It’s been a bad start to the second half of the season for the Mets. Not only have they lost 2 out of 3 to their division rival, the Braves (the Mets will attempt to even up the 4 game series tonight); but the NL East leading Phillies swept their series against the Marlins to increase their lead in the division by 8.5 over the Metsies.

The Mets have been an anomaly in Atlanta. They played well the first game of the series and, more importantly, Ollie Perez showed a vast improvement in his second start since returning from the DL. Perez went 6 innings, gave up 3 runs (including back-to-back home runs in the second) and walked 4 while striking out 6. You know it’s been a dreadful season when numbers like this get you excited. I have always been a fan of Ollie, though, and hope he continues to improve with each start that he makes. The Mets lineup only mustered up 3 runs but, again, my expectations have nose-dived so dramatically this year that multiple run games get me as excited as a fat kid at an all-you-can-eat Denny’s.

I don’t even want to talk about the second game … it was probably the worst thing I’ve seen on TV since I mistakingly caught a scene from Gigli on HBO two weeks ago. Luckily, Johan Santana took the mound yesterday and came up big in a game the Mets sorely needed to win – as he always does. Santana struck out 5 in 7 innings and didn’t surrender a single run. A truly magnificent and much needed performance. The Mets bats showed some feeble signs of life as well raking up 5 runs on 9 hits (both were more than the Mets lineup had produced in the previous two games combined). An area where this lineup needs to improve upon, though, is hitting with runners in scoring position. So far this series they are 5-26 with RISP;  if they hope to catch the Phillies they will need to produce in those clutch situations.

The Mets and Braves will complete their 4 game series tonight at 6PM; Fernando Nieve will face Braves ace Javier Vazquez. Lets get ‘em boys!