationals and the Braves. Last September, the Nats helped destroy the Mets season. Although Washington has been so bad this year, it still scares me that the Mets have six games remaining with them while still fighting for their lives. Also, the Mets last meeting with the Braves will be in Atlanta where they have not won a single game this year in two series there. And to top it off the Mets face the Cubs during Shea’s final home stand ever for four games. Four games with this season’s National League win machine. It all ends with three against the Marlins and you remember how that turned out last season.

92 wins is probably what will be required to win the NL East. With 31 games remaining the Mets must go 20-14. Is their bullpen capable of supporting such a lofty goal? The bullpen has given up leads in 16 percent of their games. That calculates to at least 5 more blown leads to come. But baseball is not an exact science. For the Met to reach the post season, it’s going to require people stepping up.

Many questions must be answered. Who’s going to close? Who’s going to start in the absence of John Maine? Who is going to ignite the offense when it goes into a funk as it has this weekend against the Astros? Will it come from those already on the roster? Is there some magical waiver deal that will cure all? Will one of the call ups spring into action and help out that dreadful bullpen or replace Maine? These questions will be answered over the final five weeks of the season, a season that is likely headed to another disappointing conclusion.

With an 8-4 victory over Japan, the US Olympic baseball team managed by Davey Johnson won the bronze medal at Beijing. The US lost yesterday to Cuba by a score of 10-2. That loss negated the opportunity for the gold or silver forcing the US to play the other losing team from the semifinals.

In the gold medal game of the final round earlier today, South Korea defeated Cuba by a score of 3-2. South Korea went undefeated (9-0) in the tournament. Cuba took the silver.

Baseball will not return to the Olympics in 2012 in London. However, if these types of tournaments are your thing, fret not, the World Baseball Classic returns next March.