...And Fightin'

3 games, 3 losses - no reduction in the Mets' stagnant magic number, only in a division lead that has once again gotten too close for comfort. Since when did the '07 Phillies become the 1992-2005 Atlanta Braves?

That's right, just as it looks like we've finally conquered our 15 year tormentors, just as it looks like the evil Brave mystique has finally been eliminated, just as we've shot that perennial season-spoiling monkey off our back, a new villain emerges - except for the fact that, where our old foe was clean-cut, cunning, and handlebar moustache-donning, a villain in the true sense of the word, now we're being handled by the baseball equivalent of a fat balding middle-aged man with barbeque sauce running down the front of his shirt.

It's 2007, and the Mets now haven't beaten the Phillies since the end of June. That streak will stay alive until next season - barring a subsequent meeting with the Fightins in October - which, a bit nerve-rackingly now given recent events, looks to be not entirely out of the realm of possibility.

After winning 4 of 5 from the NL East "team to beat" to begin the year, the Mets finished the regular season series losing 11 of 14 to the Phils, including 3 sweeps - 2 in our own ballpark. Given the way the Mets have played at Shea this year, the greater statement might be the sweep in Citizens Bank last month, but my point remains.

So what's going on here? Did the Phillies see an Atlanta witch doctor between April, when the Mets dominated, and the beginning of June, when this nonsense began? Did they find some other way to borrow some of that infamous "Brave mystique?" I want to be skeptical of the fact that the Phillies really might have the Mets' number right now - and I'm not talking about the magic one, though they are currently holding that hostage - but, as Matt Cerrone pointed out on metsblog.com following yesterday's loss, if you watched or followed these games this weekend without any prior knowledge of the standings, you'd swear that the Phillies were running away with this thing.

Guillermo Mota struggled again today, but it was Jorge Sosa who gave up the big blow - a sixth-inning grand slam to Greg Dobbs.

Mike DiFelice failing to catch a gimme pop-up on a botched bunt attempt. Aaron Heilman throwing the ball all over the field. Carlos Beltran and his critical misplay of Jimmy Rollins' go-ahead double yesterday. Oliver Perez walking the ballpark today. More bullpen woes...it's as if the Mets have just been checking out for these games. Are they trying? I think so. But once again, I can't come to grips with the fact that the Phightin' Phils really have us by the balls, especially because when we're not playing them, and they're not playing us, it's the complete opposite. Between the series at the end of August and this one, we went 10-2, while they went 6-7.

Which we should thank the good Lord for, because otherwise this division race might be a whole lot more nerve-racking than its already become. Thank God the Phillies are the ones throwing it around when they're playing the rest of the NL, walking the ballpark, blowing leads, watching their bullpen implode. And thank God the Mets got their act together for that brief two-week stretch - until they ran into the evil fat balding man again. Actually, if you exclude the two series against Philly, since August 1 the Mets are 24-10.

So what the hell is so difficult about playing the Philadelphia Phillies? Mets.com has just informed me that the Mets committed 6 errors today - 6! - to go along with 11 walks. I won't use another exclamation mark, though that number is just as staggering. Anyway, the walk/error total means that the WHIP (number of baserunners allowed per inning, don't ask me what the acronym stands for), based on walks and errors alone, for Met pitchers on Sunday, September 16, 2007, was nearly two - and that the Phils scored 10 runs on just 7 hits. Terrible.

I don't know what's up, but I don't like it. Is this my karmic penalty for treating the Fightins with such condescension yesterday? Who knows. All I know is that on Friday, I was holding out for the small chance the Mets might've had to clinch the division next Wednesday at RFK, where I'll be in attendance for their game against the Nationals. It would've took a sweep this weekend, (in the other direction) a sweep in DC, and 2 Phillie losses this week, but there was a chance. Now it looks like this division race might actually go down to the wire.

And now these games in Washington matter a bit more. And it matters a bit more that El Duque's come up lame again. And it matters a bit more that Brian Lawrence is going to have to pitch tomorrow. I really wish it didn't have to be this way.

I'll be holding my breath in the upper deck of RFK

But it does. And in a season that's defied many an expectation, and much conventional wisdom, the only thing that's held true is the Mets' ongoing presence in first place. Hopefully they can hang on to that long enough to get back to October, and hopefully then they can move past this up and down, play like crap against Philly garbage. This (unspeakable) has really got to stop.

Let's go Mets. (Seriously...)

(Pictures courtesy of imageshack.us, espn.com, mnginteractive.com)