Outstanding pitching effort from Jae Seo, and the Mets score just enough runs to beat Greg Maddux and the Cubs. It's only one start, but the Mets as an organization must be kicking themselves for sticking with Kaz Ishii for so long when they had much better in-house options like Seo and Aaeon Heilman.
Let's look at the Win Probability chart of this game (click to enlarge):
(What the hell is this Win Probability stuff anyways?)
Mets Stud: Jae Seo, with 30.8% WPA
Mets Dud: Ramon Castro, with -4.2% WPA
Derrek Lee, despite having an MVP season to this point, was -13.8% for the Cubbies, fueled in large part by his big strikeout against Roberto Hernandez with runners on second and third in the eighth inning.
The biggest WPA play of the game was David Wright's RBI double that gave the Mets a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second. That play alone contributed 11.3% to the victory. The five next best WPA's for the Mets were all on the defensive side of the ball, as Met pitching was able to retire Cub batters in crucial situations.
Quick Hits
Mets batters since the All-Star break:
Jose Reyes .358/.384/.453 Miguel Cairo .301/.363/.438 Carlos Beltran .259/.295/.444 Cliff Floyd .234/.351/.438 David Wright .351/.429/.623 Mike Cameron .264/.297/.425 Mike Piazza .308/.390/.673 Doug Mientkiewicz .381/.447/.619Wright, Piazza and Eyechart are absolutely destroying National League pitching since the All Star break, with Reyes and Cairo performing well above their first-half marks. Beltran, Floyd and Cameron have all struggled a bit, though even they have been turning it on of late.
If the Mets starting pitching can hold it together and their bats can continue to sizzle, well, I guess anything can happen. The Mets are currently 3.5 games back of the Wild Card-leading Astros, who are currently losing in the 6th inning to the Giants. That the Mets could be just three games out of a playoff spot after the way they've played at times this year is really amazing (or is it amazin'?).