-With the Mets being swept by the Braves last night, the pressure’s on for them to snap out of it this weekend in Denver against a struggling Rockie club which enters 11 games under .500 trailing Arizona by 10. A far cry from winning the NL pennant last October. Troy Tulowitizki is out two to three months with a torn tendon in his left quad. The shortstop who took the league by storm in his rookie season was off to an atrocious start hitting just .152 with a home run, 11 RBI’s while K-ing 17 times in 26 games. Most of Colorado’s problems have come away from Coors where they’re 8-16 as compared to 10-13 in the thin air. Unless they get it turned around soon, Clint Hurdle’s club will be out of contention.

-As for Willie Randolph’s club, losing four straight to the archrival Braves was stunning. They were outscored 27-9 and saw staff ace Johan Santana blow a 2-1 lead by giving up three in the seventh which allowed Atlanta to complete the four-game sweep at Turner Field. As usual, Chipper Jones was in the middle of it with a game-winning two strike opposite field hit. Mark Teixeira added insurance with a base hit to left center. In fact, the Braves pounded out 12 hits against the former Twin which were a career high. Just goes to show how things have been going for the Mets. They had taken two from the Yanks in an abbreviated series and were looking to ride that into Atlanta but instead got totally outplayed in all facets and now have lost six of eight entering tonight’s match-up between southpaw Oliver Perez and promising Colorado rookie Greg Reynolds. The Amazin’s are one under .500 trailing the surprising Marlins by four and a half. If they don’t snap out of it, their embattled manager could be replaced. Is it all his fault that this team doesn’t play consistent ball? Hardly. But it is the manager’s job to get the most out of his players. For whatever reason, that’s not happening. Instead, the September malaise of last year is hanging over them threatening to ruin their season.

-Meanwhile in the Bronx, the Yankees won their second straight to take a series from the Orioles. They pushed across the winning run on a two out walkoff Robinson Cano single which plated Hideki Matsui allowing them to outscore the Birds 10-1 over the last two days. Rookie Ian Kennedy finally pitched well working the first six permitting a run on four hits while walking and fanning four lowering his ERA to 7.27. Jose Veras, Kyle Farnsworth and Mariano Rivera each worked scoreless frames as the Pinstripes found a way to win after skipper Joe Girardi got his first ejection of the season for arguing a strike three call to Jason Giambi on a foul tip. Girardi showed plenty of fire tossing his hat twice and kicking dirt to protest plate umpire Chris Guccione’s ruling. A couple of batters later, his team responded by winning their second in a row for the first time in two and a half weeks. Maybe that kind of emotion was what the Pinstripes needed. Though it did earn Girardi the night off when they host the Mariners for three beginning tonight. Veteran southpaw Andy Pettite will be looking to win for the first time in over a month against Seattle’s Erik Bedard. The Yanks still trail red hot Boston by seven and a half. The Red Sox have won seven straight and show no signs of slowing down. So, the Bronx Bombers must get it in high gear or face the prospect of a double digit deficit by June.

-AL 3 for MVP:

A.Josh Hamilton, Rangers

B.Carlos Quentin, White Sox

C.Kevin Youkilis, Red Sox

-NL 3 for MVP:

A.Lance Berkman, Astros

B.Chipper Jones, Braves

C.Chase Utley, Phillies