Interleague Play is over: Time for the New York Mets to Get Going

The New York Mets are probably the most relieved of any team in baseball that interleague play is now officially over for 2009.

As fans, we do have to give the AL East a ton of credit, they made all NL East teams look like amateurs, not just the Mets. It's time to tip our caps.

Yes, I am aware that the Mets made plenty of physical and mental errors that were costly, but I do not believe they were the sole reason why they were not successful against the Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays, and New York Yankees.

The offense went into hibernation because let's face it, the pitchers that we went against were lights out and much better overall than we are used to facing in the National League.

This week the Mets will be facing the Milwaukee Brewers for three games, the Pittsburgh Pirates for a make up game on Thursday, and a weekend series in Philadelphia.

If all goes according to plan, the Mets could easily take five out of seven from these teams.  Before the Mets were swept by the Yankees, they took three out of four from a St. Louis Cardinals team who was completely caught by surprise at the spirit of the Mets.

Alex Cora and David Wright are the clubhouse leaders of this team right now and both are pretty banged up and could definitely use a day off, but neither will get it this week.

Their teammates are looking to them for strength and they are getting it, but both are showing signs of fatigue. It has been difficult to lead a team when so many players have been put on the Disabled List and most will not be back until the All-Star Break, at the earliest.

The Mets and their management are anxiously awaiting the return of several key players to active roles, but honestly that will not happen in the near future.

It's time to resume their normal schedule. Call me naive, but I do think that the Mets will go back to winning more games than expected before the All-Star Break.