Mets Hope to Continue Hot Streak After Break

The New York Mets went into the All-Star break riding one of the longest winning streaks in team history. If the veteran club hopes to play in October, the recent hot streak is going to have to continue, and then some.

Winning nine straight before the break has put the Mets a half-game behind the first-place Philadelphia Phillies. The Mets have an 11-2 record in July, and they close the month with pivotal series against some of the National League’s top teams.

After starting the “second-half” with four games in Cincinnati, the Mets host three games each against the Phillies and Cardinals, before closing the month with three games in Miami against the Marlins.

Currently, the Mets have a 51-44 record, which is a winning percentage of .537. They have 67 games remaining; 35 at home and 32 on the road. If the team continues at their current clips at home and on the road, they’ll finish with 87 wins, which usually isn’t enough to qualify for the playoffs.

Through the break, it seems apparent that the wild card in the National League will come from the Central division. Assuming the Cubs hold on and win the division, the Cardinals and Brewers will vie for the wild card. That leaves the Mets’ only hope to make the playoffs coming by NL East championship.

There are a number of things to point to the Mets continuing their recent hot play. Leadoff man and catalyst Jose Reyes has his average above .300 and has been getting on base and scoring runs at a rate the Mets fans expected from the first game of the season.

The reason for the Mets’ recent surge has been the pitching. They went a stretch of five straight games without allowing more than three hits. Mike Pelfrey, the former first-rounder, is finally living up to the hype, winning his last six starts, and allowing only one run in his last 22 innings. He hasn’t lost since May 26, a string of nine starts.

The key for the Mets is continuing to get consistent pitching, especially from the flighty Oliver Perez, who seems to have multiple mound personalities. He has pitched well in his last few outings, and the Mets will need that to continue down the stretch.

Johan Santana, the ace of the staff, has an 8-7 record, but he’s pitched much better than that. His ERA is under 3.00 and he has allowed only 18 earned runs in his last 10 starts, though he is only 3-5 in that time due to poor run support. Wouldn’t the Mets love Santana circa 2004 when he went 14-0 after the break?

Nobody knows what to expect from Pedro Martinez, but if he can at least win half his starts during the second half, the Mets would gladly take that.

As far as the other offensive stars besides Reyes, Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado must continue to hit the ball out of the park, which they have done more frequently since the beginning of June.

If the Mets need anything at the trade deadline, it is a corner outfielder. So far, with the injuries to Ryan Church (concussion) and Moises Alou (hamstring), the team has made due with Endy Chavez, Fernando Tatis and Double-A call-up Nick Evans. The team would love to acquire one of the two big names available from Pittsburgh, Jason Bay and Xavier Nady, but the asking price may be too high.

As with most teams, the Mets will make the playoffs if they continue to get strong pitching and timely hitting. Playing deep into October sure would be a nice way to close Shea Stadium.