Mets Week Eleven: So, what are we supposed to do for the next three and a half months?

A disappointing weekend series put a bit of a damper on the Mets' week. Their pitching wasn't very good. And Cliff Floyd hurt his ankle. But all of that seems insignificant after a week in which the Mets opened an insurmountable lead over their division rivals.

The Mets' offense had a terrific week, scoring more than six runs a game to bail out their shaky pitchers. Jose Reyes was spectacular, getting a hit in exactly half of his at bats with nearly half of those going for extra bases. Despite his struggles earlier in the season, Reyes is now hitting .269/.336/.439. His on base and slugging percentages would both be the best of his career by a narrow margin if he kept them up through the end of the season. He's now drawn more walks than he did all of last year in 95 fewer games and he's on pace to top his totals of doubles, triples, home runs and stolen bases as well. After his injury troubles in 2004 and his disappointing 2005, Reyes appears finally to be making good on the promise he showed back in 2003.

Less encouraging this week was the failure of Tom Glavine and Pedro Martinez to dominate opposing hitters. The two of them allowed 12 runs in 18.1 innings. The Mets did win both of Glavine's starts and the first of them might have been less ugly played somewhere other than Citizens Bank Smallpark, but the Mets can't really afford to have these two regress to being merely good pitchers. Even with Alay Soler continuing to impress, the Mets need their pair of aces to compensate for the ineffectiveness of the rest of the rotation. I mean, with a nine and a half game lead, they can afford it for now. But come October, Pedro and Glavine need to be Pedro and Glavine.

The Mets don't get to rest on their lead this week, though, as they face a pair of teams with legitimate playoff aspirations. First they play four at home against the Reds, the current National League Wild Card leader. And then it's off to Toronto for three against a Blue Jays team that trails the Yankees by just three games. The Mets have really beat up on their own division so far this year. Now we'll see if they can keep it up against the rest of baseball.