4 NY Mets players slapping opponents with a chancla in the second half

The New York Mets are hot, having won seven of ten since the All-Star break. This follows a 7-4 stretch in July before the pause, which was much needed after an abysmal 13-14 June. Due to that nightmare month for New York, they find themselves in a tightly contested division race with the Phillies.

The good news is that they are off to a positive start. As they gear up for the second of a three-game series with the Padres, they are 1.5 games up in the division. It won't be until late August that they face Philadelphia again. Until then, all they can do is stack wins. And thanks to these Mets so far early in the second half, they are well on their way to doing so.

1) Ronny Mauricio- 3B, NY Mets

Despite an ultimately disappointing result in the bottom of the 9th last night, the only reason there even was a bottom of the 9th is because of Ronny Mauricio. Cool, calm, and collected, he stepped up to the plate following a weak Francisco Alvarez pop-up to the catcher. With one out, down a run, he took a deep breath before crushing a 2-1 pitch by Robert Suarez to right center field. It left the yard, and the Mets had life.

His smile in the dugout afterward could have lit up the sky from Pacific Beach to Astoria. The late-inning game-tying home run by Mauricio also sounded awfully familiar. The reason is that just one night before in San Francisco, he did the same thing in the top of the seventh. With the Mets down 3-2, he sent a pitch from home plate 400 feet to McCovey Cove.

Since the break, in the six games he's appeared in, he's batting .318 with three runs and two late-game clutch homers. He's also playing solid third base. If Mauricio can continue to hit anywhere near this pace, and can continue to flash his glove, he can be dangerous, and so can the Mets. Let's hope this start is a sign of more good things to come in the second half.