State of the Mets. Thursday Morning Edition

Mets (49-46) kick off a four-game series tonight in Los Angeles (50-45) , a team which also is struggling, winning last night for the first time in seven games. The pitching match-ups are as follows: Thursday 10:10 Takahashi vs Kuroda, Friday 10:10 Santana vs Padilla, Saturday 4:10 Pelfrey vs TBA, Sunday 4:10 Dickey vs Kershaw.

• The Mets have lost 6 of 7 on this road trip, and are now 6 1/2 games behind the Atlanta Braves, but are still in 2nd place because the Phillies are playing terrible baseball as well. 
• The Mets have the worst record in baseball over the past 10 games (2-8)
• The Mets are now in 5th place in the Wild Card Race, 3 1/2 games back
• The Mets are tied for 4th worst road record in the National League (19-30)
• If the Mets win the series (take 3 of 4 from the Dodgers), they will end up 4-7 on the road trip. Anything less is very, very ugly

"It can get late, early" if things don't turn around soon.