Down to the wire

As the calendar passes into September we enter the final month of the season and the demons that come with it. The Mets ended the month of August with a series in Florida that showcased the strengths and weaknesses of the team. All three games involved strong starting pitching with Oliver Perez, Mike Pelfrey and Pedro Martinez all holding the Marlins to two runs in each game and pitching into the seventh inning. The offense, led by Reyes in the midst of a 9-game hitting streak, scored in the first inning in two of the three games with Beltran also having a big series. Young Nick Evans hit his first major league home run yesterday, as well. The defense was also solid during the series.

The weak point of this series was the bullpen, not surprisingly. After taking a 5-2 lead in the top of the ninth on Friday, the bullpen coughed up two runs in the bottom of the inning before finally closing the deal. Things were even worse on Saturday. Pelfrey pitched a strong game and left with a 3-2 lead in the seventh inning. The first batter of the eighth homered to tie the game, then Heilman walked in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth. I can take it if the opposing team earns their winning run in the ninth, like hitting a home run or something, but when you walk in that run things aren't forgiven so easily.

So the Mets now have a one game lead over Philly going into September. They're 10-5 against the Phillies this season, which is something I hope they can maintain during the series the teams play next weekend at Shea. Every game the Mets lose this month will draw comments from everyone about the collapse last season, so now it's up to the team to redeem themselves. Things will certainly be interesting this month.