Big Weekend for the East

Who would've guessed this close to the All Star Break the NL East would be this mediocre. The Phillies and Marlins are both only 2 games above .500, the Mets are at .500 and the Braves are 2 games below .500. With all the teams in NL East within striking distance (besides the Nats but if the Nats folded tomorrow would anyone even really notice?) which can be blamed on injuries and inconsistencies from the Mets and Phillies. That leads us to this weekend when the Mets take on the Phillies, the Marlins take on the Pirates and the Braves take on the lowly Nats. The only team to play as bad as the Mets have at times this month have been the Phillies who have continued their up and down season. This matchup seems to point in the Mets direction as this series is in Philly, where the Phillies have been inexplicably awful this year, Raul Ibanez is still on the DL, as he was the difference the last time these two teams played, and the pitching matchups greatly favor the Mets. However, it seems like whenever Mets fans expect the Mets to step up they always seem to falter. Taking two of three this weekend would provide a huge boost for this team going into the final two series before the All-Star Break. The Marlins and especially the Braves can help themselves out mightily as they get favorable matchups as the Mets and Phillies beat up on each other. All together this should be a great weekend for the NL East and be a preview of a crazy second half.