Sorry about the lack of postings over the weekend. My home computer has a virus. I couldn't log on long enough to write anything. Very frustrating...kind of like Friday night's Mets game. They can't blow 5-0 first inning leads. Then Saturday, a Brian Giles home run was the difference in a 3-1 loss. And yesterday, Tom Glavine (4-1) turned stopper again, getting the Mets a win on the way back east. So the Mets finish up the road trip 3-3 (3-6 overall). They struggled against the then-Central-leading Cubs (0-3), before taking 2-out-of-3 against the then-West-leading Dodgers. The Padres had a 6-game winning streak before the Mets beat them yesterday.

There are some positives to take out of these last few games. The starting pitching is still doing great (notwithstanding Tyler Yates' performance on Friday). Mike Stanton and Braden Looper have been lights out. The offense is starting to hit, and Cliff Floyd and Ty Wigginton are coming back (whether or not that's a good thing remains to be seen - but at least it adds depth).

And here's another good thing, as I segue into the division update - everyone else in the division is slipping, with the exception of the Phillies. So here's a look at the NL East:

Florida - 15-10
Atlanta - 12-12, 2.5 GB
Philadelphia - 11-12, 3 GB
Mets - 10-15, 5 GB
Montreal - 6-20, 9.5 GB

The only thing I'll say about Montreal is this - one week ago in this space I wrote they'd be lucky to win one game on their 7-game west coast swing (look it up). They lost their first six games before winning yesterday. I nailed that one.

The Phillies are sort of streaking. I say sort of because they've won 4 of 6, and aren't really dominating, but they're doing much better than they were. And they're still ahead of the Mets, so we have to account for them.

The Braves, on the other hand, are stumbling - playing like the Braves team that the Mets saw in the first couple of weeks of the season. They're 5-7 in their last 12, alternating losses and wins in those games. They got their lunches handed to them in Colorado yesterday, 13-4.

Florida is still the team to beat, and that's looked like more of a reasonable task recently. (It's important to note - the Mets are still just five games out!! Don't lose hope.) The Marlins lost three straight over the weekend to the San Francisco Giants, giving up 12, 6, and 9 runs. So it looks like Florida's pitching has come back down to earth. The only bad news coming out of that losing streak is that it might give the struggling Giants confidence heading into their series with the Mets this week.

The Mets open up a homestand against the Giants tomorrow. Then they play the Milwaukee Brewers before heading west again. It's a six-game homestand, the Mets have to perform better than they did on their last homestand. San Francisco is worse than they've been in recent years, Milwaukee is better than they've been in recent years. The Mets have to win at least four games.

Notes: I finally got my '86 Mets book on Saturday. At this point, though, I think I'll just save it to read on the honeymoon. A full report will be given when I return.