Seven Red

I know a sports post should be on anything but mid-season baseball. The Blackhawks here just won the Stanley Cup for the first time in 49 years, and the city is berserk about it. The World Cup is on the teevee upstairs, and will be for the next month. So, yeah, mid-season baseball seems like small stakes next to all that. But still. I want to say a couple of things: first, the Mets jumped the Phillies last night in the NL East standings. There’s a reason for that; for the last four weeks or so, the Mets have been a better team than the Phillies, and it’s pretty hard to deny. The Phillies are the far better team on paper, and I have no doubt they’ll be the better team at year’s end, but for the last few weeks, the Mets have been better. Why? Pitching. I also think it’s hard to deny that the Mets’ pitching – such a thorn in their side the last few years – is tight as hell. Pelfrey is having a career season; where he’s been a weak link in the past, he’s completely stepped it up: impressive at 8 and 1. Santana’s record doesn’t reflect his ongoing quality, though he’s been a little skittish from time to time (that inning against the Phillies in Philadelphia was a nightmare like I’ve never seen from him). Even Nieve – with a terrible 6.00 ERA – has started to light it up; it went largely unnoticed, but he damn near threw a perfect game the other night, retiring 27 of 28 in a one-hit complete game shut out. And Dickey even looks like the real deal with that wacky knuckler. And, and, and, the relief hasn’t completely collapsed: the Mets have actually won some extra inning and one-run games, which is a relief after last year’s endless late inning shenanigans. The Mets have the best home record in baseball by far. Hypothesis: we’re seeing so many triples and odd doubles at Citi Field that it’s clear many teams don’t know how to play outfield in the big park. The problem is that they have one of the worst road records. If this team can start winning on the road, they’re going to be trouble. I still think that Ike Davis can’t save us, as it were, at least this season. But the Mets actually look good, which is, to say the least, a surprise.

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