METS JULY WRAP-UP

After a stellar 18-8 June, the Mets followed it up with a horrendous 9-17 July that catapulted the Mets out of serious playoff contention. The Mets, who found themselves a mere 1.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves and up a full game on the Dodgers and Cardinals to start July, are now hanging on for dear life. They sit 6.5 back of the Braves and are now trailing 5 teams in the Wild Card, including the leading Giants by 6.5.

From early on in the season, many fans pointed to the 11 game west coast trip as the make or break point of the season, and with the team struggling so much on the road, it ended up being the breaking point. The Mets went 2-9 to cap their worst month of the season.

The Mets started off July with a road split against the last place Nationals, which included a big blown save by Francisco Rodriguez the third. The Mets returned to the friendly confines of Citi Field, but uncharacteristically lost both series before the All-Star Break. The Mets only pulled off one victory against the Reds before the division leading Braves came to town and took the first two. The Mets salvaged the last game thanks to a shut out by Ace Johan Santana, 3-0.

After a thrilling victory by the NL All-Stars, the Mets hit San Francisco. They lost the first three, unable to solve San Francisco aces Lincecum, Zito, and Cain. They only managed to win the final game of the series thanks to a blown call by home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi. Up to that point, the Mets were leading 3-1, but Francisco Rodriguez again blew the save. The Mets managed to come back in the 10th inning and push the go ahead run across the plate for a 4-3 victory.

The Arizona desert was no welcome sight for the Mets, as they got swept by one of the worst teams in baseball. Against a terrible bullpen, the Mets had no answer, and Pelfrey had one of his worst starts in game one, going only 1.1 innings and giving up 6 ERs as the Mets lost 13-2. Offense was the problem the next two nights, as the Mets lost by one run. They flew to LA, where they Dodgers took 3 of 4. The Mets got shut out twice in the Giants series and another two times in the Dodger series, proving to be the downfall of the trip, as the Mets staggered home at 2-9.

The Mets got it together and won 2 out of 3 against the Cardinals behind strong outings by Jonathon Niese and R.A. Dickey. However, the Mets still had no answer for the Arizona Diamondbacks as they beat the Mets Friday night 9-6, even with 2 HRs and 5 RBI from David Wright. However, with less than two hours left in the month, the Mets rallied on Saturday night, and a walk-off sac fly by Carlos Beltran with the bases loaded pushed home Jesus Feliciano, who led off the inning with a triple.

With two months left in the season, we know exactly who the Mets are. They are a .500 team. Those type of teams always have as many great stretches in them as they have bad. The Mets have gone 9-1 on a homestand and 2-9 on a road trip. In the same vein, they went 12-3 over a 15 game stretch in June and 3-12 over 15 games in July. It's hard to expect a team that can't prove to anyone that they can win consistently to put together a solid two month run and make the playoffs. If 92 wins gets you in as a Wild Card team, then the Mets must go 39-19, and that's asking a lot from a team that has only won two road series against two terrible AL teams.

In one more month, it'll be time for call-ups and it will be interesting to see who comes up and who gets more playing time. Jenrry Mejia? Kirk Nieuwenheis? The big road trip coming up against Atlanta and Philadelphia will clearly determine the season, and going 2-4, 1-5, or 0-6 spells the end for the 2010 Mets. Still, if they can win either or both series, it will provide a small flicker of hope going forward, provided that they can also win at home still.

The anemic offense which killed them out west will have to do a better job of hitting in the clutch. They cannot continue to have these prolonged stretches where the entire team shuts off for large chunks of the game and expect to win. Even if it's too late for this season, this is an important lesson for the future of this team, as many of the same players will be back next year. With a limited amount of leeway, seeing as how it appears money might be a problem, this team will have to learn to hit, and with it being almost impossible to trade guys like Castillo and Perez, the Mets will have to work around these players. Big help might be 2 years away, and the Mets will have to build a contender from within and be crafty with their acquisitions.