Race to the bottom.

The Mets are the hottest team in New York, huh?

Even hotter than the Yankees, who are in the midst of their longest losing streak since 2007?

That must mean the Mets are totally awesome:

"They are still tied for last place and have the look of a team that is going to be fighting .500 for the year, but nobody refused to play for Terry Collins Sunday and nobody needed tea leaves and a lie detector to sort through all the versions of the truth, the way they seem to in the Bronx."

Unless you're a Mets ticket salesman, what is the point of conveying this information? When the Mets were 5-13, did any Mets fans suddenly start rooting for the Yankees? I don't quite understand the purpose of the Lupica-esque sales pitch. Do Daily News writers have stock in the Mets, or something? A side deal with the merch vendors at Citi Field?


"For the Mets, the story is simple: they are playing tight, aggressive baseball, and they are pitching the ball and catching it, and Sunday they even had a steal of home, with Jason Pridie scoring on the front end of a double-steal with Jose Reyes in a four-run fifth inning. They are winning games with help from all sorts of unlikely sources - from Justin Turner to center fielder Pridie to Daniel Murphy, the first baseman for the next two weeks until Ike Davis returns from the disabled list."

The Mets are in last place. The Mets are under .500. So the scintillating imaginary Battle for New York is between two bad teams.