ATLANTA -- A five-game winning streak has the New York Mets in the middle of the wild-card race again, but they'd be in better position if they had been able to take care of business in June against the Atlanta Braves.
The Braves, who have the worst record in the National League, swept a three-game series in New York and then split a four-game set in Atlanta as part of the Mets' funk.
The teams play six more times beginning with a weekend series in the Mets' farewell to Turner Field, and the Braves are no longer the patsies they were for most teams -- if not the Mets -- during the first half of the season.