A visual look at the Mets' performance

I love baseball statistics, especially when they're presented in visual form, as is the chart below used with permission from The Hardball Times.

How many runs a team scores and how few it allows is a powerful indicator of how well it will do in a season. The chart reveals that, as of 9/2/07, the New York Mets were near the NL East's leader in runs scored per game, the Phillies, while ahead of both of their competitors for the NL East title, the Phillies and Braves, in the Runs Allowed category (the higher a team's position, the fewer runs per game it allowed). Thus, it shouldn't be a surprise that they're in first place.