This post is dedicated to all the bad news surrounding the New York Mets. It’s not nearly as bad as, say, what you’ll see on the 6 o’clock news, so there’s no harm in reading further. However, I do suggest you sit down before continuing, and stay away from fried meats for a few hours.

• The Mets hold a slim 3-game lead ahead of the Phillies, and are 3 1/2 over the Braves
• The Yankees (66-51) are now the best team in New York, by one game (Mets: 65-52)
• Since May 29th, the Mets are 32-35 — three games under .500
• Over the same time frame, the Phillies have been 7 games OVER .500 (36-29)
• Mike DiFelice is the Mets’ starting catcher, now that Paul LoDuca is on the 15-day DL and Ramon Castro is day-to-day with an arthritic back. Suddenly, we’re grateful that Sandy Alomar Jr. changed his mind about retiring — how scary is that?
• Oliver Perez has allowed four runs or more in each of his last four starts, and has not pitched beyond the sixth inning in any of them
• On July 5th, John Maine was 10-4 with a 2.71 ERA. Since then, he’s 2-3 with a 6.46 ERA
• With Jorge Sosa entrenched in the bullpen at the moment, Brian Lawrence is also entrenched as the #5 starter — and Lawrence has looked better than Perez and Maine lately (another scary thought).