Beach House

Games 53 through 55 - Mets

Diamondbacks 5, Mets 1
Mets 7, Diamondbacks 1
Diamondbacks 4, Mets 1
Record: 35-20

"The Mets keep taking series from teams that don't call Georgia home, and to keep that trend in motion they'll need to cool a surging Arizona Diamondbacks team this weekend."

Well, that didn't quite happen, did it? I spent the weekend in the Outer Banks, which is always a sure-fire way of increasing my appreciation for my technology-enhanced home upon my return. Things like the Extra Innings package, TiVo, and even real-time Internet scores quickly go away at the ol' beach cottage. Frankly, it'd miss the point to implement them down there, and as it is, it's merely a brief step away from my Mets that makes me enjoy my re-immersion that much more.

As it was, I have little to nothing to offer on how the Mets played over those three days. I did manage to catch some of Sunday's loss, since Tropical Storm Barry (no relation) seemed to bring a low pressure system (read: whipping winds and torrential rain) to the eastern seaboard, sending me packing. Twice the reason to lament the weekend-curtailing weather, thrice the reason to be annoyed by the name Barry.

The chatter in the clubhouse after the weekend made me feel a lot worse about my performance, frankly, since more than one Met referred to the "Lack-Lester" play. I get it, guys, I'll try to resume my religiously regular ritual of tuning into the Mets' games without fail.

Oh, lackluster? Never mind.

Into Shea Stadium tonight march the Phightin' Philadelphia Phillies. It's still tough to get but so much of a bead on this club. With crazy Uncle Charlie still piloting this vessel, there's always reason to believe . . . they'll screw it up. The talent hasn't diminished, however; if anything, with Ryan Howard back and Cole Hamels creeping into the uppermost echelon of starting pitchers, this is the wrong time to face them. But the Phils just completed a trio of series in which they swept the Braves at Turner Field, dropped all three to the D-backs at home, and split a four-gamer in San Fran in which they were outscored 32-14. How do you take the pulse of such a squad? Don't ask me.

Meanwhile, let's borrow this speculative stat from the spectacularly thorough MetsBlog (who in turn borrowed the data from the Prospectus)...

"According to Davenport the Mets have a 93.4% chance of making the playoffs, which is only second to the Red Sox, who have a 96.5% chance."

Summertime . . . and the living is easy. Unfortunately, we aren't even to summer yet, and the breathing doesn't match that living just yet. Hold steady, boys.