The second half begins and the Mets get swept by the Braves- losing their prime second place position behind the Nats and their first series out the gate from break. They’re now 6.5 games back and already you can hear the so-called ‘whispers’ mounting. Just because we lost this series, does not mean the Mets are out of the race for the playoffs. Yes, I know we don’t exactly have a reputation for great second half play in the last few years, but as a Mets fan- YA GOTTA BELIEVE! 

There are a lot of negatives that I can sit here and list out, but we need to look at the positives. The Mets have been able to keep up with everyone in the NL East division with a pretty much home-grown team this season. Johan Santana has come back from shoulder surgery, went out on the mound almost every 5th day, and given us everything he’s been working on, including the FIRST NO-HITTER IN METS HISTORY. That’s more than anyone could have hoped for at the start of the season. R.A. Dickey came out of nowhere with this spectacular season of pitching and has even been mentioned as an NL Cy Young Award candidate. They’ve had some rough starts as of late, but that doesn’t negate what they’ve done or what they can do as the season goes on. David Wright has been scorching hot since the season began and even though we can’t expect him to carry the team, his offense and defense really have led this team and his career to a possible MVP season. Ruben Tejada has become one of my favorite players on the team. Have you seen his defense this season? Daniel Murphy, Jordany Valdespin, Jon Niese, Dillon Gee, Kirk Nieuwenhuis…I can sit here and name almost the entire team, because everyone has stepped their game up to get us where we are. The passion and fight I’ve seen from the team this season makes me proud to say I’m a Met fan.

This series was NOT a sign that we are finished this season. We need to work even harder to show everyone we are not done yet. It’s ONLY 3 games into the second half, so let’s calm down critics!

FIRED UP! – Did anyone check out the game yesterday? It was worth watching them lose just to see pitching coach Dan Warthen get thrown out of the game because of two missed calls (and several questionable calls throughout the series) in the 5th inning against Santana. I was so pumped watching Warthen yell at the umpire! He definitely had reason after those two terrible calls, but I have NEVER seen him get so mad! He looks so mild tempered, haha! Terry Collins and David Wright both had to get in between him and the umpire. Sometimes it’s good to see coaches show such emotion!

OFF DAY– After a tough series, the Mets have an off day today. They’ll be back on the field tomorrow taking on the first place Nationals at Nationals Park with Jon Niese on the mound at 7:05 PM. Let’s Go Mets! (Let’s see those #LGM on Twitter!)

P.S.– Jason Bay is inching closer and closer to a return! Here’s to hoping he can get something together for us once he comes back!