Well, here we are. The series five of us have been waiting for. Mets vs Marlins. Roman vs cortes. MLJ vs cityofchamps. Since it is only July, and these teams have nine games left with each other AFTER the three they play this week, this series is not going to decide this bet. For those who don’t know (Sportsgal cover your ears and eyes) whoever’s team has the most wins at the end of the season gets to take over the other’s blog. But this series can go a long way in deciding how this divisional race is going to play out. And in essence have a say over this bet. So before we go into looking at the series, let us look at where we stood the last time we analyized the bet:

As of July 17th

Mets 51-44

Marlins 50-45

At that point it was the All-Star break and the Mets were in second and the Marlins were in third. Today:

As of July 28th

Mets 57-48

Marlins 55-50

The Mets picked up one game but more importantly they picked up first place in the process. The Marlins were a big part of that. As the Mets split a four game set with the Reds, the Marlins did some fine work and took 2 of 3 from the Phillies. That kept the Mets and Phillies in a tie for first and put the Marlins 1 game back. As the Mets and Phillies played a spectacular series that put the Mets one game up in first place, the Marlins sputtered and shit the bed against the corpse of the Atlanta Braves losing 2 of 3. But the Marlins picked themselves up and split a four game set with the lovable, wonderful, first place Chicago Cubs. The Marlins were ahead five runs yesterday but let it slip and slide away as the Cubs used a little of their Wrigley magic and took back first place in their division. The Mets took care of business this weekend winning two of three against the Cardinals, with Saturday’s game being a 14 inning affair that involved the Mets coming back three times including a Tatisian home run in the bottom of the 9th to tie it and the Cardinals winning on an Albert Pujols homer in the 14th. The first place Metropolitans came back the next day and rode on the mighty shoulders of St. Johan who threw a complete game 6 hitter, letting up one run, and just showing the world why he is the ace of aces on the Met staff. Tatis was once again Tatisian, Wright was still sexy, and Carlito Beltran made one of the best catches I have ever seen going all the way back to deep centerfield and going over the wall to pull in a Ryan Ludwick home run. Overall, a fine effort by the Mets. The Phillies did their thing against the corpse of the Braves and this division is still tight with Phillies a game back and the Marlins two games back.

That gets us to this three game set in Dolphin Stadium. 1800 people will be there and geeked out of their minds until they realize it is not Dolphins training camp. Tonight, you have John Maine vs Ricky Nolasco. It should be a good match up. Maine has had his way with the Marlins over the years and Nolasco has done some damage to the Mets as well. Tuesday night’s match up is Big Game Ollie Perez vs Scott Olson, Gonzo’s favorite player. Olson has had an up and down season and an up and down career against the Mets. Ollie is in full contract mode now and I don’t see any of that changing. Wednesday’s game brings Mike Pelfrey vs Josh Johnson. Mike Pelfrey has been nothing less than terrific the last few months and has come into his own as a potential ace of the Met staff. He has won his last 7 decisions and had two more games blown in the 9th inning by an Alpaca Farmer. He hasn’t lost since May 26th. Josh Johnson has continued his comeback from Tommy John surgery (The surgery should be in the Hall of Fame, the pitcher not so much). I don’t know what his pitch count will be but he was a good pitcher before the surgery so I hope for his sake he recovers nicely. Just not against the Mets. I think it should be a tough series. Both teams are in full fight mode. I think the Mets have the better pitching. I am going to say the Mets win two of three but I want to bring up one more point.

Dan Uggla. In my last post on this subject, I made the point that Dan Uggla’s All-Star “performance” if we can call it that, would effect him in the second half and it also told me a lot about him in the big game. I was told I was wrong. That the guy forgets things easy. That I shouldn’t judge a player when he is playing in an exhibition, even if it is a big game that was being played as such by the participants . Well Danny Boy is doing his best to prove me right. In 10 games since the All-Star game he is batting .121. He has 2 HRs and 3RBIS. He has 3 walks and 11 strikeouts in 36 plate appearances. That is a .237 OBP. Just so you understand what .121 equals in 10 games. It is 4-33. Now, everyone has streaks. But it may be part of a bigger thing since he is batting .149 in the month of July. If I rooted for the Marlins, I would want Dan Uggla to show me something these three games. These are three big games. The Marlins could wind up in first or five games back. That is the reality. If Dan Uggla is your All-Star run producer and your second best player, he needs to show up here. Dan Uggla’s performance will go a long way towards deciding the Marlins fate in the division and who will win this bet. It should be a fun series. Let’s go Mets! Tatis!!!!!!

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