Thursday night's action featured a terrific matchup, with Pedro Martinez of the Mets and Dontrelle Willis of the Marlins working a tight, low-scoring game into the late innings. Miguel Cabrera broke open a 1-1 tie with a bases-loaded, bases-clearing double in the bottom of the eighth for a 4-1 Florida victory. As well as Willis pitched, he retired the side only once all night and needed three double plays to earn his first win since July 7. The rally-killing double plays epitomize the recent karma of the Mets. Everything seemed to be going their way en route to a 42-23 start through June 15. Since an eight-game winning streak came to an end on June 16, the Mets have gone 22-20. In the last 10 days, they have lost two of three to both the Cubs and Marlins. Their lead in the National League East is safe, but they will want to be executing and winning in September much the way they were over the first two months of the season. They see a lot of Philadelphia, Washington and Colorado in August and their other NL East rivals in September. The Mets have plenty of time to show they are contenders and not pretenders for a World Series crown. On paper, this may be the best team the NL has to offer, but is it the best club on the field?