Are the Mets back on track?

Back in April I posted that the Mets then sported the best record in the Majors, but added the question, "Can we stop the season now?" The reason for this bit of facetiousness was my observation, back in 2008, that the Mets have the "ability to raise hopes, then smash them like cheap china." Long time readers of this blog may recognize a recurrent theme here.

It seemed things were going that way again this year. On August 5 Will Sammon of the New York Times noted that the Mets had a "prolonged stretch of mediocrity" since June, with a record over that time of 27-28. He pointed to their weakness in all aspects of the game: pitching (both starters and bullpen), hitting, and fielding. Meanwhile their divisional rivals the Phillies went on a tear, holding as much as a seven game lead in the NL East. That was until this week, when the Mets swept a three game series with the Phils, reducing the deficit to four games.

Today Sammon wrote that the Mets are "clicking again" He attributes this in part to the performance of rookie pitcher Nolan McLean (photo: D. Benjamin Miller, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons) who baffled Phillies batters to seal the series sweep yesterday. Since being called up, McLean has started and won three games, and has an ERA of 0.89. Sammon also noted that Mets batters are hitting again. 

It seems then that the answer to the question I posted in the caption is, "Yes." At least it is for the moment, but I can't discount the possibility of a derailment. They have a challenging schedule for the remaining season: three games with the Tigers (78-57 as of now) next week; a four game series with the Phillies, which could be their make-or-break, September 8-11; three with the Padres (now 75-59) September 16-18; and three with the Cubs (now 76-57) September 23-25. Injuries, which seem to be a persistent problem for the Mets (I speculated why here), are always a worry. Still, I'm feeling better about our chances now.

Update: well, maybe no. Fresh off a sweep of the Phillies, the Mets lost to the Marlins 7-4, then pounded them 19-9 yesterday. That game featured the first major league start for Jonah Tong who, over six innings, allowed one run on six hits, no walks, and six strikeouts. Today the Mets suffered a very ugly loss. Starter David Peterson lasted only two innings, during which he allowed eight runs off eight hits and gave up three walks. At the end of the sixth the Mets had tied the game 8-8, but after that their bats went silent. The Marlins scored once again in the seventh, and the usually reliable Edwin Diaz gave up two more in the ninth. The Mets have one more game with the Marlins, and an opportunity to tie a four run series, tomorrow. After that, the mighty Tigers await.