New York Mets

As we do each Monday throughout the season,  today we look at Accuscore's playoff forecaster to see how the previous week's games effected the NL playoff race.

Whatever way you want to slice and dice the Mets Sunday-night defeat in Philadelphia, there's no getting away from the fact that Johan Santana struggled.

Struggled is probably the nicest word to describe his shortcomings in Citizens Bank Park. It's like saying that Stalin struggled to understand the merits of democracy or that C.C. Sabathia struggled to fit into a pair or Chinos with a 36-inch waist.

Not yet...

The starting pitching had to let down at some point this season. It’s virtually impossible to keep up the pace.

Mike Pelfrey got the fun started, giving up six runs in the fourth inning on Saturday en route to a 10-0 loss, the first loss for the Mets in eight games.

Things only got worst on Sunday when Johan Santana put up his worst effort in his time with the Mets, as he gave up 10 runs in less than four innings pitched.

New York Mets (14-10)  at Philadelphia Phillies (13-10), 8:05 pm

The past week has been the best that I’ve felt about the Mets since September 2008.

The Mets beat writers all had posts about Daniel Murphy recovering from his strained knee ligament in Florida, then going to Triple-A Buffalo when he comes off the disabled list. The plan is for Muphy to play first base immediately just to get some at-bats.

Last night, the Mets sent a message to the Phillies by winning in a lopsided fashion. They let the Phils know this is not the same team they were last year.

The Mets backed it up by hitting home runs and pitching well. They even plunked a batter after the Phils hit Jeff Francoeur.

Today, it was the Phillies' turn. They responded by blowing out the Mets in a 10-rout on national television.

The Phillies set the tone in the fourth inning by scoring six runs. From there, Roy Halladay stymied the Mets for a complete game shutout.

The Phillies took this one in a laugher as the Mets became one of the many victims of Roy Halladay’s greatness. Halladay was the star of the game throwing a complete game, the 52nd of his career. He only gave up 3 hits and 1 walk against 6 strikeouts. This game was the 17th shutout of Halladay’s 13-year career.

Be honest. Did anyone think Rod Barajas would have an impact on the Mets?

After Bengie Molina decided he could win a championship with the Giants by signing with them, the Mets scrambled to find anyone that was willing to catch.

Barajas assumed he would get a lucrative deal based on his service in the majors.

It didn't happen that way.