Steve and the Tank! - Are the Mets for Real?

Friday, July 25, 2008

After taking 2 out of 3 from the Phillies, the Mets are now alone in first place in the NL East. The question is: Are the Mets for real?

If you would have asked Mets fans on Tuesday night after the Phillies came back and scored 6 runs in the 9th to win, the answer would have been no. But to come back and win the next two games and take sole possession of first place is huge. This shows that the Mets maybe are for real.

There is something different about the Mets the past month. They work the counts, they get to the bullpens, they get clutch hits. But what seems to have changed is that the team is pumped and having fun.

Yesterday was Carlos Delgado's big 2-out 2 RBI off J.C. Romero (who owns Delgado). Not only did the Mets make the Phillies pay for the intentional walk to Wright, but the attitude and excitement was there. When Delgaldo made contact Jose Reyes ran out to the field and jumped up and down with the signal to Wright to come home. When Wright scored, he made a fist pump like the one he made in Game 1 of that NLDS in 2006. Oliver Perez even had a fist pump of his own after striking out Ryan Howard to end the 6th.

All of the fist pumps and celebrations and clutch hits show that the Mets are enjoying themselves. The NL East is ripe for the taking. Yesterday's win and the recent dominance of Philly (5-2 in July, 9-4 on the year) show me that the Phillies are not a championship team, they played well last September to take advantage of the Mets historic fall, but did not follow it up this year with solid play. There are still two full months left and as we saw last year, anything can happen. But as we stand today, the Mets look like they can take the NL East.

David Wright celebrating at home. (Photo AP)

Mets Analysis (MLB)

Friday, July 25, 2008 8:58:13 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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