New York Nightmare: Mets Stumble Towards October

Like most New York Met fans, I'm hoping this is just a nightmare—and that when I wake up the Mets will have won the National League East, as they already should have.

Unfortunately, that’s not gonna happen.

Despite a series-saving win in D.C. on Wednesday, the Mets continue to free-fall. They aren’t just losing games—they're getting flat-out outplayed.

The Mets can’t score runs or hold leads. The latest collapse came in an 8-7 loss to the lowly Marlins, who haven’t played a meaningful game since Mother’s day.

Sure, Billy Wagner wasn’t available because of back “stiffness,” and Jorge Sosa had pitched two innings the day before—but starter Tom Glavine didn’t exactly do his job either.

In my opinion, that's been the problem for the Mets in the past week: The bullpen has been overworked, mostly because no Mets starter can go past the sixth inning.

If this team does make the playoffs, the relievers are going to be exhausted—as they already are.

And of course the Phillies aren’t making things easy, winning seven of their last eight, including a second-straight sweep of the Mets.

The Phils are playing with emotion and grit—and look like a team destined for the playoffs. The Mets, meanwhile, are hoping to just hang on until October.

After the Mets loss to the Marlins, the Phillies was ecstatic, obviously believing first place to be theirs for the taking. The Mets were dejected and depressed...and may not be able to recover.

Will the Mets blow their lead in the East? I sure hope not. If they do somehow stumble into the playoffs, though, I wouldn’t necessarily count them out.

Remember, the '06 Cardinals barely hung on to a postseason berth.

Can the Mets be that team? 

Time will tell.