'TEN'-sion

After a great week in our nation's capital that saw the Mets sweep the Nationals in powerful form, Mike Pelfrey picked up the quiet bats last night by pitching 7 strong innings while the play-pen (they have not convinced me yet) picked up the save in a nail-biter getting the Mets to 10 games above .500 for the first time in 2008. Around certain circles you hear that the Mets three game sweep was due to the fact that they were playing the basement dwelling Nationals, and now they're playing the lowly Pirates. Well, these are the games contenders are supposed to win. Three months ago, you could not say that the Mets would have performed nearly as well as they have in the past week against teams below .500. In fact, their to date numbers support that statement. The Mets have a losing record against losing teams this year, but the tide has begun to turn in their favor. Unfortunately, it sounds as if Billy Wagner will not re-join the team on Monday as reports have surfaced indicating that his elbow is hurting him. Not good news. The Mets need to showcase Kunz sometime in the next 2-3 games against the Pirates, as who knows how long Billy will be lost for. I predict that the Mets will win 3 of 4 in Pittsburgh, sweep the Braves and win 2 of 3 at home against Houston. By the end of next week, I see the Mets ahead in the east by 4-5 games and there will be no looking back from there. If the Mets pitching stays healthy and certain pitchers avoid the proverbial end of season 'wall', then the Mets will win this division going away.