The end of July usually brings with it trade deliberations – contender or not.

For the Mets, six games back of Atlanta in the National League East and tied with the San Francisco Giants for the lead in the Wild Card race, GM Steve Phillips sought to fill their weaknesses as the team began a nine-game homestand against the Montreal Expos.

Phillips looked specifically to address their starting pitching depth and their deficiency at shortstop (with Rey Ordonez done for the year).

The main targets to fill those gaps were Philadelphia Phillies ace Curt Schilling and Cincinnati Reds standout Barry Larkin, but the efforts to obtain those two All-Stars fell through.

Larkin blocked any potential trade to the Mets and the Phils turned down several offers for their workhorse.

Glendon Rusch was never going to be confused with Schilling, but he made his case that the starting pitching was just fine.

After coming into the season with a 12-25 career record, the left-hander was quietly contributing nicely at the back end of the rotation.

He had worked at least six innings in 15 of his 18 starts and had allowed three runs or fewer in 13 of those outings, which yielded a deceiving record of 7-7.

On July 25, the opening game of the three-game series with Montreal, Rusch offered up one of his best outings – going seven shutout innings while giving up three Expos hits and four walks.

Dennis Cook and Pat Mahomes breezed through the final two innings.

The 5-0 victory was aided by a 3-for-4, two-RBI day from Mike Piazza and a pair of hits from Melvin Mora, who was not long for his time in a Mets uniform.

A Wednesday rainout prompted a doubleheader the following day, with New York throwing Grant Roberts into the fire for his first big-league start.

It didn’t last long. By the top of the second, Montreal had rocked the rookie for six hits and six earned runs – building a 7-2 lead.

Roberts departed, but the bullpen came to his rescue, holding the Expos to a run on three hits the rest of the way.

Meanwhile, the offense bailed out their starter, too. The Mets scored two in the fourth and two in the sixth, and tied it in the seventh on a Matt Franco single.

Although Montreal would regain the lead, New York struck back with an eighth-inning RBI hit from Todd Zeile and another from Franco that proved to be the difference.

The Mets swept the double-dip and the series by besting former Yankee Hideki Irabu.

Mike Hampton gave the bullpen a break by stringing together a complete game.

Al Leiter followed his fellow lefty’s effort with three hits, one run, and eight strikeouts against the St. Louis Cardinals, kicking off a three-game set with the NL Central leaders.

The Mets got all their scoring done in the second inning: a run-producing double from Benny Agbayani, an RBI groundout by Jay Payton, and a sac fly from Kurt Abbott – the shortstop of the present, but not the future.

Earlier that day, Phillips closed a deal with the Baltimore Orioles to acquire Mike Bordick in exchange for Melvin Mora and three prospects.

Bordick, 35-years-old and coming off a first All-Star selection, had a .297 batting average with a career-high 16 home runs and 59 RBIs while having made just nine errors.

If that wasn’t enough maneuvering, Phillips picked up two players from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays: reliever Rick White and outfielder Bubba Trammell.

Changing the first impression is impossible, but Bordick and Trammell each made such good ones – on consecutive days, no less – that neither would fancy a redo.

Bordick’s opening at-bat led off the bottom of the third against Cardinals hurler Andy Benes.

In one pitch, it turned out better than could be expected. The home run – and subsequent curtain call – helped New York and Rick Reed top St. Louis. 

New York’s relievers allowed one hit and kept the Cardinals from breaking a 3-3 tie in the late going.

The Mets, though, would do so in the bottom of the eighth – with their newest player leading the charge.

Bordick produced a seeing-eye single that put Robin Ventura 90 feet from taking the lead.

Lenny Harris, doing his usual standout job in a pinch-hitting role, brought Robin the rest of the way with a single. 

For as splendid as Bordick’s initial outing as a Met was, it might not have been the best debut of the weekend. 

Coming from the lowly Tampa Bay Devil Rays to the thriving Mets was a change of scenery worth celebrating.

What better way to do so than with two runners aboard in the second inning?

Just as Bordick did, Bubba came out of the dugout post-homer to acknowledge the Shea ovation.

The three runs that came off Trammell’s lumber were the last of the four the Mets would post.

But, in another pleasant turn, Bobby Jones showed the command he had lacked so often this year – striking out nine and walking one.

Only a sixth-inning double and a ninth-inning homer were the dents in an otherwise strong outing that saw him go the distance and give the Mets their sixth straight win. 

But for all their recent success – the timely hitting and solid pitching – New York was only able to gain a single game in the NL East race, from six games back of the Braves to five games out.

The saving grace was the Wild Card – and the Mets were now up by 2.5 on San Francisco with August on the horizon.