now, don't think i did this research all by myself, the following text is copy-pasted from anothe rmets site. but remember how i have been saying all along that the difference between the mets and phillies this year (and i would guess last year as well) has been 1. late game prowess and 2. converting with RISP? i have said that while our bats have been getting on base more effeciently than the phillies, the phillies are converting in RISP situations, late game situations, and other clutch times and that is whay they have been leading the NL East for most of the year. well, not that any f you were disagreeing with me, i found some stats to evidence my point. take a gander.

Apparently the mets are going to be involved in another fight down the stretch this year, only this time with 3 teams! hopefully this year will have better results than last. but the following facts are all in our favor, meaning that i think we have the edge to overcome our 3 game defecit and take the division. consider that...

1. Out of all three teams, the mets opponents from here on out have the lowest winning percentage. so frankly, the teams we're playing from here on out aren't as good as teh teams's their playing.

Take my advice on this one. Let the loss last night go. It sucks, for sure. But let it go. It's only one game. There's a lot of work to do this season and I think that the team and fans need to look ahead. The Mets need to "bear down" as my dad used to say and win the next two games.

I asked myself plenty of questions after the top of the ninth inning last night. What if Billy Wagner had been available to close the game? What if Jose Reyes had gotten at least one out on the bouncer up the middle? What if Endy Chavez had been positioned correctly when So Taguchi hit a fly ball turned double? Lots of questions. In the end the collapse boiled down to bad pitching, bad defense and bad luck.

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Mets vs. Philadelphia Phillies | July 22nd - 24th, 2008.

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Mets vs. Philadelphia Phillies | July 4th - 7th, 2008.

The last two games have not been that pretty but at least they show that the Mets can win even when not firing on all cylinders.

On Wednesday the Mets were beneficiaries of sloppy play by the Phillies. Credit to the team for capitalizing on that sloppy play. Last night's game proved that Wednesday wasn't a fluke. There is no hex. The Mets can beat the Phillies anytime they want to.

Here are some of the positives and negatives on my mind after last night's game.

Positive

1. Angel Pagan has been a revelation. He puts the bat on the ball. He's fast. And he gets clutch hits. He should be in the two spot in the order even after Castillo returns.

I can't take anything good from this series with the Phillies. Its a total wash out.

The game today is one of the worst regular season losses I can remember. Its up there with getting eliminated by the Cardinals in 1985. Yes, I know that our Mets are still in first place. But we looked like door mats out there. We looked like a joke and that hurts.

Comeback, schmumback. You get no points for coming back twice and then blowing the game in the ninth inning. To be sure, this one falls on Willie Randolph and Billy Wagner. Everyone was dumbfounded to see Wagner come in for a six out save. He hadn't done that in eight years. And this is a guy who less than a week ago had arm fatigue issues. So Willie did the unthinkable and Wagner followed through by falling apart. Ugh!

What can you say on a night like this. Mets get a lead on three home runs. Wagner blows the save. The rest of the bullpen falls apart.

These are tough times for the Mets. I said earlier this season that there would be tough times. There are in every season.

Tom Glavine has to be frustrated. He has been pitching well but he can't seem to get ahead these days. The Mets have not been hitting behind him and last night was no exception. Tom will get to 300 though. Its just a matter of time.

We're not even into the thick of spring training and the trash talking has already begun. Jimmy Rollins has stated that the Phillies are the team to beat in the NL East. Yeah, right!

Cliff Floyd is second guessing Willie Randolph's decision to pinch hit with him rather than bunt in Game 7 of the NLCS. Would Cliff have had the gaul to make this statement if the Mets had re-signed him?