Missing Wynton

[nsidestrate]

I really feel the need to needle him about the second consecutive year of absolute and complete self-destruction by the Mets. The only thing that might save them is that the Brewers seem determined to play just as bad as anyone else down the stretch. Its a backwards race.

[rocketplayer]

Met's ain't dead yet

[Bullajami]

This Looks Bad

[Bugsbunny]

I predict he'll be making an appearance shortly. Seems he's been engrossed in this years political antics

[krazytxan]

[ciaran]

[rocketplayer]

[ciaran]

Presuming they don't let Martinez or Maine start, their front three is Santana/Pelfrey/Perez. No one in the pen can get opposite-handed hitters out except Ayala, and he's pretty unimpressive in general, and if you're counting on Martinez or Maine being the pen savior, well, I suppose anything is possible, but their both looking awfully iffy for various reasons.

Hey, maybe they'll outscore the Cubs and it won't matter, but the Cubs front 3 look slightly better to me, their bullpen isn't massively dysfunctional and they're even or better across the offense.

FWIW, they're on reliever #3 in the top of the 6th right now.

[chrisjp]

The parade of Met relievers culminated in reliever #6, Ayala. Nice pickup. 2-10 with 5.69 era. For those of you still wondering yes the Mets did lose in extra innings. Just to tax the bullpen further.

Wonder what their chances are of making the playoffs.

Mets ain't dead yet. But.... they are flopping around like a fish out of water. This could get exciting.

Chris

[ciaran]

Cubs/Mets tomorrow and Pirates/Brewers with the Phils idle. Brewers would appear to have the edge there.

Then Phils get the Nats for 3, Brewers face the Cubs and Mets get the Marlins.

Neither the Brewers nor Mets can afford to lose tomorrow, as they'd drop 2 back of the Phils with the Phils easily having the weakest final 3 games. And while the Cubs should ostensibly be a bigger threat than the Marlins, the Cubs have no reason to play the Brewers hard, plus if the Brewers win the WC, the Cubs get the Dodgers in the first round, which is probably a more favorable matchup than either of the Phillies or Mets.

Phils are clearly the favorite of the three to make the post-season, and I'd say the Brewers probably have a slight edge over the Mets.

[nsidestrate]

ESPN has the Phillies 86.7% to win the division and 11.2% to be the wildcard for a total playoff shot of 97.9%

They have the Mets 54% to make the playoffs and the Brewers 47%, although I think I'd take the Brewers in an even money bet.

[rocketplayer]

As usual it was NOT the Met's bullpen that lost this game.

The Met's hitters constantly don't put teams away or get the job done in the clutch. Does the bullpen suck? Absolutely, should they even be placed in the position they are in? NO

Can someone hit a sacrifice fly?

[ciaran]

I don't know about "as usual", as the Mets pen really has lit wins on fire multiple times, plus having enough useful arms to actually get through 10 innings without pushing your putative closer to 2 innings isn't a challenge for most teams in September.

That said, leaving a runner on 3rd with nobody out in the bottom of the 9th with the heart of your order up in a game with the post-season implications of this one is really gross.

Read something on baseballprimer.com last night. The Mets have the opportunity to become the first team in MLB history to miss the playoffs by losing their last game of the season at home for two seasons in a row. After which, they'd then tear the stadium down. Amuses me, as a Phillies fan.

[Cript]

[ciaran]

Carlos Voltron to the rescue...

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/struggling_mets_combine_to_form