Midwestern Met: Weekly Recap, June 18-24

Another week has come and gone in Ireland, and another six games have gone by in the saga that is the 2012 New York Mets. Here's what you missed this week on Midwestern Met.

Team Record: 4-2 (39-34 overall)
June 18-20, Orioles Series: W, 3-0
June 22-24, Yankees Series: L, 1-2

The Good Stuff:

Just about everything went right against the vaunted Baltimore Birds in the week.

R.A. Dickey tossed his best game since...well, the last one, delivering his second consecutive one-hitter on Monday night and solidifying himself as one of the best pitchers in baseball today.
Johan Santana followed up with a dandy of a performance himself, finally shaking off the fatigue of his historic no-hitter and tossing 6 shutout innings en route to a W.

After initiating Chickengate earlier in the week, Frank Francisco followed up with his 18th save (albeit a difficult one) Friday night against the Yankees.

The team's newest mascot, Little Jerry Seinfeld, also got some Good Stuff this week, moving to a chicken sanctuary where he will live out his days doing standup at the coop on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and three shows on the weekend. Good times.

Sunday night saw the return of a key piece in the New York lineup: Ruben Tejada hit second in the order and went 2-4 with 2 RBIs. His presence will be key as the dog days of summer are fast approaching.

The Bad Stuff:

Unfortunately for the Mets, it was the other New York team who got the last cluck this weekend, as the Bronx Bombers took the last two games of the Subway Series, giving them 5 wins in 6 matchups in 2012.

And they did it all while living up to the Bomber name: two quick blasts erased a 3-0 lead on Saturday and turned it into a 4-3 affair.
On Sunday, after the Amazin' offense bailed out a very human R.A. Dickey, Miguel Batista served up the go-ahead homer to Robinson Cano in the 8th to give the Yanks the Sunday Night win on ESPN.

Also no clucking matter was Frank-Frank's unfortunate trip to the DL. The closer's role will now go to Bobby Parnell, who I still believe has the stuff to fill the role, but will have to get his nerves under control if he wants the job for good.

Final Analysis:
So it was a disappointing end to an otherwise great week, but the Mets did a great job holding their own against two of the best in the American League. With the Interleague schedule in the books and the toughest stretch of the year in the rearview mirror, New York is 5 games over .500 and second place in the NL East. With the halfway point and the All-Star break in sight, all the Mets have to do is win a few series against the Cubs, Dodgers, Phillies, and Cubs again, and they'll be in prime position to make a run for a Wild Card slot.

MM