The Mets lost the rubber game of a three-game set against the first-place Cincinnati Reds last night, 3–1, despite an excellent game by Jon Niese. It’s the first home series the Mets have lost in almost two months: It’s always nice when that happens. Unfortunately, it pushed the Mets another game behind Atlanta in the NL East — they’re three back now — though they still have their wild-card lead. (They’re a half-game up on Colorado and Los Angeles, one and a half games up on St. Louis, two and a half on San Francisco, and three on Philadelphia.) We can’t imagine that lasting too long, though, because Oliver Perez is coming back from his rehab assignment soon, and his absence is what started this hot Mets run in the first place. Oh, by the way, it sure has been fun watching catcher Josh Thole, hasn’t it? Don’t get too attached: He’s the Mets’ main trading chip for Cliff Lee, if it came to that. Anyway, the Mets have today off before a three-game series with those first-place Braves, so rest up. There’s plenty else going on in sports today.