Note: Beating Up on Teams Not in the Race
The Mets completed a sweep of the last-place Nationals last night, outscoring them 25 to 6 in the three-game series.
Of course, the Nationals are the least-productive offense in baseball this year, and only three teams in the National League have given up more runs.
Jerry Manuel, on beating sub-.500 teams, speaking to reporters last night:
“This time of the year, every win is huge, regardless of who it’s against. Teams that are not quite in the race are looking to knock you off, so there’s incentive on both sides. It doesn’t matter who you beat this time of year, you’ve just got to put W’s in the column.”
Carlos Beltran, on sweeping the Nationals, while speaking to reporters following last night’s win:
“That’s been our weakness – we haven’t been able to play well against the teams below .500. Every time we come to play the Washington Nationals, they always find a way to play good baseball against us. But, this time, we tried to approached them the same way we approach the Phillies, the same way we approach the teams that are in contention.”
This season, the Mets are 16–9 against the second-place Phillies and third-place Marlins, but just 10–11 against the fourth-place Braves and last-place Nationals.
