Mets wait for middle of order to awaken

Now what?

With 51 games remaining, that's the biggest question facing the Mets, who watched the sun set on their fading playoff hopes during last week's road trip through Atlanta and Philadelphia.

Is a postseason berth impossible? Well, no. If the Mets could somehow trim their nine-game deficit in the National League East to seven - with 17 to play, like the historic lead they blew in 2007 - who knows what could happen?

Then again, the Mets have not won back-to-back games since June 22-23, when they beat the Tigers at Citi Field, so a season-saving streak seems highly improbable. They won't admit it's over, but the Mets' clubhouse isn't exactly bubbling with optimism these days.

"It's not ideal," David Wright said. "That's the obvious answer. But it is what it is. We've dug ourselves a hole and we're going to have to do quite a bit of work these last 50 games or so to get back in it."

Before thinking that far ahead, take a look at the past 40 games, which is the precise point when the Mets began their slide. On June 23 - there's that date again - they were a season-high 11 games over .500 (41-30) and trailed the Braves by a half game.

What followed was a 14-26 flop and the resulting 8 ½-game plunge in the standings. Here's another troublesome thought: The Mets have not won a road series against a National League opponent this year. Hard to believe and even more difficult to explain, as is the stunning power drain affecting the middle of the Mets' lineup.

During this past 2-4 road trip, Wright and Carlos Beltran were a combined 5-for-45 (.111) with 14 strikeouts. Beltran had two doubles for the pair's only extra-base hits and also drove in the only two RBIs. As bad as Beltran has been since his return from the disabled list, Wright was actually worse last week, and Manuel put that into perspective after the Mets called up Fernando Martinez and Ruben Tejada on Saturday.

"For us, if our middle doesn't hit, it doesn't matter what we do with different pieces," Manuel said. "It will possibly be the same. That middle has to come alive. The middle group has to do its thing for us."

Further down in the order, the Mets sent mixed messages to Jeff Francoeur over the weekend, first telling him he would be in a straight platoon with Martinez, then changing their minds Sunday. Francoeur was clearly unhappy with the waffling, but with Jason Bay out indefinitely because of persistent concussion symptoms, the Mets are unlikely to unload him.

After Sunday's meeting with Francoeur, the manager backed off his platoon statement, and said he would look to give him starts this week against some righthanders. That could begin Tuesday with Manuel planning to sit the struggling Beltran, a move that puts Angel Pagan back in centerfield, Francoeur in right and most likely Martinez in left.

"I've got to stick with keeping him fresh versus keep playing him and hope that he's still there," Manuel said. "I've got to kind of back off with him."

The Mets may be without Beltran for the first game of what no doubt will be described as their next crucial stretch. But they chose to stick with Mike Pelfrey for Tuesday's start against the Rockies' Ubaldo Jimenez - despite the fact that Pelfrey is winless (0-4) since June 25 with a 9.00 ERA over those seven starts. He also has allowed 62 hits over those 30 innings and opponents are batting .437 against him.

Manuel said over the weekend that pitching coach Dan Warthen had identified a flaw in Pelfrey's delivery, one that slowed his arm speed on breaking pitches and tipped off hitters.

Whether correcting that will solve Pelfrey's problems is anyone's guess at this point. Fixing the season is probably a moot point by now.

"We still got a chance to have a run, but the run can't be a short run," Manuel said. "You've got to play well for about 35, 40 games now. I think we have the ability to do that."

If so, the Mets haven't shown in it a very long time.