After tonight’s game, the Mets will have 54 games left over the final two months of the season. Here’s a look at the rest of the Mets schedule broken down.

9 against Florida
The Marlins have been unexpectedly hovering around the top of the division all year long. Most Mets fans were telling me about how the Marlins leading the division was just a fluke, yet they are just two games out of the division lead right now with two months in the season to go. A good mix of talent with a few experienced veterans such as Luis Gonzalez, who won the World Series with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001. The only thing that could stop them from reaching the playoffs is their lackluster defense and inexperienced rotation.

9 against Washington
The Mets are lucky they get Washington for 9 games in these last couple months. Manny Acta’s Nationals are currently the worst team in baseball with a .358 winning percentage and are 30 games under .500. There is nothing going right for this ball club and perhaps the only thing you would have to worry about is that they will have the ‘nothing to lose’ mentality.

9 against Atlanta
The Braves have struggled to stay in contention and are currently 8.5 out of the division lead. Realizing that they have a small chance of contending, they traded impending free agent Mark Teixeira to the Angels in return for first-baseman Casey Kotchman and a minor-league pitcher. As long as Bobby Cox is managing, this team is always going to play hard right down to the very last game.

7 against Houston
The Astros aren’t even close to competing in the NL Central, sitting in fourth place, seven games under .500. Despite knowing that, they decided to trade for veteran starter Randy Wolf. Even with veteran first-baseman Lance Berkman putting together an MVP like season with the bat, the whole team is in shambles, including ace Roy Oswalt. The Mets shouldn’t have much of a probably with this team.

5 against Philadelphia
The Phillies remain the Mets primary competition heading into the stretch run. The key to the Phillies this year is their pitching. They have one of the better bullpens in the league and closer Brad Lidge hasn’t blown a save in 25 tries. They also went out and acquired Joe Blanton from the Athletics to help bolster the rotation. I think it’s pretty clear that they will be there in the end of September and the run for the National League East division title is going to come down to the wire.

5 against Pittsburgh
The Mets will make up a game from April that they missed with the Pirates on August 11th, in addition to their four-game series later on the following weekend. The Pirates, like the Astros, are seven games under .500 and won’t compete in the tough NL Central. They sent left-handed closer Damaso Marte and outfielder/first baseman Xavier Nady to the Yankees, receiving mostly prospects in return. With all the rumors swirling the past few days regarding Jason Bay, it is unclear if the Pirates will elect to trade him or not, but it sounds more and more likely. Bay and Nady are/were the Pirates two best hitters. It’d be hard to believe that the Pirates would give the Mets a hard time here in a few weeks.

4 against Chicago Cubs
This is going to be the crucial series for the Mets, despite not being division rivals. The Mets are expected to see the Cubs in four games in the second-to-last series of the regular season. The Cubs are clearly one of the top teams in the National League and with a rotation led by Carlos Zambrano, Rich Harden and Ryan Dempster. In addition to having a powerful and explosive lineup, the Mets should expect trouble in the series.

3 against San Diego
The Padres are right in front of the Washington Nationals and are the second-worst team in the majors, with a .389 winning percentage, 24 games under .500. The Mets shouldn’t have much trouble with this series unless the run into Jake Peavy.

3 against Milwaukee
The Brewers are in contention for the NL Central division title along with the Chicago. Like the Cubs, the Brewers also acquired a new stud pitcher in CC Sabathia, who has been nothing short of great since moving from Cleveland. The Brewers may not have what it takes to keep up with the Cubs, but they are still a good team that the Mets will have to watch out for when they head up to Wisconsin at the beginning of September.

Overall, I believe the Mets have a very easy schedule from here on out and they will need to capitalize on it if they want to win the division title. Outside of the five games with the Phillies, the only other two major series that the Mets really need to worry about are the 7 games with the Brewers and Cubs in September.