![\"Mets'](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dougsbriefcase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/credit-washington-times.jpg\")
<\/a>Mets\u2019 Ruben Teja\u00adda scored eas\u00adi\u00adly last night, after Phillies RF<\/span> Domon\u00adic Brown took a prat\u00adfall that turned a dou\u00adble into an inside-the-park home run. How suc\u00adcess against the low\u00adly Phillies masks the Mets weak\u00adness\u00ades. [Cred\u00adit: Wash\u00ading\u00adton Times]<\/p><\/div>The Mets Melt\u00addown begins today. They are 14\u20132 against the woe\u00adful Phillies, and just two games over .500 against the rest of the league.\n Iron\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly, win\u00adning six of sev\u00aden games against the Phillies over the last ten days exposed New York\u2019s vul\u00adner\u00ada\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adties. Over those sev\u00aden games, the Phillies aver\u00adaged 5.7 runs per game. That\u2019s near\u00adly two runs per game above their aver\u00adage out\u00adput for the rest of the sea\u00adson. The Phillies are ranked 26th in run-scor\u00ading, but man\u00adaged to tee off on Jason DeGrom and the Mets\u2019 sus\u00adpect bullpen, a sign that the vaunt\u00aded New York pitch\u00ading staff may be faltering.<\/p>\n Sep\u00adtem\u00adber may very well ampli\u00adfy this pitch\u00ading weak\u00adness. While they have romped over the Phillies, outscor\u00ading them 103\u201362 over the sea\u00adson, their mar\u00adgins against the Nats (38\u201334), Mar\u00adlins (49\u201344) and Braves (69\u201352) are much clos\u00ader and have relied more on dom\u00adi\u00adnant pitch\u00ading than hit\u00adting. If their pitch\u00ading stum\u00adbles against the Phillies augur Sep\u00adtem\u00adber strug\u00adgles, then the Mets\u2019 play\u00adoff hopes could vanish.<\/p>\n Their scor\u00ading binge against the Phillies has engen\u00addered hope that they can hit their way out of holes dug by bad pitch\u00ading. Not likely.The Mets are aver\u00adag\u00ading a lit\u00adtle more than 4.1 runs per game, around the league mean. But when you back out the 103 runs they\u2019ve scored in 16 games against the Phillies, they\u2019re putting up an ane\u00admic 3.82 runs per game, which would rank them among the league\u2019s worst.<\/p>\n There is good rea\u00adson why 19 per\u00adcent of the Mets offen\u00adsive out\u00adput has come against Philadel\u00adphia. The Phils have the sec\u00adond worst pitch\u00ading in base\u00adball. Only the Rock\u00adies are worse and their ERA<\/span> is mis\u00adlead\u00ading\u00adly high since they play half their games in hit\u00adter-hap\u00adpy Coors Field. The Phillies pitch\u00aders can\u2019t blame their home ball\u00adpark for the fact that they have giv\u00aden up an aver\u00adage of 5.07 runs per game. The Nats yield a run per game few\u00ader, while Mia\u00admi (4.13) and Atlanta (4.71) are both much tougher to score on than the Phillies.<\/p>\n And, oh yeah, the Phillies poor pitch\u00ading is com\u00adbined with a defense that is by far the worst in the majors. They have coughed up 85 more runs than a team of aver\u00adage defen\u00adsive com\u00adpe\u00adtence, accord\u00ading to Base\u00adball Ref\u00ader\u00adence. Mean\u00ading that the Mets could pile on runs just by putting the ball in play, as last night\u2019s tragi\u00adcom\u00adic inside-the-park home run<\/a> by Ruben Teja\u00adda illustrated.<\/p>\n New York\u2019s dom\u00adi\u00adnance of the Phillies masks the fact that the Mets enter the stretch dri\u00adve as a lousy hit\u00adting team with weary arms.<\/p>\n The under\u00adachiev\u00ading Nation\u00adals don\u2019t deserve to win the divi\u00adsion but chances are that, a month from now, they will find them\u00adselves cham\u00adpi\u00adons of the Nation\u00adal League Least.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Mets Melt\u00addown begins today. They are 14\u20132 against the woe\u00adful Phillies, and just two games over .500 against the rest of the league. Iron\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly, win\u00adning six of sev\u00aden games against the Phillies over the last ten days exposed New \u2026 Con\u00adtin\u00adue read\u00ading