by Bob Klapisch

It's true, layers of talent have been peeled away from the lineup, the clubhouse suffers from leadership problems and the cavalry — Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado — is weeks away from rescue. Yet, crazy as it sounds, the Mets think they're in a perfect place to take a run at the division's top spot.

"We lost a lot of games in the month of June and still somehow (we) remain — we've got a chance," manager Jerry Manuel said after a stirring 9-8 victory over the Bucs. Actually, with an on-paper advantage in all three pitching match-ups against the Phillies, the Mets might just wake up in first place by Monday morning.

The scenario isn't any more far-fetched than their steep decline last month, when the Mets lost three of their best hitters, as well as John Maine and J.J. Putz. The landscape was so bleak, Manuel himself all threw himself at Omar Minaya's feet, begging the GM to make a deal.

But the Mets already lead the National League in payroll at $140 million, with no desire to keep spending. And ownership has already decided to hang onto whatever prospects remain, including (especially) 20-year-old Fernando Martinez.

That reality finally dawned on Manuel, as his tone and message had changed dramatically this week. The Mets are on their own, he told his players in a closed-door meeting, so stop looking for a savior.

That approach seems to have struck a nerve in the clubhouse; at the very least it kept the Mets from getting swept by the Brewers Wednesday night, when Mike Pelfrey threw a 1-0 masterpiece. And Manuel's call to arms underscored a comeback from an early 5-0 deficit against Pittsburgh on Thursday.

Granted, it's an insignificant sample size, but the Mets have been desperate for positive spin after five straight losses to the Yankees and Milwaukee.

Talk about an impending doomsday. Not only was Johan Santana unable to close the wound in Milwaukee, absorbing a 6-3 loss on Tuesday, even former Mets were becoming openly critical of the current team's failure.

Is David Wright ready to lead? (Jim McIsaac / Getty Images)

John Franco, the franchise's last official captain, took exception to the absence of leadership, with a particularly candid assessment of David Wright.

In an interview with Sirius-XM Radio, Franco said. "I tried talking to him and tell him to come forward and be that (leader) but I think David feels that being that he's such a young player and you have the (Carlos) Delgados and (Gary) Sheffields and veteran guys like that, he's afraid that they'll look at him like, 'Be quiet and sit down.'"

Wright fired back at his former-teammate — they played together in 2004 — saying, "with all due respect to Johnny, he doesn't know what's going on in this clubhouse."

The war of words was probably over-hyped, but the sense that the 2009 season was slipping away was unmistakable. The fans at Citi Field, on edge since Opening Day, seem angrier than ever. Maybe it's because the place seems too big, the seats are too expensive (although still more reasonably priced than Yankee Stadium) and that despite all the money that'd been spent on upgrades and improvements, the Mets were somehow regressing to pre-2005 status.

That was an especially disheartening trend; this was, after all, supposed to be the year of living prosperously in Flushing. The Mets paired Putz with Francisco Rodriguez, given them the best close-out duo in the National League. The Mets had a healthy, productive middle of the order, an intelligent manager beginning his first full season and a boost from the law of averages, which said the Phillies couldn't keep embarrassing the Mets forever.

But then came the impossible run of injuries and with it, the sense that the Mets' medical staff was mishandling every crisis. Delgado was hurt, then he wasn't, then suddenly needed surgery on his hip. Reyes had a bad hamstring, tried to play through it, then landed on the disabled list. Same with Beltran and his right knee. Ditto Putz and his right elbow.

No wonder the Mets were staggering; it was a miracle Wright and K-Rod didn't find themselves on the DL, too. Luckily for the Mets, though, the Phillies missed their chance to pull away from the rest of the East, losing 12 of 16 after June 12.

Jerry Manuel told his team help isn't on the way. (Jim McIsaac / Getty Images)

Thus, Manuel landed on the truth when he said, "I think everybody in our division, at least four teams in our division at this point, still have got to feel good about our chances. I don't pay much attention to why the struggles. I just see the struggles and say, hey, okay, still got a shot.' "

And, still somehow still breathing, every bullet dodged is now taken as a sign of newer, better karma. The Mets overcame Tim Redding's fiasco on Thursday, recovered from a five-run deficit, and were ready to put the finishing touches on what would've been an 8-5 win over Pittsburgh.

But, the Bucs, tied for last in the league in home runs, got a two-run blast from Adam LaRoche off K-Rod in the ninth inning, sending the game into extra innings.

Rodriguez felt the debt to his teammates was too large to simply walk away. He asked Manuel if he could pitch the 10th inning, looking for atonement. The manager's instincts told him to say no, but sensing K-Rod's urgency, he acquiesced. The closer picked up the win, as Ryan Church's RBI single in the top of the tenth turned out to be decisive.

Afterwards, Manuel praised his team and their effort.

"We could have just said, "let's pack up and head to Philadelphia, it's a short flight, let's get this out of the way,' " he said. "But they chose to fight."

Still, the Mets paid a heavy price. The bullpen exhausted itself, using up six pitchers. And Rodriguez, having thrown 46 pitches, will almost certainly be unavailable against the Phillies on Friday.

Manuel, however, was willing to live with the trade-off. That's how much the little things mean to the Mets these days — a closer, for example, who now believes in himself again.

Little things, which are all very big things on the eve of a monster weekend in the NL East. Definitely stay tuned.